SPORTS REPORT

Harrogate and Craven Area Cross Country Championships. November 27th

The dusting of snow over North Craven was not enough to deter the Settle College cross country team, who were rewarded with excellent conditions at Aireville Park for the Harrogate and Craven Area Championships. Twenty runners made up the Junior and Intermediate Girls’ and Boys’ teams and each had a story to tell when the morning was over. Sally Handford got the junior girls off to a good start with a sixth place, with Vicky Peel just behind. Katie Long and Ellie Foster completed a good team performance. This was matched by the boys’ team, where Callum Lambert and Sam Laycock came in eighth and ninth respectively, ahead of teammates Ainsley Walton and Hugh Francmanis. Callum was slightly disappointed with his finish after a good season on the fells, but he ought to get a berth in the team for the county round in January. The Inter girls were led home by ninth placed Lauren Stallwood, closely followed by Lauren Dugdale, Amber Duxbury and Ellie Maudsley. Olivia Cunliffe and Ellie Fullalove topped off a strong team performance. Year 10 runners Pedro Quintas and Ben Phillips led home the Intermediate boys’ team as Peter Bentley and Jonny Armstrong made up the counting places. Will Pickles, who had had an early start after coming down from the hills above Malham, and Mark Bargh, who had a similar journey in from the south west, put in gallant performances when coming in further down the field.

Alex Brown made his first appearance in the senior race after representing the school at all levels, and the area at Intermediate level last year. Currently with Helm Hill Runners, he, like Sally and Callum, has also benefitted from a summer on the fells, and whilst the fitness groundwork was evident in his achieving a fifth place in the race, he will benefit from the experience of racing and some speedwork over the Christmas period will see him make a bigger impression in the County round.

Badminton

The U14 boys’ team of Charlie Bristow, Arron Johnson, Hugh Francmanis and Sam Laycock had their first taste of competition at Ermysted’s in the first week in November. Finishing fourth overall, they suffered from a slow start, losing to Ermysted’s B, but having got into their stride they improved with each game and ended by beating the hosts’ A team. The event doubled as the first round of the English Schools Badminton Cup and whilst the lads didn’t manage to go through they certainly learned a great deal about tournament badminton.

The Year 9 girls’ badminton team came second in the Craven Area Championships at Upper Wharfedale Sports Hall at the end of November. Arona Morrison, Vicky Peel, Sally Handford and Katie Long had started to play during the lunchtime club throughout the Autumn term and were playing in their first competitive event in the sport. The event comprised a mixture of singles and doubles matches and the girls played 12 games against schools from the area.

Year 10 Girls’ Carnegie Champion Schools’ Final

Settle College Year 10 Girls rugby league team were edged out by 26 – 18 in a closely fought Carnegie Champion Schools’ final at Uxbridge where, once again, they came up against Castleford High School in a repeat of the Yorkshire Cup final.  The finals weekend trip began on Thursday with a visit to the Wembley Stadium and ended with a return there for the Champion Schools parade before the Carnegie rugby league Challenge Cup Final on Saturday. The conditions were near-perfect for Friday’s schools’ finals day and a large crowd greeted each of the fourteen schools as they paraded on to the Hillingdon Stadium pitch to play. Settle had out a full strength side and were hopeful in their quest to reverse the earlier result against the strong Castleford outfit. The game did not start promisingly as Settle failed to complete their first two sets, and valiant defending led to a series of seventeen consecutive tackles before they finally conceded out wide. Settle came back strongly and scored with the first of captain and player of the match Lauren Stallwood’s three tries, and from this point until the last minute of the game, there was never more than one score between the teams. Forwards Katie Giles, Lauren Dugdale, Rose Rushton and Faye Ambler kept up a barrage of forceful runs and the tackling throughout the team was relentless.

Settle College Year 10 girls’ rugby league team: Back row – Tom Hall (coach), Faye Ambler, Lauren Dugdale, Lauren Stallwood, Rose Rushton, Ellie Fullalove, Katie Giles, Gemma Varley. Front row- Rachel Carter, Olivia Cunliffe, Laura Fairweather-Smith, Sophie Akrigg, Thea Middleton, Jess Gibbs, Amber Duxbury.

The scoring see-sawed throughout a half that saw Settle start to dominate, due in no small measure to Akrigg’s ability to dictate play from dummy half, and take a narrow lead into the break. The second half continued in the same vein and the handling and tackling from both teams was appreciated by the increasingly animated crowd who were being treated to one of the best contests of the day. As the final three minutes ticked by Settle tired in defence, and a couple of uncharacteristic defensive lapses inside their own 20 metre line allowed Castleford to gain a foothold from which they were able to score twice in succession and close out the game.  Despite the disappointment of losing the game the girls had made an incredible effort in getting to the final for the second year in succession and their willingness to work hard both on and off the pitch was a credit to all.

The girls would like to thank all the parents and those who contributed to the girls’ fund raising efforts, including Booth’s and Tesco stores, and to Bibby’s Transport once again for their kind support.

  Lauren Stallwood drives for the line for her second try with Sophie Akrigg in support.