Cross Country News

The St Paul’s Cross Country teams recently competed in the King’s Trophy in Wimbledon and  The Charterhouse Cup in Godalming.

Following a strong performance in the London round, both the inter (4th/5th) and senior (6th/8th) cross country teams have qualified for the regional final of the English Schools Cross Country Cup. It will be held on Saturday 11th November at Verulamium Park in St Alban’s. The top two teams in each age group will automatically qualify for the National Final at Woodbridge School, Suffolk on Saturday 2 December. This is the first time St Paul’s teams have made it to this stage. Congratulations to all those who raced at Harrow.

The week before half term was a busy one with the King’s Trophy in Wimbledon on Wednesday followed by The Charterhouse Cup on Saturday in Godalming. The King’s Trophy is a tough 4.5 mile course around Wimbledon Common complete with trees to hurdle, branches to dodge and some killer hills! There were 16 schools competing and St Paul’s managed a creditable 9th. The top performer was Benjy Street (Lower Eighth) who finished in a highly impressive 3rd place.

Fast forward to Saturday and some equally brutal hills were awaiting the boys as they attacked another 4.5 mile course around the picturesque grounds of Charterhouse. Once again Benjy led the team charge with an overall third place, followed closely by Max Bishop (Upper Eighth) in 8th, Thomas Homes (Upper Eighth) in 18th and Hamish Chapple (Upper Eighth) in 19th. With the top four runners to score, it was a strong team performance with the team finishing in second place narrowly beaten by The Judd whose 44 points edged out the 48 from SPS. However, the gap had closed on Wednesday and the team travelled back to Barnes in high spirits.

Finally, congratulations to Warner House on winning the inaugural inter-house cross-country relays on the Friday before Remedy. The team established a new record for the two-mile course of 12mins and 12 seconds.