As New Hall won the girls’ race, Loughborough College claimed their first boys’ title on 28 January.
New Hall’s girls made it three from three in the prestigious King Henry VIII Relays, while Loughborough College dominated good opposition for their first boys’ title. James Taylor reports.
Both winning schools only started participating in this race in 2024, and both have been quick to succeed. Not to be confused with Loughborough Grammar, winners a decade ago with Ben Dijkstra, Loughborough College is part of a larger conglomerate of post-16 education providers with close links to the university. With a national stature (two of this year’s team are from Kent), in-house sports academy programs and an obvious professionalism in approach, their renewed interest and competitiveness in this race bode well for traditional school opposition.
The King Henry always attracts a healthy amount of old-time interest, much to the delight of race organizer Tom Andrews, who has worked so hard to build the reputation of this historic structure. But it was the young fans who were most delighted to meet Olympic medalist Charlie Dobson as this year’s guest of honour. And with Martin Rooney coaching the Loughborough team, it was a stunning sight to see two world-class 400m runners zipping around a 2.3-mile course that was muddier than usual and even had a small flooded section on the tarmac 1km away.
All doubts about how this would affect the athletes were answered by Jack Sanderson on the legs of the first of six boys, 29:45 10km 10km The Giggleswick man dominated the field, pushing all the way in for a superb clocking of 10:57, a rare sub-par time that many would not have thought possible due to the conditions underfoot. Behind, Ben Allen (11:21), Jake Norris (11:22) and Ewen Wilkinson (11:26) all got off to a great start for expected title rivals Loughboy, Ilkley and Ermistead, the latter the champion. Nine-time champions Judd were also hoping for a strong start, but were already a minute behind and would not qualify for the first time in a generation.
Giggleswick was immediately falling back on the second leg, but aside, the usual soft leg pace didn’t let up. National champion Ilkley, in this race on his debut, and tipped by many for victory, Alex Wolfenden (11:47) took the lead with Loughboy’s Oliver Ward (11:58) closely following. Abingdon continued their great start with Monty Salmon fastest in 11:38.
Ilkley dropped back midway through the race it was clear they weren’t at full strength so Loughborough took a lead they were not to lose, Henry Haslam ran a very solid 11:58. There was little change among the other chasers, although deep in the field Oscar Graffin moved up the Skinners’ order with a fastest 11:51.
The status quo remained in the fourth round. Loughborough were the slowest with Tyler Morris (12:14) but the lead still grew to over a minute now. Judd finally came within sight of the podium through Will Batchelor’s 11:46, although that was as good as it got for the Kent team, who now acknowledged their 17-year podium streak was over. Pio Aran (Loreto College) followed the undergraduate for a fastest 11:38.
Ollie Scott (11:55) further extended Loughborough’s lead with a five-leg pick, so attention turned to the battle for second; Abingdon and Ermistead were locked in throughout and St. Anselm was scarily ready.
Into the final leg and march for Will Bailey, whose 11:52 gave Loughborough a two-minute win and the fifth-fastest team time since the course changed in 1991. In a thrilling race for the podium, the back-loaded St Anselm forced Michael Phelan past Abingdon and then at the final corner at Ermystead to secure the Merseysiders their best result in a decade. Ilkley skipper Owen Ashdown was closing fast in 11:51, alas he went off the road to take the podium. It would be interesting to see if their Cup final team could challenge for gold. Harrow’s Otis Farrer-Brown’s 11:44 was the highlight of the final stage, but he probably wished he had been on his feet earlier to make a bigger impact.
Meanwhile, the girls’ race followed a similar pattern for their four legs, with a clear winner and a battle for the podium at the back. As last year, Heidi Woodley took the first stage for New Hall with a PB of 12:54, which remained unbeaten all day. Daisy Stoller took over and ran a solid 14:06, just three seconds off the fastest on the stage, Matilda Don (Ratcliffe). Ava King (14:02) continued to build the leg trio, now of West Kirby, and in the final stride with Olivia Forrest the result was never in doubt.
Forrest isn’t in the form of the 12:24 that gave him the 3rd fastest split of all time two years ago, but his anchor leg of 13:44 will give him some confidence for the rest of the season. West Kirby set Isla York fastest in 13:25 to secure clean silver, while in a thrilling race for bronze, Chloe Berry held off Woodbridge, whose back-to-back top four ended Upton Hall’s five-year podium streak.
Following just a handful of small school races, the elite focus will be on the major national club, county and English schools races in February and March.
Full results here.
