Cross Country Championship Reports

Bucks Cross Country Championships (Wednesday 5th Feb)

In previous years the Buckinghamshire Schools’ Championships and ISA North London Championships have been held on consecutive dates. This year the events were spaced a week apart, allowing Gateway to enter two teams at U11 and one individual runner at Year 7.

16 schools entered this year’s events. Conditions were wet and icy, with a blustery wind adding to the chill factor. The Year 5 and 6 run took the children around a hilly 1500m Hughenden Valley circuit. Year 7 children had to endure an extra 500m loop. The children also had to cross a rather swollen Hughenden Stream which left their feet numb for most of the run!

Results

Girls Year 5 & 6:
There were 116 runners in this event. Gateway finished 4th in the team event.

Merryn S 22nd, Mei-ya L 27th, Holly J 32nd Skye M (Year 55) 33rd, Emily J 42nd and Isobel M 49th

Boys Year 5 & 6:
There were 94 runners in this event. Gateway took Bronze medal position.

Zach R (Year 5) 5th, Ruairidh B12th, Luc B 17th, Timmy E 32nd, Freddie B (Year 5) 33rd and Monty L 63rd .

Although the race was a joint Year 5 and 6 team competition it was a pleasant surprise to hear that there were also individual medals for the first three Year 5 and 6 runners.

Zach R continued his excellent form by winning the Year 5 gold medal.

In the U12 Boys section, Will K represented Gateway over 2000m and came 50th out of 95.

ISA North London Cross Country Championships (Tuesday 11th February)

This event was hosted by Rushmoor School, taking place around their sports field and a small area of shrub land. The U9’s boys and girls together with the U11’s girls, had to run 1½ laps (approximately 1300m) and the U11 boys’ team ran 2 ½ laps (2000m). The conditions really tested the children’s running with heavy ground and patches of thick mud and a steep incline sapping their energy.

There were approximately 70-90 runners in each race. In the U11 category the top 10 finishers qualified to represent North London at the National finals in March.

Results

Under 9 Girls:
Esme Y 10th, Daisy S 15th , Hannah M 17th, Eva B 18th, Isabella J25th, Jemma T (Year 3) 33rd and Lucy L 35th.

Under 9 Boys:
Brandon N-T 7th , Oakley D (Y3) 9th, Guy J 15th, Cormac N18th, Kieran Mc 32nd and Hector C(72nd), inj.

Under 11 Girls:
Merryn S 6th, Mei-Ya L 9th, Skye M (Year 5) 13th, Holly J 16th, Emily J 19th, Isobel M 28th

Under 11 Boys:
Zach R (Year5) 1st, Ruairidh B 9th, Luc B 11th, Freddie B (Year 5) 15th, Will N (Year 5) 28th and Timmy E 70th, inj.

The team results for this event have not come through yet, but will be posted once they are available.

There were some very gutsy performances during the afternoon’s running and the standard of competition was very high. Zach R won his 4th consecutive gold and was particularly impressive pacing his run superbly to take the lead with 250m. He held on and still had enough energy for a 70m sprint finish.

We congratulate the squad on their endeavours and wish Zach, Ruairidh, Merryn and Mei-Ya all the best for the National finals at Princethorpe College, Rugby, on the 1st March. Thanks go to those parents who travelled to support the squad and for help in getting children back for the Sign2Sing choir performance.

The next local schools’ event will be at Lowndes Park, Chesham on Saturday 8th March. Please keep an eye on the notice board for team selection.

HJ