Belles seal Surrey League A and B titles at Lloyd Park final
l-r: Maddy Whitman, Sarah Dewhirst, Liv Papaiouannou, Laura Goodson, Charlie Dickinson, Laurel Bray, Jess Saunders (obscuring Jennifer Beecroft), Laura Shrimpton, Mimi Corden-Lloyd, Steph Hewitt, Cat Hall, Mhairi Hall.
Another terrific performance from the Belles sealed their first Division One league title since 2015.
They came second on the day to a much improved Kent side. In the end, the league victory margin was a convincing 282 points ahead of second placed Guildford & Godalming. The B team's winning margin at the end was a massive 945 points over the next B team and they finished ahead of no less than 10 A-team clubs including Herne Hill and Hercules Wimbledon.
Before the race, the Belles’ lead was so large that most people had already chalked up the league victory - in fact the cup had already been engraved with our name. Most, but not their worryguts team manager who had fretted all week when so many of the team were unavailable for this quickly rearranged fixture (the Effingham fixture has been cancelled due to storm damage). He needn't have worried; the strength of this team all season has been its tremendous depth. We needed 10 on the day to secure both A and B team victories; 12 turned out.
AJ Elsadig with a sparkling welcome for first first Belle home Liv.
Croydon was overcast with a biting wind and persistent drizzle. The start/finish area was relatively firm, but the notorious Lloyd Park mud was deep and smelly at the top of the course, making things very tricky. All the Belles arrived cheerfully and in good time to brighten up the day. The atmosphere before the race was positive: "Let's get going and wrap this thing up."
‘A’ scorers
Maddy Whitman on her senior Surrey League debut.
Because of the rearranged fixture, the field was only half the normal size, but this should not detract from some outstanding runs, finishing five in the top 15 and eight in the top 30. They were led home in fourth place by Olivia Papaioannou, now back to her very best after a bad case of Covid before Christmas. Then, a remarkable run by 17-year-old Maddy Whitman in her very first senior race for Belgrave. Although unused to the 8km length of the course, the very talented Maddy hung on well on the second lap and showed what an outstanding prospect she is.
She was followed by Jess Saunders, another gladly welcomed back in the team again after contracting Covid only a month ago. Laura Goodson was just one place behind Jess, recovering very strongly after suffering from Covid twice in the last three months. Then, only a couple of places further back, Mimi Corden-Lloyd who ran cautiously the week before to save herself to help the team for this race. Mimi's very strong run completed the scoring five.
‘B’ scorers
Steph Hewitt has turned out at all four Surrey League fixtures.
The B team were led home by the Belles outstanding co-captain Mhairi Hall in 21st place. Mhairi continues to nurse herself back to her best after a serious hip operation last year. This was a very encouraging run by Mhairi. She was followed by the reliable and improving Sarah Dewhirst, always there to support the team, and then Steph Hewitt who, despite disliking cross country, found time away from completing her doctorate to support the team in all the league fixtures this season. All those finished well within the top 30.
The B team were completed by the ever-smiling Laurel Bray whose style is far more suited to the track than the mud, and an excellent improvement from Laura Shrimpton in only her second ever cross-country race. Her first race was on the very technical Wimbledon Common course, so she has had quite a baptism. The final two Belles were Cat Hall, nursing herself round after being unwell and suffering from the stitch, and finally Jennifer Beecroft who amazingly was in the team when the Belles last won the league title her seven years before.
Results
G. Grgec (HHH), 31:02, 2. G. Bruinvels (SLH) 31:44, 3. C. Baxter (G & G) 32:12, 4. O. Papaioannou 32:44, 9. M. Whitman 33:32, 13. J. Saunders 34:59, 14. L. Goodson 35:14, 16. M. Corden-Lloyd 35;19, 21. M. Hall 35:38, 24. S. Dewhurst 35:57, 27. S. Hewitt 36:18, 42. L. Bray 37:37, 88. L. Shrimpton 44:44, 89. C. Hall 45:07, 104. J. Beecroft 49:24.
TEAMS
Kent AC 48, Belgrave A 56, 3. SLH 97, 4. G&G 116, 5. THH 151, 6. HW 160, 7. Belgrave B 202.
OVERALL AFTER FOUR MATCHES
Belgrave A 269, 2. G & G 551, 3. THH 611, 4. SLH 651, 5. Belgrave B 720, 6. HHH 804, 7. HW 839, 8. CC 860, 9. Ran 919, 10. Stragglers 922.
BELLES’ 2021/2022 CROSS COUNTRY SEASON
The cross country season has spanned the six months from October to March. It has been a very successful season with many medals won by a large number of Belles. This success has been thanks to the tremendous strength in depth of the squad, superb team spirit and some outstanding individual performances.
Here is a summary of the Belles results over the winter:
09/10/21 Surrey League (1), 1st team 🥇
23/10/21 SEAA 3-Stage relay, 3rd team 🥉
06/11/21 Reigate priory relay, 1st and 3rd teams🥇
13/11/21 Surrey League (2), 2nd team 🥈
20/11/21 SEAA London Champs, 1st team 🥇
18/12/21 South of Thames Champs, 1st team 🥇
09/01/22 Surrey County Champs, 3rd team 🥉
15/01/22 Surrey League (3), 1st team 🥇
29/01/22 SEAA Main Champs, 4th team
26/02/22 ECCA National Champs, 5th team
05/03/22 Surrey League (4), 2nd team 🥈 and overall 1st and 5th teams 🥇