On the 14th of November, despite the fact that most runners were at the London Youth Games, 16 junior Orion Harriers runners travelled all the way to Cambridge to compete in the third Essex League cross country of the season.

In the first race of the day, the under 13 girls, Orion excelled with Rosie Shaw leading the team home 7th, Becci Leddy 9th only 5 seconds later and Eve Smith 31st, earning a solid 5th place in the team competition.

In the under 13 boys, Henry Jones was Orion’s only runner but ran strongly for 20th place.

Sadly, all the club’s regular under 15 girls were at London Youth Games, but the boys rolled out another stunning performance, led home by Joseph Owen, who bagged his second Essex League win of the season comfortably. After him came Jay Shotter (13th), Liam Brockway (16th), Saul Ashon (21st) and William Jones (24th). 2nd overall was the reward for these hard fought positions.

In the under 17&20 women, Serena Euspete ran well for 16th and 5th u20.

When it came to the under 17 men, Jordan Chrisostomou (13th), Josh Iton (17th) and Eden Coleman (27th) grafted for 5th place.

Finally, there were some under 20s competing in the senior races: Joelle Ewen was 72nd and 2nd under 20 in the senior women race. In the senior men, Thomas Young and Ben Pattison came 36th and 46th, and were respectively 5th and 7th under 20s.

On the whole, despite missing many key runners, Orion impressed with strong all round performances.

SAUL ASHON