Princethorpe Hosted English Schools County Cross Country Qualifier
On Monday 7 October Princethorpe College hosted the county qualifying round of the English Schools Athletics Association’s (ESAA) Cross Country Cup.
Visiting schools entered Junior (Year 7/8) and Intermediate (Year 9/10) Boys' and Girls' teams in two races of 60 runners each. The course led the runners out around the College grounds, with the Junior Boys and Girls running 2500m and the Inter Boys and Girls a full 4000m. The weather was fair for October which, for cross country, gave the competitors good running conditions.
The ESSA Cross Country Cup is a three-round competition, a County qualification round, followed by a Regional Final and then the best teams go forward to a National Final. This event is all about the first four in each team over the line aiming to score the least possible points. The top teams with the lowest aggregate scores then go through to the next round.
Princethorpe’s Junior Girls ran an excellent race with two girls placing in the top five. Kate Pomerleau led the field home to finish first, she was closely followed by a determined Ava Farren who finished in 4th and Kaena Wasley who placed 14th. For the Junior Boys Oliver Farquharson ran well to finish 8th with Oscar Reynolds just behind in 10th position.
The Inter Boys team ran a steady race with Ollie Bench placing 8th, closely followed by Zak Johnson 10th and Will Antrobus in 12th. For the Inter Girls, Grace Darcy led the Princethorpe pack home finishing 10th, followed by Evie Phillips 11th, Jess Evans 12th and Julia Loftus 13th.
Head of Outdoor Education, Will Bower, commented, “Princethorpe’s pupils ran well against tough competition. We are just waiting to hear who has qualified for the next round.”
Also running for Princethorpe were: Samuel Allen, Olivia Bacon, Andre Barnett, Alex Bonsall, Jamie Capelett, Toby Collett, Tilly Houghton, Finn Knight-Gray, Timothé Peyret, Emma Sarkies, Olivia Sarkies and Dan Webb.
Thanks to all of the staff involved in hosting and organising this event.