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The Dorset Schools Cross Country Championships took place at Bryanston School, Blandford, on the 17th Jan 2004 - Unconfirmed results are available from the links above. |
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RACE REPORT – DORSET SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday 17th January 2004
The splendid grounds of Bryanston School, Blandford, were the setting for the 2004 Cross-Country Championships. After last-minute changes to the course due to rising river levels during the course of the previous week, the clear, frosty conditions on the morning of the race came as a pleasant surprise. With most of Dorset’s top runners able to represent their area on the day, the standard of competition was high, with an exciting mix of dominant performances and some hard-fought, very close finishes. The course, designed and set out by Quentin Craddock and Paul Hart (???) of Bryanston School, was superb, as was the organisation of the races and the deployment of marshals. Our thanks to them for their superb organisation in advance and hard work on the day.
The results of each race have been published in full on the DSAA Website, but we would like to congratulate the following:
Minor Boys Dorset Champion: G. Atkins from Hamworthy Middle School, who won in 9 min 44 sec, just 3 seconds ahead of runner-up Conor Mugan from St Peter’s G.??? is still in Year 6, which makes his performance all the more commendable. Thomas Moore, from Winton Boys, came third, 1 second behind Conor!
Poole & East won the team event.
Minor Girls Dorset Champion Emma Head from St Antony’s-Leweston lead almost throughout the race, finally finishing, in a time of 9 min 26 sec, 5 seconds ahead of second-placed Tilly Cardozo from Hanford School. Kathryn Lewer from BSG was just 1 second behind Tilly.
The team event was won by North Dorset.
In the Junior Boys race, Tom Barry of St Peter’s won in a time of 15 min 20 sec. Second-placed Matt Weedon from Poole Grammar came in with a time of 15 min 29 sec, just 1 second ahead of Harvey Jones from Corfe Hills.
The team event was won by Poole & East.
In the Junior Girls race Hannah Stammas won with a 12-second gap between herself and second-placed Harriet Hughes from Parkstone Grammar. Hannah, from BSG, had a time of 9 min 23 sec. Becky Neal, from Broadstone Middle School, was the first Year 8 runner to finish and came third overall, 17 seconds behind Harriet.
The Junior Girls team event was won by Poole & East.
Last year’s English Schools Junior Boys Champion, Matthew Clark (from Poole Grammar), won the Inter Boys race in a time of 19 min 40 sec. In possibly the most exciting finish of the day, however, Aaron Davies from Clayesmore put on a tremendous last-minute charge for the line, and only just missed catching Matt by 3 seconds. Max Nash, from Budmouth, was third in a time of 19 min 56 sec.
The team event was won by North Dorset.
In the Inter Girls Amanda Bailey from Twynham led from the start, winning by 17 seconds. Jess Booth, from St Antony’s-Leweston, was second with a time of 13 min. In third place Laura Dixon, from Corfe Hills, was just 7 seconds behind.
The team event was won by Poole & East.
The Senior Boys race was won by Karl Welch, of Bournemouth College, in a time of 22 min 41sec, giving him an imposing 48-second lead over Adam Cleaver of Thomas Hardye School. Third-placed Dan Cheney, from Poole Grammar, came just 4 seconds behind Adam.
North Dorset won the team event.
The Senior Girls race saw the biggest individual lead of the day, with the winner Vicki Ingham of Corfe Hills having nearly a 2-minute margin over second-placed Kelly Gobey of St Peter’s. Vicki’s time was 16 min 20 sec. Nicky Selby, from Corfe Hills, came third, just 6 seconds behind Kelly, in a time of 18 min 13 sec.
North Dorset won the team event.
With Poole & East and North Dorset sharing the honours in all the team events, the aggregate scores meant that the overall Boys winners were Poole & East, while North Dorset were the overall winners in the Girls’ events.
Photographs have been provided by Claire Bowen and Mike Cheney.
The Dorset Schools Athletic Association would like to thank the Headmaster of Bryanston School, Mr Wheare, for kindly allowing us to use the facilities.