ERMYSTED’S had another great day on the fells as they clinched two titles in the National Schools Fell Running Championships at Mytholmroyd on Sunday.

Ermysted's struck gold in the Year 7 and Year 10/11 events while the Year 8/9 team were runners-up and the Year 12/13 team was third.

This was the school’s third race in five days and the Year 7s really couldn’t have done much better.

After winning at Bingley last Wednesday and again in a fast and flat relay at Manchester Grammar School on Saturday, they showed their versatility by doing the same up a big steep hill on the national stage.

They set off at a fair lick across a flat field, up a road, where they met the hill and suddenly everyone knew the difference between a fell race and other cross-country races.

Even the leaders were brought to little more than walking pace as they strained manfully to get to the top.

Louis Hudson led the way for Ermysted’s and pushed hard for the individual title, however, he had to settle for second place in a sprint finish.

His cousin Arthur Peel 12th and fellow school-mate Sebastian Seggar-Staveley 16th enabled Ermysted's to return a total of 30 points which nobody could match.

The team's non-scorers were Ben Buckner 36th, Ben Oliver 40th and Matt Speak 46th. All of them ran well.

The Year 8&9 team had high hopes after finishing runners-up last year. Sam Jackson led the challenge and came back inside the top ten. Ben Jackson 16th was next with Will Thompson fighting stomach cramps as well as the hill to complete the team scoring in 23rd place.

Their team total was again low with 48 points and earned them the runners-up spot. They also showed great strength in depth as non-scorers Laurie Petrucci 28th, Sam Thom 30th, Jack Whitaker 31st and Will Nelson 41st were all top half of the 79 entries.

The Year 10/11 race Ermysted's other team victors from Manchester take to the field. However, only Matthew Jackson was in both races.

Jimmy Lund massively strengthened the team and although a year younger than some of his competitors he had a great run to take fifth place. Matthew ‘MJ’ Jackson was next in 30th with Patrick Ralphson, a debutant, finishing 36th.

Their total seemed to be too high for glory but by just two points they too were crowned national champions. The non-scorers were Ben Speak 43rd, Harry Schofield 44th and James Kelly 51st .

The Seniors were running five miles with 355 metres of climb, all the way to the top of Midgeley Moor on the Calderdale Way.

Tom Fryars, fresh from running the Great North Run, led the challenge. Unfortunately falling over three times did hamper him as he came back 15th.

The team packed brilliantly as cross-country captain Sam Laycock was next in 16th and Robert Thompson 17th. Their total of 48 points looked to be in the hunt for the team award but heartbreak came when they found out we were just three points off the best team in overall third. Oscar Clements was 28th.