The inter girls at the very chilly nationals
of Year 9 achieving eighth place overall and being the first Sevenoaks runner through the finish line : an incredible feat for someone four years younger than most . The boys ’ team finished in fifth place in a fantastically fast 9.4km race , with Max Malkinson , Daniel Hadden and Ben Catchpole the first three Sevenoaks runners across the line .
Overall , it has been a fabulous year of hard work and well-earned success . We are sad to see some of our top runners moving on and wish them all the very best in their future running . Nevertheless , we are looking eagerly ahead to next year to see how our remaining runners continue to thrive .
Olivia Dorrington
Cross country at Sevenoaks has been a brilliant journey , and this year , after losing many talented people who headed off to university , we still managed to put together a strong team and trained with that same commitment and enjoyment .
We had some strong results early in the season , at Blackheath and Bromley relays and at the King ’ s Trophy in Wimbledon . The English Schools ’ Cross Country Cup is always a great competition which we have historically done very well in . Unfortunately this year we didn ’ t make it to the national round , with three very strong teams beating us at regionals , but we are still proud of our efforts in the competition in such a competitive county and region .
Following the Knole Run , always a highlight of the year , the Kent Schools ’ Cross Country Championships was another success , as Sevenoaks came second as a district thanks to Sevenoaks School runners . At the Kent Championships , we both qualified to race in the Kent team for the UK Inter Counties Championships held in Nottingham . Up against strong competition in a field of 155 U20 men , we both ran well , with Max finishing in 95th and Daniel in 106th place .
As we reflect on our years of cross country at Sevenoaks , we ’ ve recognised the strength of the teams in the past three years , with the junior girls winning the ESAA Cup in 2021 , and the strongest senior boys team performance in the Knole Run for many years in 2023 ( third place ). It has been a pleasure to take part in cross country at Sevenoaks , and hopefully Sennockians will keep running .
Max Malkinson and Daniel Hadden , Upper Sixth
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