Herne Hill Harriers enjoyed one of their most successful outings in the Surrey cross country championships in Dorking last Saturday (7 January) with its young athletes playing a huge part in the medal haul. 
 
11-year old Saskia Millard claimed an individual gold medal after winning the under-13 girls' race in 11.59 minutes, almost 30 seconds ahead of her nearest rival, producing one of the best performances of the day for the south London-based athletics club. Kate Brown (9th), Breagha Campbell (11th) and Hebe Morley-Fletcher (32nd) all backed up Saskia to win team bronze. In the under-13 boys' race, Paul Burgess, another emerging young talent, finished in second place claiming silver with a time of 12.05 minutes. Paul led the under-13 boys' team to a gold medal and was followed in by Isacc Brown in 8th, Sam Cohen in 9th and Feysel Nadew in 10th.
 
The Harriers also won team silver in the under-15 boys' race with Merhawi Yemane making a welcome return to racing finishing in fourth place in 13.54 minutes. He was backed up by Lascelles Hussey in 8th, Abdu Mohammed in 13th and Clarke Aaron in 30th. Amin Jisow (8th), James Allen (17th) Idris Ali (23rd) and John Taylor (24th) all combined well to win team bronze in the under-17 men's race.
 
But the young athletes continued to inspire for the club with Lewis Lloyd picking up an individual silver medal in the men's under-20 race. Lewis had been in contention for gold after running with the lead pack for most of the race but had to settle for second place in a time of 19.25 minutes. Lewis was chased in by Charles Philpott in 14th and Nathan Stone in 17th to claim yet another team bronze medal for the club.
 
In the senior men's race, Kojo Kyereme was the first Harrier home in 7th place and superb team packing by Chris Busaileh in 10th, Ben Paviour in 11th, Dave Taylor in 12th, Alan Barnes in 13th and Brian Wilder in 21st ensured first team prize by a margin of eight points over domestic rivals Belgrave Harriers. The Harriers have now won the senior men's competition 10 times in the past 11 years.
 
The Harriers return to cross country action on 14 January at Farthing Downs, Coulsdon where they hope to extend their lead in the penultimate fixture of the Surrey League.

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