Tuesday 24th January saw excellent conditions for the School to host the Independent School Association’s (ISA) cross country area event, for all schools in the South West region.

The ISA organises a national programme of sports events across 30 different sports, including cross country, for members to take part in nationally. ISA Sport has been a key feature since the Association was founded in 1878, and it is now one of the largest sports programmes offered to independent schools in the UK. Each Area within ISA has an Area Sports Coordinator who coordinates sports events for their member schools throughout the academic year. Mrs Victoria Lander-Gray from Westonbirt School and Mr Chris Knight from Heywood Prep School are the Area Co-ordinators for the South West.

Over 240 competitors from 16 schools located as far away as Cornwall and Devon, participated in 12 races, with the youngest competitors aged seven, and the oldest aged 18. Runners were able to walk the course from midday onwards, and on arrival at the stunning grounds of Westonbirt School, were greeted with a crisp blue sky and winter sunshine. The course took the athletes around the front and back of the School, around the icy lake and down to our impressive golf course.

Mrs Lander-Gray said:

“It’s always fantastic to be able to host an event like this at the School and witness the effort and emotions of all runners and their supporters. The atmosphere amongst the 16 schools was terrific; everyone was cheering everyone else on equally. We had 24 exemplary marshals also out on the course, cheering on and encouraging the competitors, and everyone involved did the School proud.”

Westonbirt fielded a strong cross-country team of 24 runners. We are hoping some of our runners will now qualify for the national event which is being held at Worksop College on March 4th 2023 and are eagerly anticipating the results.