AMPLEFORTH VERSUS STONYHURST
THE 50th ANNIVERSARY RACE
Saturday 27th February 2016
Course: Stonyhurst
Distance: 5 miles
Conditions: Wet underfoot, slight cool breeze
In February seven OAs travelled to Stonyhurst to celebrate the 50th anniversary of cross country
versus Stonyhurst College. Ampleforth College and Stonyhurst College each entered a 1st and 2nd VIII
boys team and also a girls 1st VIII team. The Old Amplefordians (OA) and Old Stonyhurst (OS)
entered alumni teams.
The event was masterminded by Hugh Dickinson (OS) following a similar invitational match at
Ampleforth in January 2015. The alumni teams were racing for the Christopher Newton-Carter
Trophy, a new trophy dedicated in memory to Christopher who was an old boy of Beaumont and
Stonyhurst. Christopher ran in the inaugural Ampleforth / Stonyhurst race at Ampleforth in 1967 and
tragically died in the September 11th attacks in 2001. Christopher’s brother Mark attended the race
along with three OS who also ran in the inaugural race; Chris Fleming-Jones, Edward Sutherland and
Richard Barnes. Christopher’s sister; Teresa who lives in the States and her friends ran a course of the
same length in the States at exactly the same time and Hugh Thomas another contemporary of
Christopher’s also ran at the same time in Florida.
In total there were 70 runners in the race including 33 alumni. The OAs arrived at Stonyhurst on a
high having come 2nd to Sherborne in a closely fought Alumni Race in December and having
convincingly won the OA race at Ampleforth in January. For Ampleforth College, this was its last
race of the season and by all accounts would pose a stiff challenge to both of the Alumni teams.
The teams set off from the driveway in front of the College and turned right up onto the Stonyhurst
golf course. The first two miles were largely uphill. As the runners ran through a stream and climbed
the steep road behind the College, the runners separated into small groups. Ahead, Hugh-Guy
Lorriman built a thirty metre gap on the following runners and only one independent runner (son of an
OS) ran ahead of Hugh-Guy. At the top of the hill the runners turned left and raced along an
undulating lane towards Crowshaw Farm. On the road Rory Henderson passed Jake Harrison of
Ampleforth College to take 4th position. Brian Thursby-Pelham (OS) ran in third but due to a leg
injury had difficulties on the varied and hilly terrain. Further back Ben Guest and Ollie BrodrickWard built confidence by running together. They passed Sean Eke of Ampleforth College and later
the Stonyhurst College captain Jan Zimoch. The course turned left off the country lane, across a cattle
grid and descended along a muddy footpath towards Deer House Woods. This was a particularly
challenging part of the course which involved a number of stile crossings and some extremely muddy
sections of open fell. As the course descended steeply towards Dean Brook, one OS runner fell but
Nick Ryan, Michael Rumbold and David Lowe (OAs) kept their balance and raced on.
The OA top four packed well taking 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th. However the race required six runners to score
and with the OAs next two runners coming 15th and 22nd it meant that the OS team had won the race
and the Christopher Newto-Carter Trophy.
The boys race was much closer with the final score being 40-41. Jake Harrison of Ampleforth College
won the boys race and Ampleforth College took the first three positions in the girls’ race. This was the
5th time that Stonyhurst had won against Ampleforth College and the first time since 2004.
Afterwards there was tea in the College’s New Refectory followed by a presentation of the
Christopher Newton-Carter Trophy to the OS captain. In the evening the teams gathered for a
wonderful celebratory black tie dinner in the College’s Upper Refectory. The refectory was
fabulously decorated with portraits of OSs who had been awarded the Victoria Cross, a trophy wall
hanging of a bison’s head and a table which Oliver Cromwell had slept on during the Civil War. A
number of speeches were made and the OS sang one of their college songs. Christopher’s brother
Mark was given a photograph of the 1967 Cross Country team by the Chairman of the Stonyhurst
Association and it was voiced by all that the OA / OS race should become an annual fixture.
1st VIII Result
Alumni Result
Stonyhurst College
40
Old Stonyhurst
39
Ampleforth College
41
Old Amplefordians
53
AMPLEFORTH VERSUS STONYHURST
RESULTS
Ampleforth lead by 28 wins to 5 (17 cancelled races)
Year
Home / Away
Team winner
Score
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972*
1973
1974
Away
Home
Cancelled
Away
Home
Away
Away
Home
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Stonyhurst
Ampleforth
33 - 74
36 - 70
40 - 70
25 - 77
82 - 98
43 – 54
40 - 60
Individual race winner
O’Meara (Stonyhurst)
O’Meara (Stonyhurst)
R. Mathews (Ampleforth)
M. Forsythe (Ampleforth)
(no record)
Harrington (Stonyhurst)
Blake (Denstone)
1975*
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980*
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996*
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015*
2016
Away
Away
Home
Cancelled
Away
Cancelled
Cancelled
Home
Cancelled
Away
Home
Away
Home
Away
Home
Away
Home
Away
Cancelled
Cancelled
Away
Home
Cancelled
Home
Away
Cancelled
Cancelled
Cancelled
Cancelled
Away
Home
Away
Home
Away
Cancelled
Cancelled
Cancelled
Cancelled
Cancelled
Home
Home
Away
Ampleforth
Stonyhurst
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Stonyhurst
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Stonyhurst
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Ampleforth
Stonyhurst
29 - 63
43 - 51
34 – 44
43 – 78
32 - 51
32 – 49
22 – 61
36 - 49
37 - 41
24 - 82
25 - 53
36 - 42
26 – 61
38 - 40
35 - 44
35 - 64
31 - 51
27 - 52
43 - 52
26 – no score
21 - 67
21 – 69
21 - 69
25 - 53
80 - 148
40-41
B. Finlow (Ampleforth)
Golland (Denstone)
N. Gaynor (Ampleforth)
Hodson (MGS)
A. Symonds (Stonyhurst)
J. Perry (Ampleforth)
E. Mangles (Ampleforth)
N. Ryan (Ampleforth)
T. Gibson (Ampleforth)
D. Graham (Ampleforth)
A. Myers (Ampleforth)
A. Myers (Ampleforth)
E. Wilcox (Ampleforth)
E. Wilcox (Ampleforth)
St John Pryce (Stonyhurst)
R. Fraser (Ampleforth)
R .Fraser (Ampleforth)
E. Forsythe (Ampleforth)
H. Sinapius (Stonyhurst)
A. McTough (Ampleforth)
H. Guiver (Ampleforth)
A. Brazier (Ampleforth)
A. Brazier (Ampleforth)
W Lyon Tupman (Ampleforth)
Jan Zimoch (Stonyhurst)
Jake Harrison (Ampleforth)
1972 - a four-way race against Stonyhurst, Denstone and Newcastle under Lyme (NLS). NLS won and
Ampleforth came 2nd.
1975 - the race was held at Denstone
1980 - Ampleforth ran against Stonyhurst and Denstone in a three-way fixture until 1980.
1996 – the race was a three way fixture with Stonyhurst and Norwich.
2015 - only four Stonyhurst runners finished the race.