Two podium finishes for BAC’s Chiltern XC League team
BAC’s all-junior Chiltern Cross Country League team, which competes in Division 2 of that competition, wrapped up a fantastic 2024/25 season with two podium finishes following the fifth and final match of the series at Horspath, Oxford, on Saturday February 8.
The BAC runners who took those podium positions − for performances through the Chiltern League season as a whole – won four medals between them. Three went to Austin Milner, Theo Milner and Ross Bone for finishing a superb second in the Division 2 U-13B team competition. Austin also won a second medal for achieving a notable 3rd place in the individual standings for that age group.
In addition, three other BAC runners missed out on a podium position and a medal by just one place. Lauren Bone finished 4th in the U-15G standings, only three points behind third place, and Oliver Weddell/Sidney Hammond were 4th in the U-15B team league, despite competing for the whole season one runner short of the maximum three scorers allowed.
BAC performance highlights at Horspath included Ollie achieving his second successive Chiltern League top 10 finish of the year in the U-15B race and Henry Knox producing a storming sprint through the mud at the end of his U-17M race to overtake two other runners in the last 50 metres!
All seven BAC athletes who turned out for the Horspath meeting had put a huge amount of effort into competing in the Bedfordshire Schools County XC Championships only three days earlier so a big ‘well done’ to them for taking on another tough race in very muddy conditions so soon afterwards!
The finishing positions for BAC’s athletes in the overall Division 1/Division 2 races at Horspath (the league is organised into two divisions, except for U-11s, with all runners competing in the same races but with the scoring done separately for each division) were:
Austin Milner, U-13B, 11th
Theo Milner, U-13B, 24th
Ross Bone, U-13B, 35th
Lauren Bone, U-15G, 12th
Oliver Weddell, U-15B, 9th
Sidney Hammond, U-15B, 18th
Henry Knox, U-17M, 36th
CHILTERN LEAGUE RESULTS: https://chilternccl.co.uk/results/
After the Horspath races, Alison Bone, BAC's team manager for the Chiltern XC League, summed up the performances of the 10 Juniors (the other three are U-11 runners Theia Freeston-Bull, Lewis Evans and Oscar Findon) who represented the club in that league this season:
“…and that’s a wrap! What a fantastic cross country season. The determination, perseverance and grit of every BAC athlete was amazing to watch. They should all be immensely proud of their achievements.
“On behalf of the team, I would also like to say a special ‘thank you’ to all the coaches, parents/guardians, siblings and other supporters who made it all possible. We look forward to seeing you all in the autumn for the 2025/2026 cross country season!’’
● Congratulations to a hopefully future U-11 member of BAC’s Chiltern League team, Teddy Warren, who put in a great run in the Bedford Junior Parkrun on Sunday February 9. Pacing the 2km course very well, he finished strongly to claim 3rd place overall out of 29 runners and 2nd in his age group (JM10) in a PB of 9min 39 secs. Teddy is currently enjoying being a member of BAC’s Little Bees group and gaining confidence from that experience.
PHOTOS: Thanks to the following who supplied the photos to go with this report – Helen Milner, Doug Hammond, Melissa Knox, Phil Hastings and Neil Warren