Historic First: Two Champions Crowned in LUCA XC League Women’s Title Race
The LUCA Cross Country League came to a thrilling conclusion at Wormwood Scrubs with an unprecedented result in the women’s competition—two athletes sharing the league title for the first time in recorded history. The dramatic finale capped off an intense season of racing, which saw six athletes in the women’s race seperated by only 11 points.
Evie Warren (Surrey) went into the final race having won at Parliament Hill and Mitcham and finishing second at Wimbledon. Grace Leyland (St George’s) twice finished second behind Warren and won at Wimbledon. A single point seperated the athletes with Leyland knowing that only a victory at Wormwood Scrubs would be good enough for any chance at gold. Warren would take solo gold if she won and would share gold if Leyland won with her second.
The race for bronze was also tightly contested with Julia Alonso Gautrais (UCL), Carys Firth (KCL), Madelaine Parmar (St George’s) and Emily Chong (UCL) all in contention.
History made
In the end, Leyland won the race in a time of 20.50, ahead of Warren who crossed the line in 21.13. The result meant that gold was shared between the two athletes for the first time in LUCA XC / London Colleges League recorded history. Julia Alonso Gautrais took bronze under the ‘best worst result’ tiebreak rule, having tallied the same amount of points (590) as Carys Firth.
The dramatic finale to the women’s race capped of an historic season which saw a record 177 women compete.
Donovan Earns Gold on Debut Season
Meanwhile, the men’s competition crowned a standout new champion, as UAL’s Hugo Donovan claimed the title in the university’s first-ever season in the LUCA XC League.
Donovan had impressed throughout the campaign, winning at Parliament Hill and Mitchan and coming second at Wimbledon. His points tally meant he did not need to run in the final race, leaving the battle for silver and bronze wide open.
The race was won by Oskar Fraser-Krauss (Imperial) who, despite a sixth place finish in Race 3 had been unable to compete at races 1 and 2. Tom Omahoney (St George’s) came in second, securing the silver medal in the league with Reading’s Daniel McKinney taking bronze.
An imperial run of form
In the team standings, Imperial Men’s team continued their domination by securing a firth sucsessive team title. UCL held onto their Women’s team title and also reclaimed the Mike Baggs trophy from holders KCL.
As the cross-country season wraps up, attention now shifts to the track and road, where LUCA student athletes will soon return to battle for titles at Hyde Park Relays and the LUCA Outdoor Championships.
