Sports Editor Joel Lim recaps KCL Athletics’ dominant display at their season opener.
Following a summer off-season of rejuvenation, training and even a bootcamp in Malta, KCL Athletics (cross-country) season opened on 8th October at Parliament Hill. This year’s season opener was the first of its kind, a cross-country relay race that featured highly competitive men’s, women’s and even mixed races – and our King’s athletes did not disappoint.
Both the King’s women’s and men’s team delivered dominant performances in their races, finishing as overall champions and runners-up respectively in the inaugural London Universities and Colleges Athletics Cross Country Relay races.
“This performance is really encouraging for the club – we usually pick up momentum as the season goes along but this year, we’ve literally hit the ground running!” – Pierre Walker, Co-president of KCLAXC.
KCLAXC’s remarkable performance comes on the back of a sweet victory at the LUCA outdoor championships back in late May that was motivated by a disheartening loss at the closely fought varsity back in April. The team also had their annual training camp at Malta that saw record attendance, lots of running, but also heaps of fun.
The cross-country relay race at Parliament Hill featured multiple gruelling climbs, with the course being notorious for its challenging elevation. Teams had to complete 4 laps around Parliament Hill, each 2.7km long, each run by individual members of the teams in succession. For this race, KCLAXC fielded 5 relay teams – 2 Women’s teams, 1 Men’s team and 2 Mixed teams.
“Hats off to everyone who raced today, I’m really proud of the team’s performance! I would like to give a special mention to the women’s team who won the relays. I remember us struggling to even score in a few races last season as we did not have many girls racing. To start the season off like this is absolutely incredible!” – Tom Rickard, Distance Captain.
The highlight performance of the day indubitably belonged to the women’s A team, which commanded their race from start to finish and emerged as champions. Lead runner Emma pushed the team ahead, coming out on top after her 2.7km lap. Second and third leg runners, Ava and Tiffany respectively, carried the momentum generated by Emma as they surged ahead of the field, increasing the gap between themselves and eventual runners-up, St George’s women’s. Salihah, who took on the momentous anchor runner responsibility, capped off their sublime performance, crossing the line in first place with an overall timing of 46.48. The women’s second team also held their own against a highly competitive field, finishing 9th in the overall rankings with a time of 56.50.
Similarly, the men’s team also coupled this with a great showing of their own. Lead runner of the men’s team, Leon, blew the race out of the park, gaining an impressive lead of over 20 seconds ahead of the second team. Second and third leg runners, Mike and Jake, respectively, matched this with equally stellar performances of their own, as they contended against the eventual winners, Royal Holloway men’s, in a battle that displayed grit and tenacity. Despite losing the lead in the third leg, the men’s team kept up their overall strong performance with a great finishing leg by Distance Captain, Tom, who maintained a tight grip on the team’s podium position. He rounded up the team’s imposing performance with a runner-up finish, achieving an impressive timing of 37.08.
Both of the mixed relay teams also put up concerted fights, placing just outside the podium (4th and 5th place) with impressive season-opening timings of 42.48 and 44.53. The teams featured a mix of seasoned Kings runners but also newly joined freshers who made their competitive debuts for KCL. KCLAXC’s performance in this race reflects the growing stature of the club in terms of its blooming size, commitment and standard. Having opened the season with a flying start, the club looks to continue performing at a high level, with lofty ambitions of winning both the men’s and women’s Mike Baggs trophy, an award given to the best-performing London university cross country team.
We wish KCLAXC the best for their upcoming LUCA XC race on the 22 of October and all subsequent races this season!
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