Ermysted's produce top class effort to win four team cross country titles (From Craven Herald)

Ermysted's produce top class effort to win four team cross country titles

11:29am Thursday 1st December 2011 in Athletics

Ermysted’s Grammar School’s runners were in impressive form at the Harrogate-Craven Schools Cross-Country Championships, at Skipton’s Aireville Park on Saturday.

They won four team titles in the boys section and also sent out the first three runners in the Year 7 boys race for good measure.

The triumphant trio in finishing order were Charlie Lowrie, James Lund and Will McCallum.

Giggleswick won the Year 8 girls team title and produced the Year 7 girls champion in Samantha Baker-Jones A third individual title came Craven’s way when Craven College’s sole entrant, Sam Haggar, won the senior boys event.

With the exception of Years 8 and 9 where a combined team from those two age-groups progress, the top 12 in each event will now represent Harrogate-Craven in the North Yorkshire Schools finals on January 21 at Whitby.

The top performers there will progress to the English Schools finals in Somerset.

It is a pity that Saturday’s entry level was hugely disappointing.

Despite the unfailing efforts of Giggleswick’s Alistair Scholey and his small band of helpers, enthusiasm and involvement from the Craven side of Blubberhouses was disappointing.

Aireville School, Ingleton Middle and Settle College, who for many years could almost have been viewed as three of the mainstays of the event, failed to manage a single athlete between them.

However, it was hats off to those schools and athletes who did plunge wholeheartedly into the event and none more so than Ermysted’s.