For the un-initiated The Metropolitan Cross Country League (Met League) is one of the oldest cross-country leagues in the country. Currently formed of 23 athletic and running clubs from around London, Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex. running 5 fixtures between October and February, for athletes from 9 upwards. Competing in age groups, under 11 to U17 within the Junior ranks.
https://metleague.run/results/
Athletes compete in their respective races and score for their club no matter what position they finish ( the best of 4 out of the 5 races get totalled). These points are calculated after each fixture. After the final fixture, the league results are totalled up and the winners are crowned.
https://metleague.run/results/2023-2/team-tables-2024/
Saturday 8th Feb marked the occasion of the 5th and the last Met League fixture of the 2024/25 season and for many of our juniors, this was also their 3rd trip to Trent Park this current season. For a bit of variety, the course was changed at short notice to an alternate route due to "free roaming cattle" and this very tough course delivered everything a proper cross country course should: challenging conditions, a heavy, waterlogged ground and relentless thick mud. The story goes Enfield Council had released a herd of cows in Trent Park to ‘manage grassland habitats and increase biodiversity’.
First out of the blocks at Trent park were the U11s. We had 1 brave athlete representing HH, Holly O’Shea who gave it her all and ran a great race finishing a very credible 9th place in U11 girls.
Next out were the U13s. We were ably represented by Ira Agrawal and Carys Tomlinson for the Girls and Jack Cobbold, Alex Pettican and Javier Shepherd for the Boys. They all battled hard over 2 muddy fields with Carys finishing 13th and Ira 35th for the girls; and Alex 4th, Jack 14th and Javier 26th respectively for the boys.
The U13 races are swiftly followed by the combined U15 and U17 race who ran over a distance of 4k. For U15 girls we were represented by Olive O'Shea who ran hard and finished 28th and for U15 boys we had a strong team of Aron Sinko-Uribe, Luke Tomlinson and Nathan Anderson. The boys ran well and finished Aron 19th, Luke 20th and Nathan 61st. Joseph Drinkell, Denis O'Shea and Wenbo Du did us proud for the U17s finishing Joseph 24th, Denis 59th and Wenbo 77th
Overall as final results – 22 Highgate young athletes competed over the 5 Met League fixtures and 5 athletes (Arjuna, Joseph, Alex, Jack, Ira - in green below) were resilient & competed in 4 or more fixtures which reflect the tenacity and mindset of these runners thus also earning precious club points.
A Big shout out for Arjuna Pflug finishing 1st in M15 and Alex Pettican finishing 4th in M13. Joseph Drinkell contributed to earn the highest points for the Club
Well done to all our athletes. Huge congratulations to all our 22 junior athletes who raced in the League this year. We truly appreciate your support, giving up your time at the weekend to come and represent the club deserves huge respect. The club's coaches are proud of you all.
And also huge heartfelt thanks to all the parents for their continued support and for being that vital extra pair of hands on the day. Also big thanks to Kate Jenrick for pulling the junior teams together and organisation across all fixtures and to Andrew for his superb gazebo-erecting skills.
Enjoy some pictures from the Trent Park Met League.
