BEAMINSTER School rounded off their most successful cross-country season for a decade with a smattering of accolades at Budmouth.
Beaminster won three team awards this season, having won none in the previous ten years of the West Dorset Cross-Country League (WDCCL).
They also achieved seven top-15 placings, again breaking their decade-long duck, and recorded four overall winners to boot.
Their success is part of a boom in Dorset cross-country running with three races taking place each month in the WDCCL, which is now in its tenth year.
The first race was held at Beaminster School, followed by Colfox Academy and finishing with this event at Budmouth Academy. There are team trophies for each school that takes part in all three races.
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The top-four runners form a team and the lowest score from all three races wins. There are also individual medals for the top-three runners and once again this is across all three races.
In the Year 7 girls’ race, Budmouth Academy capped off a fantastic year winning the trophy for the very first time after winning all three races.
This came after recently qualifying for the South West final of the English Schools Cross-Country Cup for the very first time in their history.
The individual awards came down to the very last race with twin sisters Nancy and Mabel competing for gold and silver.
In the end, Nancy pipped her sister with Beaminster’s Bea Bibby taking bronze in third place.
The Year 7 boys’ race was dominated by Beaminster School who also secured their first-ever win having won all three races.
Joseph Whelan was the victory in all three races to take gold, with teammate Harry Kemp second and Colfox’s Oscar Stephens in third.
The junior girls’ race was won by Woodroffe School, who won all three races.
Colfox’s Ayala Chard clinched gold after a hat-trick of wins with Woodroffe duo Mia Morris and Ella Bond in second and third respectively.
The junior boys’ race was hotly contested between Beaminster School and Colfox Academy with the latter taking the win in the final race.
Individual awards were also decided at the final race with Beaminster’s Tom Green taking first place ahead of Colfox pair Riley Manning in second and Charlie Hewitt.
The inter-girls’ race was also fiercely contested between Colfox and Beaminster with each team winning one of the previous two races.
This meant that whoever won the final race would take the overall win.
Remarkably, when the results were collated the scores were identical so both schools shared the trophy.
Individual honours went to Beaminster’s Anna Scarborough with Maisie Macdonald of Colfox in second and Beaminster’s Eva Murless third.
The final race saw Beaminster take their third team win after being pushed hard by Woodroffe School.
Zak Zidary of Beaminster claimed first, with Colfox’s Dan Hedges in second and Beaminster’s Fran Caswell in third on the individual board.
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