Author: Team Kennet Administrator

2026 Great British Schools Biathlon Finals Qualifiers

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 15 January 2026. Posted in General.

Pentathlon GB are have confirmed the list of athletes who have successfully qualified for the 2026 Great British Schools Biathlon Finals, taking place in March 2026.

The top scoring eligible competitors aged from year 3 to year 13, as well as their teachers, have been invited to enter Pentathlon GB’s flagship event taking place on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March 2026 at the University of Bath.

Chester Bailey, Affra Bailey, Matilda Saunders and Harriet Saunders have all qualified for the event in March. Good Luck to them all!

South of England Indoor Championships

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 12 January 2026. Posted in Track & Field.

Team Kennets Ella Larkin struck gold at the weekend in the under 13 girls 800m in the South of England Indoor Championships being held at Lee Valley.

On the Saturday Ella had to earn her place in the final by either winning her heat or being top 3 fastest loser, Ella went out steady in third place over two laps picking of second place girl on the third lap and then taking the leader over the last 100m to win her best in fastest time of the day just under 2.29, on Sunday Ella started in lane 6 again she settled in third place but for only 400m then Ella surprised the field by speeding up which no one following, she extended her distance all the way to the finish clocking 2.25.88 some 4 seconds clear of the field and also breaking the clubs indoor 800m record.

Also taking part for the under 15 boys was Matias Manrique Huelgas in the 200m. Matias progressed well through the heats, and semi final to reach the final finishing in 6th place.

Berkshire Cross Country Championships

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 6 January 2026. Posted in Cross Country.

Nine Team Kennet athletes took part in the Berkshire Cross Country Championships at Dinton Pastures, near Reading. It was a lovely day for XC racing with clear skies, sunshine and perfect temperature.

The course was very interesting, with an inner loop that was very twisty and turney with a few up and down sections over a mound in the middle of the field. The outer loop was much straighter and flatter, allowing a faster pace, with a straight and downhill finish. Conditions were perfect with the course mostly being soft grass, without too much mud or boggy conditions.

The Under-13 Girls (3.2k) had a great day with Ella Larkin finishing in 3rd place (just loosing out on 2nd in the last few meters). This secures Ella a place in the Berkshire team for the Inter-Counties Championship in March.

Tilly Clare finished in 9th place, improving on her performance from last year and securing 1st reserve slot for the Berkshire team. Next, in 11th was Quinn Joyce, also putting in a great performance and securing a reserve slot. Darcy Claridge finished in an excellent 13th place, only a couple of seconds behind Quinn and the 12th place runner.

With the first three athletes home counting as a team, Team Kennet secured a silver medal in the Under-13 Girls competition. Bracknell AC were the winners and Maidenhead AC were in third.

In the Under-13 Boys (3.2km) race, Team Kennet had two athletes competing. In a very strong field, Josh Bailey secured 25th place and Josh Kuijten finished in 28th.

Reuben Kuijten competed in the Under-15 Boys (4.7km) race, which was another strong field, securing a finish in 23rd place.

Finally, in the Masters (9.6km) race, Bart Kuijten finished in an excellent 9th position, with Chris Turner securing a 27th place finish.

Oxford League Cross Country Match 2

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 5 January 2026. Posted in Cross Country.

Round 2 of the Oxford XC league took place yesterday at a cold and sunny Horspath. The course was much drier than previous years and the weather, sunny and dry.

Our first runners were in the Under 9 girls race and they both did excellently. Annabelle Jones was 4th in her first Oxon XC race and Isabella Dearns was 5th.

Under 11 Girls also had excellent finishes, Matilda Saunders just beaten in to 2nd place and Olivia Kwit 7th

Matthew Jones ran his first race in the league and was 2nd, just behind the winner.

Senior men and ladies were a bit depleted by injuries and illness and a clash with the Berks Champs. Mitch Poustie was 191st, Simon Hockaday 210 and Simon Gale 213rd.

Katie Reynolds was an excellent 67th in the ladies race.

Hampshire Cross Country Championships

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 5 January 2026. Posted in Cross Country, General.

Competition kicked off early in 2026 with the Hampshire County Cross Country Championships on Saturday 3 January at a frosty Fairthorne Manor, Botley.

Matilda Saunders from Team Kennet raced in the U11 girls event which quickly developed into a head to head battle between Matilda and an athlete from Southampton Athletics Club with the lead repeatedly changing hands. Matilda eventually finished in 2nd place securing a County silver medal.

Olivia Bentley also from Team Kennet, raced over 4km in the U15 girls event. Olivia made a solid start but, with some strong running through the wooded section, she progressed through the field to take an excellent 7th place in a tightly packed finish. This result places Olivia in a strong position for Hampshire team consideration.

South of England Championships 2025

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 6 December 2025. Posted in General.

Team Kennet Athletes were fired up for the South of England Championships at Crystal Palace for u13/15/17

Day 1

Gold success came from Turkay Altuntas in the under 17 Discus as he threw 42.77 to win by over 3 metres, to cap this earlier he won a Bronze in the Shot just missing the club record with a new p.b. of 13.35.

Oscar Hook also struck a Bronze in the Hammer throwing over 40m for the first time with 40.34 in the under 15 boys

In the under 13 girls Isla Ladds produced a p.b. of 4.30m long jump to take 6th place in which 22 girls took part in a tough competition.

Isla later took part in the 200m coming 5th in her heat in also new personal best of 30.39s.

Day 2

Only the one athlete from TK today took part that was Berkay Altuntas in the under 15 boys Discus, going into the championships he was ranked 19th in the UK, and against most of the boys ranked above him, Berkay produced personal best throw by 1cm finishing with 35.72m placing him in 8th place.

This marked another milestone for the club as it was a record medal hull for the club on medals.

Basingstoke Junior Cross Country Match 1

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 2 November 2025. Posted in Cross Country, General.

Team Kennet hosted the rearranged round 1 Basingstoke Cross Country League at Downe Grange in Basingstoke, over a technical and muddy course otherwise conditions were ideal for cross country running, first up was under 9 girls, TK fielded only 4 girls first home was Isabella Chapman in 6th place, next home was Florence Randall-Bird 10th with Bella Dearns 13th and Molly Bell 25th. The under 9 Boys were next and a superb race developed by two TK runners with Chester Bailey coming home 1st and Lenny Wyvill 2nd, Idris Gaye battled well to finish 8th and with William Winter 11th secured a team victory, Archie Pilling was next home in 15th and Rory Ridler 23^rd.

The under 11 girls were next to start which saw the clubs biggest turnout, Ella Larkin went off from the gun to control the race to come home in first place, Praiya Foreman ran a superb race to finish in 2nd place, Matilda Saunders was next in 5th place and with Alice Stratford 8th the team scored another victory, Ella Parsons ran a brilliant race to finish 9th, Cecily Wyer was 24th, Ayala Wyvill 33rd, Evelyn Barker 38th and Darcy Scaplehorn 39^th. The under 11 boys only saw two from the club due to illness and other sports, Joshua Kuijten was 26th and Gethin Thomas 35th in a field of over 60.

The under 13 girls saw another winner, this time Harriet Saunders battled through the course to take victory, Olivia Bentley hung in well to come home in 4th followed by Tilly Clare 6th and Ella McDonald just behind in 7th which was good enough for another team victory, Affra Bailey was 13^th. The under 13 boys ran well to pack in their race with over 50 taking part, Harry Smith took control of the race after a few minutes to gradually pull away from a small group to win, Samuel Atkins came through the field to finish 12th, with Josh Bailey 14th and Henry Bell 15th saw the team finish 3rd on the day, Elliot Bell was next home in 22nd and Ben Doherty 24^th.

The under 15 girls saw Anna Hall finish in 3rd place and Ella Cronk 12th The Under 15 boys Rueben Kuijten came home in 8th place.

Hurstbourne Tarrant 5 – Junior Run

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 5 September 2025. Posted in General.

Two Team Kennet athletes took part in the junior run of the Hurstbourne Tarrant 5 yesterday.

Olivia Bentley came first overall in 9 minutes and 1 second, and Olivia Kwit was 3rd female finisher and 10th overall in 10 minutes and 16 seconds.

Hampshire County Quadrathlon Championships and May Day Mile

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 5 September 2025. Posted in General.

There was Team Kennet success at the Hampshire County Quadrathlon Championships and May Day Mile held at Portsmouth today.

Matilda Saunders secured the bronze medal in the U11 girls quadrathlon (same format as QuadKids but a different scoring system) with a strong all round performance. The highlight was a huge PB in the long jump achieving 3.70m.

Elodie Burdett and Harriet Saunders took part in the May Day Mile open event which was run as mixed gender and age group races. Following some late withdrawals Elodie was the only U13 girl to race but maintained her focus and ran well to finish in 6:10.9. Harriet ran a perfectly paced race – stretching the field from halfway to win the U15 age group and finish as the fastest woman of the day in 5:16.5. This PB also sets a new club record for the U15 girls category.

Basingstoke Junior Cross Country Match 1

Written by Team Kennet Administrator on 10 July 2025. Posted in General.

Team Kennet kicked of their Cross Country campaign for the season in the first round match of the Basingstoke Cross Country League being held at Basingstoke in lovely warm Autumn sunshine, The terrain being undulated was ideal for cross country running.

With New clubs coming in to the league this year, numbers were well up in the races making way for good competition and long distances.

The under 9 Girls started the day of, Annabelle Jones Led most the way round, only to be pipped in the last 200m of the race having to settle for 2^nd place, Bella Dearns also went out hard and she maintained her top 5 position all the way round to sprint to the finish line in 4^th place, another Great run came from Gracie Williams coming home in a fast 6^th place, Pippa clay was next home also having a fantastic race in 17^th place securing a team 2nd place on the day, Jessica Burt was next home in 18^th, Maya Larkin 19^th and Isabella Harte 20^th saw the girls home with over 40 runners in the race

The Next race was the under 9 Boys, Rory Ridler went from the gun on a mission to win, he maintained his front running all the way home to take a great victory, Tavish Davidson was 18^th and Samuel Pacutova was 19^th in another big field of over 40 plus. The Boys were 5^th team

The Individual wins kept coming in, The Under 11 girls were next up, Praiya Foreman also went out fast and broke away from the field immediately to extend her lead and take a convincing win, Matilda Saunders kept up with the third place girl to be out sprinted in the last 200m to take 4^th place, Olivia Kwitt was next home coming in at 10^th place holding her own most the way round, and Isabella Chapman came home in 13^th place fore the team to take 2^nd place on the day. Next home was Florence Randall-Bird in 17^th and Emily Tomlin in 24^th that’s saw over 70 girls in the race.

Another win came in the under 11 Boys, Not only a win but a 1-2-3, some great racing by the under 11 boys, Chester Bailey took it on with a huge field of 84 runners, he slowly edged away to win by 25 metres hitting the undulating parts hard and fast to gain the advantage on the pack behind, in that pack were two TK boys, they sat back and waited till the last 200m for Lenny Wyvill to take 2^nd place and Matthew Jones taking third place on the line, Idris Gaye was the fourth scorer in 19^th place to take first team on the day.

The second TK team was led home by William Winter in 28^th place followed by Archie Pilling 36^th, Percy Reed 42^nd and James Rehill 59^th with Jacob Williams bringing home rest of the boys in 69^th place.

The Fourth Individual win came from the under 13 Girls, Ella Larkin took full control over the 2 laps to extend her lead by well over 45 seconds in another huge field of over 50 girls in the race, it looked like another 1-2-3 was coming from the girls, Quinn Joyce ran a superb race to finish in a strong 2^nd place, and Matilda Clare who was running with Quinn most the way, just ran out of steam and had to settle for 5^th place, and with Ella McDonald coming home in a strong 6^th place the girls took a convincing team win. TK saw 12 girls turn out in this age group which is a record for the club in this age group, the B team saw home Affra Bailey 9^th place having a great race coming through the field, Darcy Claridge was next in 12^th , with Alice Stratford 15^th and Penelope Lyth 17^th the B team were 3^rd overall, The C team was led home by Chloe Davidson 19^th, Ella Parsons 25^th, Orlagh Stratford 27^th and Lottie Longhurst 31^st

The under 13 Boys saw only 3 boys turnout led by Sam Atkins in 12^th place, with Josh Bailey 22^nd and Josh Kuijten 35^th were one short of a team but got plus one to finish 5^th team on the day, the Field saw over 40 runners again.

The under 15 girls and Boys now start together including u17s saw a field of around 60 start the race, in the girls Olivia Bentley worked her way through the field to Finish 4^th girl but in her age group taking 3^rd place, in the Boys Harry Smith came 5^th overall but taking out older boys he to came home in 4th place Rueben Kuijten was in the top half and had to pull out due to breathing issues, and Daniel Hurst came home in 51^st place.