SUNNINGHILL Preparatory School’s Under-11 Pop Lacrosse team finished runners-up in the National Championships, held at the University of Hertfordshire.

This was a huge event with 20 teams having qualified from all over the British Isles.

The teams were divided into four sections in a round-robin tournament with the first two in each section going through to the Championship Cup final.

Third and fourth in the sections would play in the Plate final.

As this was Sunninghill’s fourth visit to the Championships, having placed third in the cup for the last two years, the county town school had high hopes but knew that the competition would be extremely tough.

The squad consisted of Orlando Bailey, Patrick Taylor, Sam Downey, Joe Message, Jenna Bennett, Emily Bywater, Skyla Erskine and Daena Shah and were coached by Sophie Bailey and Clare Stoot.

Sunninghill reached the final and, after a closely-contested showpiece, the scores were level at 6-6 when, with seconds to go, Hale Prep scored the winning goal to clinch the 2013 title.

A school spokesman said: “In defeat the children showed tremendous sportsmanship and we would like to commend them for their excellence in both performance and attitude – we felt immensely proud of each and every one of them.”