St George’s and King’s College London shared the first silverware of the season in an historic final race of the University of London Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships.
The championships, competed for by member institutions of the University of London will not be held from next season after a vote of the LUCA captain’s council. The championships have been held within LUCA XC and it’s precursor the London Colleges League for decades.
Stanislas Babin of King’s College London won the men’s race and led King’s to gold in the men’s team championship. DJ Matthews (RVC) and Leon Wheeler (King’s) were second and third. King’s also won the mixed team championship, one point ahead of St George’s.
It was a special day for St George’s Grace Leyland who won the race to draw level in the LUCA XC League with Surrey’s Evie Warren who came second. Grace took the UL championship title ahead of Emily Davies (LSE) and Julia Alonso Gautrais (UCL) and in doing so helped St George’s women claim gold in the UL team championship.
But it will be winning the United Hospital’s Bannister Cup that will feel particularly sweet, with St George’s now claiming the cup four seasons in a row. One more time will see them draw level with Bart’s with five titles.
In the LUCA League, the race was won by Daniel McKinney (Reading) which see’s him move up to third in the league with 397 points. Hugo Donovan (UAL) sits on top after finishing second in the race with 399 points. Imperial’s Ishaan Makkar is second in the league with 397 points.
In the women’s league it’s mighty tight at the top. Grace Leyland (St George’s) and Evie Warren (Surrey) are joint first on 399 points with Julia Alonso Gautrais (UCL) in third on 395 points. Madelaine Parmar (St George’s) and Emily Chong (UCL) are tied for 4th on 391 points and Kaitlin Hewitt (UCL) and Carys Firth (King’s) are tired for 6th on 387.
King’s went into the race ahead in the Mike Baggs trophy but UCL leapfrogged them into top spot. UCL lead with 25 points, King’s are in second on 23 and LSE are in third on 20.
The league resumes in 2025 at Mitcham Common on Wednesday 29th January, hosted by St George’s.
