Conall McNally and Olivia Papaioannou have won the men’s and women’s Winter Plates respectively for their quality and consistency over the course of the past cross country season.

The plate is awarded to the Belle and Bel who scores the most points from selected cross country fixtures from the 21/22 season, with the first Belle home scoring 20 points and the 20th Belle home scoring 1 point. For the men, the first Bel home scores 30, the 30th scores 1. Positions 31 and onwards also score 1.

The plate winners also receive £80 to put towards race travel, physiotherapy and or kit. 2nd place wins £40 and 3rd wins £30.

Belles

Olivia Papaioannou left it to the final day of the season to claim her first ever Winter Plate and the achievement is given an extra shine considering the stellar season her team has enjoyed: silverwear includes a Surrey League title, the London XC championship, South of the Thames gold plus 4th at the Southern and 5th at the National. Liv made it to all but one of the Belles’ fixtures, scoring for the team at every one and crowning it all with her maiden first finisher at the Lloyd Park fixture that sealed the Surrey League title.

Rachel Brown takes second place thanks to a brilliantly consistent set of performances, but just one fewer than Liv. She was three times second scorer, three times first scorer, which includes an individual gold medal at the South of the Thames champs.

Third place is shared between GB international Sam Amend and newcomer Ella-May Hards, tied on 83 pts. Sam made vital contributions to the victories at the London champs and the South of the Thames, and Ella-May scored for both the A and B teams in their successful Surrey League campaigns as well as gaining valuable experience with good runs at the Southern and the National.

Sarah Dewhirst deserves special mention in fourth spot for making it to all but one fixture, contributing not only valuable B-team scores but also positivity and team spirit all season.

A total of 33 different runners turned out for the Belles this winter.

Bels

Conall McNally will wear the coveted #1 vest for a second consecutive season thanks to a perfect set of cross country results: no missed fixtures and an A-team score at every one. The guy loves the mud so much he even popped up with a score for his native Nottinghamshire at Intercounties a week after we’d declared the season over.

And it’s not just his scores - Conall is highly valued as a ringleader of Charlie’s Battersea training group and an everpresent at the winter fartleks on Wimbledon Common. A purveyor of good vibes and a fine beard, he’s a more than deserving winner this year and we’re lucky to have him.

Straight in at number 2 is Jonny Neville, the only man other than Conall McNally and Ben Hurley to run at every fixture. We’re already so used to seeing him score for the team that it seems like a strange anomaly that he didn’t register a Surrey League A-team score until the final day of the season. But he was vital to the team silver at the Surrey county champs and ran a brilliant third score for us as part of our fifth place at the Southern. In that context it’s even more remarkable that his Power of 10 only begins in May 2021. On this trajectory Conall’s in for an even tougher challenge next season.

And in third is Callum Stewart, who’d occupied top spot in the plate standings until the National, which he couldn’t make for family reasons. He was also unable to make the rearranged final Surrey League fixture which cost him further but it should be noted that until late February Callum had out-scored Conall and Jonny at every run. He’ll wear vest #3 next season, a significant improvement on this year’s #10.

Worthy of special mention in fourth is Dylan Evans, whose second claim status means he was only eligible to notch plate points in the Surrey League, where he scored the maximum at all four races and won the league’s individual title. Just two points back is ever-present evergreen Ben Hurley, who had a terrific season in claret in gold.

The rest of the table is another demonstration of our enviable depth: a total of 62 men wore our colours on the mud this winter, 15 ran four or more fixtures, 10 ran five or more, four missed only one. And look at the quality in that top 10: Jonny Scott and Angus Lamb to complete Neville and McNally’s Battersea Beatles, Nick Buckle and his brilliant XC ability, Sam Gebreselassie’s near limitless potential and Reece Edwards’ international class (we do badly hope he’s still with us next year).

Notes: 1. South of the Thames is not included in the Winter Plate this year as the team decided to prioritise Surrey League and major championships. 2. County champs scores were given a performance gradient based on their position as a percentage of the number of runners in each county champs race. The lowest gradient (Reece Edwards’ 5th from 214) then scored 30 plate points and so on.

Previously: 2019/20 plate standings