RUFUS THOMAS

BUCS Cross Country Report

BUCS Cross Rundown

As forecasted, Loughborough dominated proceedings on Saturday, taking individual victories
in the Men’s and Women’s Short Course races, as well as winning the team classification in
every race but the Men’s Long Course. A multitude of podium finishes were complemented
by numerous top ten and top twenty results, turning the front of every race into a sea of
African Violet. Competing just a ten-minute walk from campus at Charnwood Schools
playing fields, Loughborough athletes enjoyed both a home advantage and the support of a
local crowd.

Prior to the racing, all Loughborough athletes gathered for a hair raising pre match speech
given by cross country captains Steve Kerfoot and Maisie Trueman. Themes of unity and
teamwork were expressed loudly, particularly by Steve, and the other universities could only
glance over in fear as the purple swarm amassed as one before the start of the first race.

The first race of the day was the Women’s Long Course, covering just over eight kilometres,
with those yet to race watching on as the already muddy conditions were ripped apart by the
stampede of the early runners. From the very beginning, multiple Loughborough athletes
were sitting comfortably in the top twenty positions, with Emily Parker and Charlotte Dannatt
leading the charge. After the opening lap, Leeds Beckett athlete Isabel Holt began to create
some distance between herself and the rest of the top ten, Dannatt and Parker waited
patiently, not wanting to expend energy too early. With a lap to go, the front of the race was
fractured into groups of ones and twos, with Holt still at the front, while Parker began to
chase her down. Despite the late charge from Parker, Holt just held on for first place with the
two Loughborough athletes Parker and Dannatt in second and third place respectively.
Although from an individual standpoint, the primary goal was not quite achieved, a near
clean sweep of the podium as well as strong finishes from Sarah Bourne and Aoife Coffey
led to a comfortable victory in the team classification. This would set the precedent for the
later races yet to come.

Next up was the Men’s Long Course Race, two kilometres
longer than the women’s race, and the ground becoming a
little muddier under foot. After the first couple kilometres, a
bold move was made from Glasgow athlete Tom Spencer,
who distanced himself from a front group of ten to twelve
athletes. Like in the women’s race, the Loughborough boys
held of from the chase, keeping their powder dry and sitting
comfortably in the top ten positions. After the halfway mark,
Loughborough’s Flynn Jennings made a bid for glory, and
began to hunt down Spencer, who had now built up quite a
lead. Other athletes followed, including American marathoner
and Oxford student Jared Ward, as well as Loughborough
athletes Jack Small and Jake Stevens. With a lap to go,
Jennings began to fade slightly, which Ward capitalised on
and began to close in on the lone leader out in front. This led
to nail biting finish, with Ward just overtaking Spencer in the
closing stages to take the win. Jennings held strong in
seventh, while Stevens and Small came over the line in
twelfth and seventeenth. Oxford ultimately edged the team
competition, with Loughborough finishing a close second.
While the boys were disappointed as pre-race favourites on
home soil, the result still marked a solid team performance.

Following the Long Course Race’s, the Short Course Races were next on the agenda. For
many universities, a selection process takes place ahead of BUCS, with the strongest
athletes chosen for the Long Course race, while the
remaining runners still have the opportunity to compete in
the Short Course event. This meant that both the Women’s
and Men’s Short Course Races were densely populated,
with over 500 finishers in the women’s, and a further 700 in
the men’s.

The Women’s Short Course followed a similar pattern to
the Long Course race’s, with a small leading pack
developing in the early stages. By this point, the ground
had deteriorated from what was a slightly muddy field into
more of a treacherous bog that was becoming increasingly
difficult to navigate. Even so, Loughborough was all over
the front, with India Frost and Erin Well’s holding strong in
the top positions. Being quite a lot shorter than the Long
Course event (just over five kilometres), staying near the
front and keeping gaps under control was even more
important, and the Loughborough athletes worked together
to keep the situation under control. As the finish drew
closer, it was clear that the victory was going to come from
one of three runners, Frost, Well’s and enemy university
Birmingham’s Evey Powell. The rest of the field was now in
drips and drabs behind, attempting to find the best line through the mud and get to the finish

line as quickly as possible. In the closing stages, Frost managed to pull away from her
Loughborough teammate and Birmingham foe to take the top step of the podium, while
Well’s was just out sprinted to third. Just over twenty seconds back, Loughborough’s
Catherine Martin and Sophie Lomas came home for sixth and eighth. Martin and Lomas
concluded a commanding victory for Loughborough in the teams’ standings with four
athletes in the top ten. The first four Loughborough runners were joined on the podium by
the B team, showcasing the university’s impressive strength in depth.

The final race of the day was the Men’s Short Course Race.
By this point, sections of the course had become so muddy
that for some, the use of hands and knees almost became a
necessity. Having competed in this race myself (albeit very
slowly), I can say it was certainly one of the more difficult
eight kilometre runs I have experienced. At the front of the
race, however, the mud didn’t slow Loughborough, who were
more dominant than in any of the previous three races. After
the obligatory “first corner sprint” was taken by an athlete from
Warwick, Loughborough’s Andrés Gras made an early break
in the first kilometre, with his fellow teammates organising
themselves behind. This move set up a strong attacking tone
for the rest of the team, with Hamish Reilly following suit and
pushing on to the front after a lap or so. Reilly later noted in a
post-race interview that being a “strength-based athlete”
definitely helped in the mud, something that became
increasingly clear as the race unfolded. Over the next lap,
Reilly built up a healthy margin over the rest of the field, with
the majority of the top twenty positions behind occupied by
Loughborough athletes. Reilly held his lead to the finish,
securing a comfortable victory ahead of fellow Loughborough
runners Will Sutcliffe and Alex Melloy. At the finish, Loughborough athletes claimed nine of
the top ten spots and fourteen of the top twenty, sweeping all three podium positions in the
team standings as well. As cross-country captain Steve Kerfoot
later reflected, “the highlight of the day for most of us was crossing
the finish line.” Whether this was down to the elation of a strong
performance or simply relief that the pain was over is up for debate.

Thanks to the event’s close proximity to Loughborough University,
the number of students competing for the university increased
significantly compared to previous years. Athletes from various
sports societies joined the athletics and cross-country squads,
helping to strengthen the home advantage for the university.
Athletes from Loughborough’s triathlon squads were especially well
represented, adding depth to the field and delivering several
notable performances, Reilly’s victory in the Men’s Short Course
being the most impressive. At the less competitive end of the field,
some triathletes contributed to the spectacle by choosing to wear tri-suits rather than the
usual singlet and shorts.
Overall, it was a hugely successful day for Loughborough at BUCS Cross Country, with
dominant performances across the races underlining the university’s depth, unity, and
strength on home soil.