The final race of the prestigious Salford Schools Cross Country Championships took place at Buile Hill in glorious sunshine. The cold morning temperatures soon gave way to very pleasant conditions for running and the last remnants of frost on the ground had all but disappeared before the first runners toed the line.

First up were the Year 3 and 4 Boys. The charge to the first corner is always frighteningly fast and it's always a nervous moment waiting to see where all the James Brindley runners are. Entering the second field, Harry Bayman was in an excellent position running aggressively and being chased hard by Jake Royle. Both boys showed great determination and stamina to see out the race in this manner and finish in 3rd and 7th positions respectively. Connor Butler ran another well judged race for a fine 23rd place with Carter Graham close by in 36th place. In his debut race, Oliver Coppock showed incredible maturity to come home in 56th place. Together with Harry Johnson the future looks bright in this age category. Sam and Kieran had a personal battle for much of the race with Sam edging it on this occasion. Blake Farrow ran well to complete the course in 84th place. This final flurry meant that Jake Royle picked up individual bronze in the Year 3 boys category while the Year 3 and 4 boys team finished in joint 3rd! A fantastically well deserved result- congratulations and thank you to all the boys! 

The Year 3 and 4 Girls team knew that a victory would seal the team gold and there was a fantastic sense of determination hidden behind the typical warm smiles. Champion elect Jasmine Wright ran another mature race, pacing it beautifully to seize the lead at halfway. Four victories out of four races guaranteed her the Year 4 Girls title and also earned her a call up to the Salford Team to race at the Greater Manchester Schools Cross Country Championships at Heaton Park on 04 February 2017. But they don't give out team prizes for having one great runner, and the remaining James Brindley girls followed Jasmine's lead by running excellent races. Amelia Stringer, Asha Mistry and the ever improving Emily Johnson were our next counters across the line. Debutants Lilly Mills and Libby Cooper ran well for 42nd and 66th places respectively while Erin Carinci had a fantastic race for 47th place.  Our strength and depth in quality meant that we were able to field more than 20 runners in this one category. The spirit among the girls has been incredible and the team were overjoyed to find out that were the Year 3 and 4 Salford Champions. Well done to each and everyone of the girls- you have all contributed massively to the win and we cannot wait to present you all with your medals.

We packed incredibly well in the Years 5 and 6 Boys Race. Ahead of our school championships this coming week, Matthew Greenwood (25th), Sam Morrissey (27th) and Joseph Stringer (28th) ran excellent races and were never far apart. Tyler Weaver proved to be very consistent again, running well to finish within the top 50. behind him, Tom, Ren, Matthew, Cameron, Louie, Joseph and Joe packed incredibly well all finishing within 8 places of one another having constantly passed one another throughout. Well done to all our Year 5 and 6 boys. Your camaraderie and support for one another has been fantastic with our team becoming increasingly competitive with each race. 

Our Year 5 and 6 Girls lined up 1 point off the lead and set about their task eagerly. At the front Millie Bayman, Marissa Caldwell, Anjali Mistry and Sophia Roiditis started quickly in an effort to claw back the point we needed. Khizzie Crompton and Kara Pritchard produced typically gutsy runs to help earn us valuable points in our quest. Indeed, all runners were within the top 61 places in a very competitive field. So many of our girls have represented us at every single race this season. Bailey-Rae, Erika, Grace, Khloe, Lucy and Kamilla are all eligible for this category next year and are capable of improving yet further. The close packing of our girls means that once again, the school championship will be hotly contested next week. At the finish there was a nervous wait for totals to be totted up. The final results saw a victory on the day for James Brindley, meaning that we were joint first in the Year 5 and 6 Girls category. With both girls teams having been in first place, we were delighted to be presented with the trophy for best overall girls team. Once again, thank you to all our runners and to their families for the amazing support. 

*Apologies to anyone who I missed in the video highlights.

              Year 3 and 4 Boys Race

           Year 3 and 4 Girls Race

              Year 5 and 6 Boys Race

              Year 5 and 6 Girls Race

      Overall results- Individuals

                                Overall results- Teams