Five-star show from All Saints (From Dorset Echo)

Five-star show from All Saints

9:13am Wednesday 24th February 2010 in

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FIVE students from All Saints School travelled to Bournemouth to take part in the Dorset Schools Cross Country Championships and came away with a silver medallist and a fifth-placed team in the inter-boys’ race.

Benedict Westhenry, last year’s junior boys’ champion, moved up an age category to inter-boys, schools years 10 and 11, and led the All Saints’ contribution by taking silver. He was ably supported by team-mates Oliver Harding, who put in an impressive sprint finish to take 17th place, and Callum Scott, who held off several challengers to hold on to 22nd place.

Gregor O’Malley, like Westhenry and Scott, was in the younger year of the age category, and battled fatigue to take 65th position in the 5k race out of nearly 80 competitors from across the county.

Bethan Whittall, All Saints’ sole girl in the competition, was last year’s runner-up in the minor girls year six and seven event.

This year she moved up to junior girls, school years eight and nine, and put in a tremendous effort.

Although slowed by an asthma attack in the final stages, she still managed a very impressive 14th place in a very strong field.

Sadly Weymouth and Dorchester schools were poorly represented at the championships, with All Saints the only school in the area to field a team.

However, a few individuals made their own way to Bournemouth. Special mention should go to Tom Austin, a year 11 student at Budmouth, who finished sixth in the inter-boys despite an ongoing knee problem, and Hugh Ireland and G Carroll, year six pupils at St Andrew’s Primary School, who recorded impressive results, fifth and 10th respectively, in the minor boys’ race.

Amy Buttle, year eight from Dorchester Middle School finished 21st out of more than 100 in the junior girls’ race.

Westhenry and Austin will now represent Dorset in the South West Schools Championships, in Truro this weekend, and at the English Schools ChampionshipS in Manchester in March.

Harding and Whittall are reserves for the events and will have to wait to see if they are called up.