Woodbridge School Athletes Compete at Inter County Cross Country 2024
On Saturday 9 March, thirteen Woodbridge School athletes were included in the Essex and Suffolk teams to compete at the UK Inter County Cross Country at Wollaton Park in Nottingham; unfortunately there was one withdrawal earlier in the week due to unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances, so twelve raced on the day – with incredible results.
The UK Inter County event is one of the most competitive in the country, with area teams from Scotland and Wales competing against 45 County teams from England, almost giving the day a Home Nation International flavour!
At Senior and U20 level, the event also serves as a selection race for the World Cross Country Championships, taking place this year in Belgrade Serbia on 30 March.
U20 Men:
The Essex team took 4th place in the U20’s Men’s race, and it is with immense pride we congratulate Year 13’s Henry who finished 3rd in the U20 race, thereby guaranteeing selection for Great Britain to compete at the Worlds. Races can be viewed on YouTube, search for ‘British Athletics Cross Challenge Final 2024’. This is an absolutely incredible achievement for someone so young, in his final School year! Congratulations Henry.
Alongside Henry’s success, it has to be said that our athletes were outstanding. Below you can see a full summary of results. With approx. 350 athletes in each race, all at a level high enough to be representing their county, it’s clear to see what an achievement each of these successes is. Well done everyone.
U13 Girls:
The Suffolk team did incredibly well overall, taking 11th place; it’s worth noting that all three our our runners are Year 7, in a race for Year 7 and 8 athletes:
51st – Year 7’s India J ( 2nd Suffolk runner home, an outstanding and gritty first performance at this level)
110th – Year 7’s Ella (5th home for Suffolk)
135th – Year 7’s Alexandra (6th home for Suffolk)
Consistent with results at this event, there are 84 places and just 43 seconds between our athletes, that is two finishers every second!
U13 Boys:
The Suffolk team took 9th place – achieving the best Suffolk result of the day!
11th – Year 8’s Digby (1st Suffolk runner home). What a debut to be this close to the top ten. We are pretty confident that only two Woodbridge School students (including Henry) have ever finished higher at the UK Inter counties.
22nd – Year 7’s Dexter (2nd Suffolk runner home). If top 100 is quite something, then finishing 22nd as a Year 7 is very special indeed!
203rd – Year 7’s Otis (6th Suffolk runner home). An extremely brave performance.
U15 Girls:
The Suffolk team took 27th place – with more incredible performances from our runners.
77th – Year 9’s Romilly (1st Suffolk runner home). Another top 100 finish for Romilly!
132nd – Year 9’s Felicity (2nd Suffolk runner home). A very happy athlete on the day!
U15 Boys:
The Suffolk team took 18th place – with some exciting/unexpected action in the race for our runner!
216th – Year 10’s Jasper (5th Suffolk runner home). A superb achievement, despite unbelievably being tripped twice during the race – just when we thought cross country was a non-contact sport!
U17 Men:
The Suffolk team came in 12th place.
105th Year 12’s Iwan (4th Suffolk runner home). Incredibly close to that top 100 finish.
197th Year 11’s Angus (8th Suffolk runner home). This achieved at a year younger than the majority of his competitors.
Congratulations to every athlete earning the right to compete at this event and a massive thank you to all the parents travelling up for the weekend in support.
Good luck to those athletes representing Suffolk Schools at English Schools in Pontefract this coming weekend; the final race of the winter!
