D & T's runners fight for pride in their county at SEAA meet

The young athletes were competing at the SEAA Inter Counties Championships at Horspath Fields in Oxford.

Every race was national standard, with the athletes selected to represent their counties from the top clubs across the south of England, from Cornwall to Norfolk.

Each county selected teams of eight runners in each age group, with the first four runners across the finish line scoring points.

Runners in first to fourth place comprised the A team, while the B team composed of fifth to eighth place.

In the under-17s race, contested over 5000m, Kristian Imroth finished in a solid 10th place, contributing to a sixth-place finish for Herts A.

Jamie Ayres crossed the line in 63rd, helping Herts B to 18th place.

In total, there were 
99 runners in the race.

In the under-15s boys’ race, ran over 4000m, Michael Armstrong finished in 46th place out of 111 competitors, pushing Herts B up to 14th place out of the 24 county teams.

In the under-13s girls’ race, contested over 3000m, Olivia Edwards had an eventful race to finish in a commendable 34th place and third for Hertfordshire.

This contributed to the Herts A side’s bronze medal finish in the team standings.

Stella Whitlum made a very solid county debut to finish 69th out of 113 girls, helping Herts B to 13th place of 23 county teams.

Sarah Grover, meanwhile, was selected to run in the combined under-23s/senior women’s race over 6000m.

She finished 53rd overall for Herts and ninth in the U23s category.

Also in the senior women’s race, veteran female 40 standout Kate Rennie, a member of the D&T Road Runners, crossed the line in 23rd place overall – and first in the VF40 age group. Together, Kate and Sarah pushed the Herts senior ladies squad to a ninth place finish out of 15 teams.