Westonbirt hosts ISA South West Cross-Country regionals

On Tuesday 24th January Westonbirt School once again hosted the ISA U8-18 South West cross-country event for independent schools in the region. Despite the adverse weather conditions, courtesy of the tail-end of Storm Jocelyn, it was a great event with a good turn-out of runners and supporters. The fantastic 210 acre space at Westonbirt lends itself well to a large-scale event like this and we have hosted it for a number of years. It also provides a fantastic opportunity for our Senior school pupils to assist and support with the operations; 20 of them acted as marshals.

Over 330 pupils from 17 schools, some as far away as Cornwall, competed across 12 races. Distances ranged from 1500m for the youngest in Year 4 to 5000m for the seniors.

The event also acts as a qualifier for the ISA National Cross-Country event, which is due to take place on Saturday 2nd March at Worksop College. The first 10 pupils in each race qualify for the nationals.

Many pupils from both of our Prep and Senior Schools participated and previous competitions have seen good performances from them. This year 23 pupils from Prep and 25 from Senior competed, with 11 from Prep and 14 from Senior qualifying for the Nationals.

Peter Wilson, Westonbirt School PE Teacher and Organiser said:

“Westonbirt was delighted to host the regionals; despite the weather, it is always a brilliant event and one of our favourites in the calendar. The runners did very well against the elements, showing a degree of grit and resilience that was incredibly impressive. There were some stand out performances, with students winning several races and we’re delighted that so many have now qualified to take part in the national event.”

Well done to all competitors and good luck to those going on to the Nationals.