Perse runners make history at national cross country finals
The Perse boys’ U15 team made history with their performance at the English Schools’ Athletic Association (ESAA) Cross Country Cup national finals in Leeds.
In the ESAA Cup, teams of six runners compete in the same race, with points awarded according to athletes’ finishing position. Each team’s top four finishers count towards the result with the lowest scoring squad winning the event.
The Perse claimed third place in the intermediate boys’ event to become the first-ever Perse team to finish on the podium at the competition, with captain Finn (Year 10) winning the 4km race in 12min 35sec, crossing the line a massive 18 seconds over his nearest rival after breaking away from the field before the halfway mark.
Finn was backed up by scoring runs from Noah (Year 10, 22nd in 13.37), Cameron (Year 10, 32nd in 13.50) and Julius (Year 9, 58th in 14.08) as they took bronze with an overall total of 113 points, just three points behind champions Bournemouth School.
Team co-ordinator Chris Ingram said: “The boys had won their regional final, so we were hopeful in their event up against the 29 best other schools in the country. This is the first time The Perse has ever won a medal in this event, having never even made the national finals before 2012, so this was a very impressive achievement from the boys.
“They trained incredibly hard, doing extra 7am sessions with Mr Escalante-Phillips (Perse maths teacher and elite long-distance runner) throughout the cold and dark from November to February and I could not be prouder of them.”
The Perse was also represented at the national finals by the girls’ U13 team in the junior girls’ event as they enjoyed the experience in finishing 25th overall.
Finn was delighted by the nature of his victory in the ESAA Cup, having felt he had been in with a strong chance of success.
He said: “I was very happy to win by that margin. I was thinking I should at least be near the front because the race is formed of the best teams in the country rather than the best individuals, but I didn’t expect to win by 18 seconds.
“I went out fast very early because you don’t want to get stuck at the back, but still at quite a relaxed pace for me, and I kept going at that speed to build a gap. Because I’ve got long legs, it really helped me push on the downhill sections when you can get some real momentum for the rest of the race, but then I was just thinking about conserving energy for the end in case I needed a sprint finish.
For Finn, it was another impressive result this season, having been in great form representing his club Cambridge and Coleridge, as well as Cambridgeshire.
He triumphed in his age group at both the Eastern and South of England Championships, as well as coming third in tough conditions in the English Cross Country Association Championships at Parliament Hill, London, on what was “the worst mud I’ve ever experienced in a race”.
Last weekend, Finn was runner-up in the UK Inter-Counties Championships in Nottingham, taking on the best athletes from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and will be in action again on Saturday (15 March) in the ESAA Cross Country Championships national finals.
He will be one of five Perse athletes representing Cambs including George (Upper Sixth), Verity (Lower Sixth), Jasmine (Year 10) and Julius (Year 9).
Having only started running seriously last year, Finn said: “It’s been a real journey and I’m surprised because I’m now consistently getting on podiums and I wouldn’t have expected that when I came 25th at the English Schools finals last year. I’m in the U17 category for this competition so I’ll be running against people from a year above, but the goal is to try to finish in the top 10.”