Cross Country

Despite a lack of external fixtures this year, Cross Country at Kingswood has never enjoyed such mass participation.

Lockdown 2 reignited the Kingswood 5K challenge and it was impressive to chart runners’ improvements over the weeks and months as their times came down. Particularly impressive times were posted by Charlie Haines and Freddie Cooper but with over 100 entrants from pupils and staff it was great to see Kingswood running.

This was evident, once Kingswood restarted in ‘real life’, with a huge turn-out of runners and supporters for the Kingswood Relays. The course remained the same brutal 2km lap on the side of Lansdown hill and the atmosphere was fantastic in the sunshine. In the Westwood races, Mulberry came out on top, whilst at Intermediate level, it was Hall and Summerhill, and at Senior level, Upper and School, the latter being the only House to beat the previous record by over a minute.

With a rejig in the calendar, the House Cross Country event fell in the latter stages of the Summer term. This extra time permitted the creation of a new set of routes and the digging of a water jump, the latter of which was embraced by some and dodged by others! Despite the absence of a number of year groups, it was pleasing to see top runners from Years 11 to 13 returning for the event on what was an unfamiliar course. Charlie Haines finished first for the Westwood boys and Jemima Pearce for the girls. At Intermediate level, Jacob Barton registered a convincing win for Hall and Emily Hersch ran strongly to finish first for the girls. In the Senior races, Upper’s Oliver Tonge came in first for the boys and Lizzie Narbett for the girls.

Finally, it was with great regret that we lost this year’s cohort of Year 13 runners. With two international orienteers in Jim Bailey and Oliver Tonge, an incredibly driven and determined boys' captain in Jamie Dale, and a school record breaking 1500m runner in Freddie Cooper (Year 11 leaver) we would have surely swept up another unbeaten season, while girls’ captain Lizzie Narbett would have undoubtedly left her mark in her final year.

Position Name Time House Year Group

1 Freddie Cooper 16.07 Middle 11 2 Mr Harding (Catering) 16.16 Staff Staff 3 Jamie Dale 17.49 Upper 13 4 Charlie Haines 18.07 Cusworth 8 5 Sebastian Crow 18.32 Middle 12 6 Jamie Wright 18.49 Upper 12 7 Mr W Musgrove 18.52 Upper Staff 8 Archie Hamilton 19.56 Upper 9 9 Thomas Martin 20.04 Upper 10 10 Emily Ardus 20.1 School 12 11 Archie Baker 20.11 Middle 9 12 Grace Ardus 20.12 Fonthill 12 13 Evie Bradley 20.17 School 12 14 Owen Brown 20.33 Middle 9 15 Ms C Dale 20.53 Staff Staff 16 Daniel Woodward 21.02 Middle 9 17 Maximilian Graham 21.08 Hall 9 18 Dominic Lambert-Rose 21.1 Middle 13 19 Alfie Bassett 21.17 Upper 9 20 George Hancock 21.33 Cusworth 8 21 Drew Lewis 21.37 Middle 9 22 William Hudson 21.39 Upper 9 23 Joshua Nicholson 21.52 Middle 13 24 Mr J Brown 21.58 Middle Staff 25 Emily Hersch 21.59 Summerhill 10