THERE were some superb individual and team performances as all four teams from the Skipton grammar schools qualified for the National Final of the English Schools’ Cross-Country Cup.

Ermysted's Alex Thompson and Skipton Girls' Alice Jones gained superb individual victories and Skipton Girls' inters became unofficial North East England champions.

They will be joined at Woodbridge School, Suffolk, by their younger schoolmates and both Ermysted's teams.

These races were held at Middlesbrough’s Stewart Park and involved 12 teams of six who qualified by virtue of top four finishes in last months regional rounds.

Three of the teams, both Ermysted’s and Skipton Girls' inters had become unofficial North Yorkshire champions at Giggleswick in October and hence had high hopes of qualification for the national final.

Skipton Girls' inters were impressive as Alice Jones was involved at the head of the race from the start. She soon broke clear with Rose Forrest from Harrogate Grammar and on the second lap wound up the pace to steadily go clear for a comfortable victory.

Lilli Carr was next and she too ran a well-paced race as she was fifth on the first lap but pulled through for third by the end.

That pace and race judgement was echoed by Harisah Ghafoor and Emma Peel who were mid-teens on the first lap but pulled through to both finish inside the top ten for a great low total of just 23 points and a score that will make them one of the favourites in the final.

Ermysted's juniors had won at Giggleswick but with a high points score and were going to have it all to do if they were to make the final.

The team was well placed after the cavalry charge start, with Freddie Marsh in a group of three battling for fourth place and then the rest of the team around about 20th place.

Freddie kept battling to the line and finished an impressive fifth whilst his team-mates worked well as a group vying to not only beat each other but also teams from St Aidan's and Ripon.

With Durham Johnston school clear winners, the competition brought the best out of the North Yorkshire schools as all three teams had their runners inside the top 20 but only two of the three teams were going to make the final.

Oscar Smyth pulled through to 14th, with Aryaan Ghafoor 17th and Sam Bentham 19th for a total of 55 points.

When the results were out there were only three points between second and fourth and although it was disappointing to be one behind Ripon there was an even greater sense of achievement when it was confirmed they were third overall and made the final.

Skipton Girls’ juniors had only come third at Giggleswick and did not expect to be challenging for a final place. However, they did not let expectations affect their performance.

Hannah Robinson was first back in 17th with Elsa Birch in close attendance with 19th, Megan Wilkinson came 25th and Emily Butcher ran on well for 45th.

Their team total was quite high with 106 points but with four teams separated by just four points it was good enough for third place and produced a very happy group of girls.

The last race saw The Ermysted's inter boys in action. Their challenge is spearheaded by Alex Thompson, who has loved this competition over the years winning the National Final two years ago as a junior and being a member of the winning team last year.

Now he is once again at the top of his age group, aiming for individual glory.

The boys ran over three laps and Alex was in the leading group from the start.

They had been whittled down to a group of five when Alex made his decisive move as he moved clear to win relatively comfortably.

The boys knew they had not won the team as Morpeth had all their counters inside the top ten but Ermysted’s were a clear second in the team as Jath Lee 11th, Ben Rees 15th and Will Atkinson 23rd gave them a total of just 50 points.