Records Fall in Opening Fixture of League
Wells Leisure Centre, Tue 7 October 2003
Records fell as this year's Junior
Schools Cross Country League kicked off at Wells Leisure Centre last
Tuesday. The league, held once again through the kind sponsorship of
Mendip District Council, has introduced cross country running to
literally thousands of school children since its inception more than
ten years ago. Over the years the standard of the leading runners as
proved to be of the highest quality - with many going on to finish
well up in national events. This year the league has attracted a
record entry from 17 schools, with nearly 500 children registered
for the five race series. At each venue four races are run, two for
Lower School (years 3 and 4) Girls and Boys, and two for Upper
School (years 5 and 6) Girls and Boys. With such a big entry it came
as no surprise when 320 children competed at the first fixture.
For once no clear winners emerged, and all
four races were keenly contested. Honours in the first race of the
afternoon went to Ruby Kelly of St Joseph's, who overhauled the
early lead of year 3 girl Abigail Locke of Brookside in the closing
stages. Jo Callendar-Wood led home the winning team from St
Benedict's in third place, with team -mates Hannah Hurford 5th and
Naomi Neale 7th. Ellie Robbins of Upton Noble came home in 4th
place, with Harriet Godfrey of Elmhurst 6th. The remainder of the
top ten were Alice De-Quidt (Wells Central), Paige Richards
(Brookside) and Lorna Murray (St Lawrences). Behind St Benedicts (15
points) the minor team places went to Brookside (35 points) from St
Joseph and Teresa (48 points).
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The lower school boys event proved a closely
fought affair, though in the end Oli Bryant of Wells Central gained
a clear winning lead over Kieran Young of St Aldhelms, with another
Wells Central pupil Elliot Rutter in third. With the boys streaming
over the finish line, Liam Hodges (St Pauls) just grabbed forth from
Daniel D'Arcy (Evercreech) and leading year 3s, Ben Millar (St
Joseph's)and Christopher Brown (St Louis). The remainder of the top
ten were William Sharpe (Upton Noble) William Norris (St Viga and St
John) and Jacob Davey (Brookside). With a long wait for Wells
Central's third scorer the team race was still up for grabs, with
first St Louis completing with 48 points, closely followed by
Brookside and St Joseph's amazingly also on 48 points; before Harvey
Kelly closed the winning team for Wells in 31st place, bringing
their total to 35 points.
The upper school girls race, over two laps of
the undulating course around the rugby pitches and grounds
surrounding the leisure centre, was a keenly fought affair, with the
leading runners soon breaking away from the rest. Running second
through the first lap, last years lower girls winner Aoife Thorogood
of St Joseph's looked like she might steal the race on the second
circuit, but the older legs of Millfield's Abbey Rimmer took her
away for a narrow victory. Wells Central's Amanda Brereton won the
battle for third, ahead of Lucy Etherington (Millfield), Fiona Hares
(Horrington), Jessica Goodfellow, and another outstanding year five
Posy Frederick (both of Millfield). With three runners in the top
six places Millfield were clear winners of the team race. Eighth
place was taken by Claire Fowler of St Louis, just ahead of an
excellent team performance from St Benedicts, with Shannon Kurle
9th, Emily Brown 10th and Holly Ferguson 12th. Third team home was
Wells Central.
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When the whistle went for the start of
the last race of the day, a record of over 110 upper school boys
sprinted away, quickly led by local lad Sam Norris. While Sam
managed a 25m lead by the second bend, that was all he was able to
gain as the rest gave chase in what was to be a very keenly
contested event. While Sam maintained his narrow lead, the positions
behind changed regularly, but settled towards the end, as Matthew
Law (Oakhill) came through at the finish for second, ahead of Tom
Ward (Elmhurst) and Dan Rutter (Wells Central). This year the year
5's seem to be particularly competitive, with five of the next sis
placings going to the younger boys. Millfield's Callum Batten just
got the better of Wells Central's Ross Padfield who had the
consolation of closing the winning team. Tyler Green of Oakhill came
home in seventh place, just ahead of Harry Garratt (St Benedicts)
and Daniel Lewis Williams (Millfield), with Issac Curtis (Elmhurst)
closing the top ten. Behind Wells Central's 11 points, Oakhill
finished runners-up on 22 points with Elmhurst third on 29 points. |
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