ESSA Cross Country

Four Walton athletes representing Surrey Schools’ made the long trip north to Leeds to compete in the English Schools’ Cross Country Championships at Temple Newsam Park.
The best athletes in each of the 46 counties in England came together for the honour of been the best in the Country.  In bitterly cold and very tough wintry conditions the four athletes Charlotte Vaughan, Darby Begley-Jones, Ben Fitzpatrick and Ben Marks did themselves proud.
First race off was the Inter girls over 3:8km, Charlotte ran her usual strong race to come home in 54th place out of 340 finishers. Charlotte was also part of the winning Surrey Team who secured victory in the team competition.
Next to race was the Inter Boys over 5:2km, with over 350 starters it was fast from the start but Ben Fitzpatrick and Ben Marks got out and committed well and started to make their way through the field.
Ben Fitzpatrick did outstandingly well and came home in 24th place and Ben Marks came 72nd. Both boys were part of the Surrey team that took second place in the team competition, just losing out to a very strong Kent team.
Last up in the senior girls race over 4:1km was Darby in her very first English Schools. Up against some very strong seasoned campaigners, Darby gave her all and was rewarded with 146th place out of 323 finishers. The Surrey Team finish in eighth place in the team competition.
Congratulations to all four of them!