Sargents and Palmers share cross country crown

Published: 18 March, 2011

With little wind and very mild temperatures, Newnham Park was the perfect setting for the whole school cross-country event.

The course was a mix of open fields and woodland trails, with a few hills thrown in for good measure.  Pupils ran either 2.3 km (Years 7 and 8), 3 km (Years 9 and 10) or 4.6 km (Year 11 and Sixth Form).

Amazingly, Sargents (green) and Palmers (red) clocked up exactly the same points so the highly-coveted Lang Cup was shared this year.  The shock continued when it was revealed that Dales (yellow) and Chaytors (blue) had also scored the same amount of points to come equal third.

In the seniors' 4.6 km race, Ollie Clenaghan (Year 11) was first home in a time of 17.19. Alice Rogers (Year 11) clocked 19.16 to be the first girl home.  George Stephenson was the first Upper Sixth boy (17.40), while Julia Hayes was the first Upper Sixth girl to cross the line (21.47). George Monk took the Lower Sixth boys' honour (18.05) with Anneliese Noakes taking the top spot for Lower Sixth girls (21.46). 

At intermediate level, Dominic Day (Year 10) took the top spot in the 3 km race finishing in 14.07.   Hettie Burrows (Year 10) was the first girl in a time of 17.06.   Sahila Kellett (14.51) and Joleen Davies (17.47) took the Year 10 titles.

The juniors covered 2.3 km, which saw Steven Rogers (Year 8) first past the post in 7.53.   Poppy Tank (Year 8) was the winning girl in a time of 8.24.  Frankie Aldred (8.07) and Tia Simms-Lymn (10.19) were the first boy and first girl home for Year 7.

Retired teacher, Graham Lang, who coached the school cross-country team for many years, presented the individual medals and the Lang Cup.  The event was organized by Deputy Head, Sarah Dunn.

"Newnham Park is a spectacular setting and I'm delighted with how the race went", said Sarah.   "The weather was kind to us, which was a huge relief, and it was fantastic to see the enthusiasm and energy of everyone coming together for a whole school event. 

"A big thank you to parents Mr and Mrs Cobbold for letting us use Newnham Park."