On a rainy Friday afternoon at the end of the first full week of the new school year, 3 teams (Yrs 7,8,9) entered the SE Wales Cross Country Relay Championships.

The format was a three-runner team relay over a hilly course at King Henry VIII School in Abergavenny.  Each team ran the same course so the Year 7s did very well to compete on the course used by girls (and boys) two years their senior.

Year 7 – due to a last minute injury, only Lauren and Hannah were available for duty.  Lauren handed over in first place at the first change and Hannah further extended the lead to finish the second leg in first.  A fantastic effort for their first “senior” race.

Year 8 – having run as a team on this route the year before, the team of Sophia, Sophie and Pippa were confident of putting in a strong performance.  The hills in the second half of the course had reduced many to walking, but the girls stuck at it and progressed through the field.  Sophia changed in 4th place against strong opposition handing over to Sophie who showed grit to push through to 2nd at the change over.  Pippa closed on the winner throughout the lap but finished a close second by a matter of seconds.

Year 9 – despite some pre-race nerves, the strength of the Year 9 team showed from the outset.  Emma paced herself well and made great progress to hand over in 2nd place with the leader well in sight.  A determined effort from Martia on the hills gave Poppy a 20m lead for the final leg where she turned up the heat on the opposition and won by nearly a minute. As a result, Year 9 became the South East Wales Schools Cross Country Relay Champions!

Well done to all of our runners and the ever growing HMSG Running Club.