Shenfield put best foot forward at district championships

RUNNERS from Shenfield High School put in some excellent performances in the latest heat of the Brentwood Borough Schools' Cross Country Championships.

In the event hosted by Penial Academy at Brize's Park the Shenfield teams dominated proceedings by winning both the junior and intermediate boys' team championships and picked up third place in the senior boys' event.

In the junior boys' event, success for Shenfield was never in doubt when five of the team's runners finished in the top ten, including an inspired run by Jack Orwell who was just pipped into second place.

Team-mate Matt Turnbull was third with Will Clayton fifth, Harry Richardson sixth, Kyle McGill 10th, George Dunn 20th and Sean Clarke-Davis 33rd.

In the intermediate event Shenfield boasted three boys who were fresh from representing Chelmsford & Mid Essex in the recent county championships, Rob Moreton, Darren Blackwell and Ben Matthews.

The latter pair were selected to represent Essex in national competitions after outstanding performances.

With this calibre of athlete success in the borough championships was inevitable, and so it proved the case as Matthews and Blackwell came home first and second respectively with Moreton picking up fourth position once again securing the team event for Shenfield.

To cap a memorable day for Shenfield, the senior boys' squad secured an unexpected third place in the team event led home by an exceptional run by Ryan Murphy of Year 10 who finished eighth, despite competing against boys up to three years older.