John Fisher School
Cross-Country Report Christmas Term 2019
What is Cross country? Running right? It’s a bit more than
that
You run in all weathers, rain, ice, snow, across a route with
grassy fields, mud, forests, uneven paths and hills that go on forever, and
sometimes a river to cross, and sometimes all of those things in the same race.
The distances vary from 2 miles for juniors up to 6 miles for
Seniors. You run as an individual, against the clock and against your fellow
runners, but you also run as a team where every place counts so there is no
chance to slack off.
You need to be mentally as well as physically strong. There
is no half time, no substitutions, no breaks. You just need to keep going.
It is extremely tough but extremely rewarding – and another
busy and enjoyable term of competition sees John Fisher retaining its
reputation locally and nationally.
One key reason for this is a hugely talented and dedicated
Year 7 intake who have made our Junior squad very strong, most of whom have
also played rugby for the school but run whenever they could. The Junior Team
have won the Relays at Oxted twice and at John Fisher, as well as finishing in
First Place at the Sutton Borough Championships.
The Highlight was the Junior Knole, the biggest race in the
country for Juniors, where 8th place was secured out of 50+ teams.
An incredible performance on a cold and wet day over an extremely challenging course
and the best the school has seen in ten years.
Chris Finch and Oliver Anstee have impressed from Year 8 –
Chris finishing 24th out of 309 runners at the Junior Knole, and
from Year 7 Adam Reeves, Daniel Finch, Oliie Rayner, Lucion Gillian and Ollie
Hession have ran really well, but several others have also impressed. Adam
Reeves finished 28th at the Junior Knole, an incredible achievement
considering he is still Year 7.
The Inters have performed well in League fixtures, with the
Year 8 & 9 team finishing 4th at the Sutton Boroughs. The
highlight was second place finish at Charterhouse. A number of this age group
have been running for the senior team, showing their huge potential. Consistently
impressive were Ebuka and Chizoba, Paul Hewitt and Jack Hession while Emmanuel
Victor has carried the flag for Year 9.
The Seniors have had depleted numbers and so have relied on
younger runners a lot this season. Robbie Tambling, Harry Smith and Malachi
Messette have been consistent from the 6th Form, and Freddy Georgiou
and Joe Roberts from Year 11 have been committed throughout. The competition
has been tough and the standard high in all the fixtures, but the age of the
squad will stand us in good stead in the future. The Year 10/11 and 6th
Form teams both finished 2nd at the Sutton Boroughs
The Overall highlight was winning the Sutton Borough Cross
Country Championships for the first time in 5 years. All the students from all
the age groups who ran deserve credit as they all played their part, and a
narrow victory by 4 points was just reward for a sport that is truly ‘whole-school’
