SENIORS KINGS TROPHY SUCCESS

The Senior XC squad travelled to Wimbledon College on Wednesday 4/10 for the 4.5 mile Kings Trophy. This race has always been enjoyed by the runners, with an interesting and varied course through the Common, with a reasonably flat route through forested areas and even across a shin-deep river. Last year 6th place was secured with Ricky 2nd, and unforgettably the year before Ricky and the leading pack were directed the wrong way by a steward and ended up way down the field.

The team was not at full strength with driving lessons and theory tests being booked on the same afternoon, and 'forgotten kit' perhaps replacing 'not fit enough' however 8 runners set off from school hopeful of good performances.

The field was 140 runners, and the quality was high. Judd and St Albans, national XC powerhouses were in attendance, as well as other respected schools.

The team, showed above included Freddy Georgiou Yr 9 and Joe Logue Yr11 for their first experience of this distance and in a senior race.

The runners began and were soon lost from sight, however reports filtered back that Ricky was in the lead at the half-way point, could he hold on until the finish?

The answer is yes, and indeed with ease to become the first JFS runner to win this race in 32 years!

The results are listed below, with times from last year in the final column

Pos	Runner	Time	Time 2016 (Pos)
1	Ricky Lutakome	24.38	25.04 (2)
33	Ryan Galvin	28.36	Inj
35	Gianluca Ercolano	28.42	28.45 (35)
41	Jacob Jones	28.54	29.51 (52)
45	Freddy georgiou	28.59	N/A
65	Alfie Smith	30.17	30.03 (55)
90	Joe Logue	31.21	N/A
	Harry Smith	INJ

A final position of 5th was achieved

Well done to all the runners. Ricky, fantastic performance to win by 30 seconds from 2nd place, hopefully the first success of many this year. Ryan showed his class once again, finishing in front of the Seb Coe/Steve Ovett of JFS Gianluca and Jacob. Freddy ran an incredible time for a Year 9 and Alfie showed he is swiftly getting back to full fitness. Joe Logue can be very proud of hie run, and Harry wisely had to pull out due to an recurring hamstring issue.

Doughnuts were gleefully eaten afterwards, Jacob indulging in 6 by himself! As the JFS runners hoovered up the left-over we travelled back to JFS pleased with a very good performance and enthused by Ricky's win.

Onwards and Upwards to the challenges to come!