Cross Country – Thursday 12th October
The weather was set for HVS first cross country event, and it wasn’t the usual heavy rain associated with these events. A team of 7 were taken to Gordon’s school to compete. Year 7 boys were the first to run a 1400m route around the grounds of Gordon’s School. They started strong with Layton holding the 3rd position when they re-appeared from behind 2 football pitches in the first half of the race. Sam was only a couple of places behind looking good as he went over the halfway point. The second half of the course was hidden from view and took the boys around 2 pitches, when they appeared the boys had fallen a couple of places back but still running with good technique. Layton came round the final bend and stepped on the gas to finish 10th, Sam battled to push through the places in the final 100m and came in 12th. Both boys were in the top half the competition.
The Year 8 boys were next to run with Josh, Ben and Kay all hopeful of doing well. They looked in good shape when they reappeared the first time, holding their position until they went out of sight past the football pitches. When they came past to complete their first lap Kay and Ben were running well and looking to chase down a place or two in front whilst maintaining their current position. Unfortunately Josh came round the corner hobbling, hit had stepped in a mole hill hidden by the grass at the top of the field twisting his ankle, yet somehow still managed to run the 200m back to us on the hill. He had to retire as the injury was to much. Kay came round the final corner giving his best and finished a fantastic 7th in the race, a few moments later Ben worked hard to maintain his position and finished 14th.
The Year 8 girls race started just after the boys, Manon was already on the course and was keeping a consistent pace, battling hard to maintain her position in what looked like a strong field. She finished her first lap in a good position and maintained the quality throughout the remaining half a lap, she came across the finish line in 10th.
With a promise made to anyone in the competition who finished in the top 5, it was left to Raphael Rivero-Stewart to compete in the Year 9 race. After appearing from behind the courts for the first time he was holding 3rd place but with a battle between the boy in front and behind. They disappeared again behind the football pitches and when they appeared he had lost a little ground on 2nd place. He came through the end of the first lap strong and maintained the pace through the next half a lap. There was a couple of pushes to catch people in front and stay away from those behind. He came round the final bend and secured a 5th place finish.
Team: Evie, Kira, Madison, Sara, Georgia, Meya and Jess
The girls prepared for their first game with excitement. There was a last minute change with injury and illness hitting the team. The first quarter started well with HVS having a lot of possession but never quite making the D. Despite the pressure SJB managed to slip away and finish 2 out of the 3 chances they had. This kick started the girls into action and the attacks became more direct. With the attack of Sara, Georgia and Meya we broke through and managed to draw level at the end of the 1st quarter.
The girls came off the 1st quarter tired but with a buzz for the game. They entered the second quarter with good energy, both teams working hard. Kira, Jess and Evie in defence where working hard and improving as a trio throughout, stopping many SJB attacks and offloading the ball successfully. The end of the 2nd quarter finished at 3-3.
The third quarter was a stalemate, the quality of the netball improved and the attacks had to work harder to beat some difficult defences. There was only 1 goal between the schools after another 8 minutes.
The girls were still enjoying the game but had worked hard with a bare 7. SJB had been rotating their team with subs throughout the first 3 quarters. The tiredness showed int he first few minutes with SJB scoring 3 more to make it 7-4. At this point the girls could have started giving up but instead they showed true grit and started dominating possession. With play moving from defence to attack with Sara and Madison we began looking very strong and with Meya shooting accurately we pulled 2 back to make it 7-6 going into the last minute. There was struggles from both teams but HVS definitely looked the stronger in the final few moments.