Summary Report - Cross Country Season 2007/2008
January 14th, 2008
By Miss H. Arnold
May I begin by thanking both the runners and their families for their commitment, dedication and support during this years cross country season.
Following the inter-house cross country, which ran for all year groups here at Tollbar BEC, I invited a number of athletes to participate in the qualifying events – to hoepfully gain a place in the District Championship.
Whilst some students have other obligations (football being our main rival!) we did in fact manage to have 27 runners that completed at least two qualifying races and were selected for the College District team. This is a fantastic achievement, and one which I more than appreciate.
The 1st qualifier this year was organised by myself and the Tollbar BEC P.E. curriculum area staff, and set the bar extremely high for all other schools in the area. We planned well, had great parental support and a brilliant turn out of runners.
Most notable of the performances were from two of our young year 7 students, Elizabeth Lake and Liam Fletcher. Having never run a cross country race at Secondary level a mixture of both nervousness and excitement led them to 1st and 3rd positions respectively. Other solid attempts came from Fushia Clayton (3rd), Sophie Lake (2nd) and Craig Holden (3rd.)
The 2nd qualifying race was hosted by Healing school, and led to much apprehension as it was scheduled to be during Tollbar’s half term. To my relief and their credit the runners turned out in great numbers, and produced some of the best times that our District has seen in a long while. The course was not the easiest to follow, though the brilliant sunshine and sizable crowd both worked in the runners favour.
Three 1st places (Elizabeth Lake, George Waiton & Patrick Atkin) alongside two 2nd’s (Katie Over & Sophie Lake) were our icing on the cake for this fixture.
The last qualifier, YMCA, was originally scheduled to be at Weelsby woods, however was changed to give the runners a chance to attempt the course they would run in the District Championships.
Patrick Atkin had the hardest race of all, as he forgot to take his inhaler at the start line. Despite gasping for air and couching severely Patrick still managed to produce a 2nd place performance – showing great character and a willingness to do his best for himself and the College.
Many improvements in position were accomplished at this race, with pats on the back all round.
Ross Alexander struggled at the start, but found some energy for the second half of the course, whilst Sarah Withers thrived on the hills and looked more and more at ease with her endurance improvements.
The District final saw 14 of our 27 runners here at Tollbar BEC achieve a top 10 finish. If we compared this figure to when I took over the team in 2005 (only 7 runners from the College altogether qualifying for Grimsby & District) it is with thanks, pride and optimism that I look to our future cross country seasons.
I would like to give special mentions to Stacey & Sammy Needham, Craig Holden, Tom Atkin and Brett Silvester who will leave College this summer – your contributions to College sport have been invaluable and you will be missed.