When you’re in Year 7, the thrill of a weekend in Cornwall running cross country representing not only your school but also the south east region, must be immense. It’s also pretty terrifying, according to Victoria Picken, who described the experience as ‘so scary’! Breakfasting on toast and cereal they rose beautifully to the occasion. When they reached the course for their 2pm race they were struck by the fact that it looked like a maze, even finishing in the middle, as it would. Fiona Basham, Year 8, thought it looked almost like a horse–racing track because it was so open, which was good because you could see and hear all the supporters. It felt much more competitive and there was a steep hill, much trickier to run than the rounds they’d faced before. It was also very muddy – to the extent that Greta lost her shoes in the squelch, but determinedly finished the last 300m of the race in her socks. Well done to everyone!

The results were as follows:

In the Cross Country National Finals held in Cornwall on Saturday 5 December we were absolutely delighted that the Juniors were bronze medallists, placed 3rd in the country and the Intermediates were 5th. There were excellent individual results too: out of 150 runners at each level, Natasha Sinha came 10th in the Juniors, and Sophie Parkes 7th and Grace de Rome 9th in the Intermediates.

Congratulations to the teams:

Juniors – Victoria Picken and Hannah Webb (Year 7), Natasha Sinha (Year 8), Fiona Basham, Georgina Hay, Greta Sharp and Florence Savage (Year 8); Intermediates – Grace de Rome, Sophie Parkes, Johanna Mandal, Bryony Brightman and Ashleigh Campbell (Year 9) and Ellie Webb, Year 10.