SUFFOLK retained the Aggregate Trophy for the fourth successive year at the Anglian Schools Cross Country Championships.

By Carl Marston and Stuart Watson

SUFFOLK retained the Aggregate Trophy for the fourth successive year at the Anglian Schools Cross Country Championships.

Racing at Norwich's Ealham Park, competitors braved freezing conditions and an unexpected layer of snow upon their arrival.

The minor girls and the intermediate boys both won their team sections against the other counties of Northants, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

Suffolk also had three individual winners from the eight races, in addition to four runners-up.

Holly Archer and Mary Galbraith secured a one-two in the junior girls' event, and new South of England champion Shaun Webb and Charlie Fry followed suit in the intermediate boys' age group. In fact, Suffolk dominated that section with Sam Cheverton in third.

Parkway's Tom Eames was Suffolk's other individual gold medallist in the junior boys' race. Eames was a surprise winner, having finished third at the Suffolk Schools Championships. He was also one of the younger runners in the race. The county were second in the team stakes in this category.

In the junior boy's (under-13) race, Orwell Park's Johnnie Bland qualified to the National Schools Cross-Country Championships, to be held at Sefton Park in Liverpool on March 8, with his tenth place finish.

George Byrne Hill, also at Orwell Park, came home an impressive second place in the minor boys' (under-12) race.

Although there is no minor boys' race at national level, Byrne Hills performance bodes well for next year, where a similar finish would see him qualify for the very highest schoolboy level.

In the same race Alexander Shea-Simonds (Orwell Park) came home 44th in the field of well over 60 runners, while Cordelia Sears, competing in the girls' minor race (under-12), finished eleventh.

Suzannah Reid, of Brandeston Hall, finished second to help Suffolk's minor girls to a team win. All six scorers finished in the top 16, with Elin Groise in sixth.

Charlotte Christensen led the way in fifth as Suffolk were second team in the intermediate girls.

In the senior events, Sudbury Upper School's Andrew Ridley (fourth) and Northgate's Elliot Palmer (sixth) were best placed for the boys, and Jemma Clarry was the first Suffolk finisher in the girls section with seventh spot.

West Suffolk AC had 21 runners in action, while fellow Bury club Saint Edmund Pacers had five in the squad.

Results

SUFFOLK results (six scorers in team) at the Anglian Schools Cross Country Championships in Norwich:

Minor boys: 2 George Byrne-Hill (Orwell Park); 10 Ross Tennant (Ipswich); 20 Chris Turner (Northgate); 21 Ryan Jolland (Clare Middle); 23 Alexander Grey (Culford); 28 Amarni Schone (Northgate).

Team: fourth.

Minor girls: 2 Suzannah Reid (Brandeston); 6 Elin Groise (Hardwick); 10 Kitty McWhirter (Culford); 11 Cordellia Sears (Orwell Park); 15 Sam Carson (Beyton); 16 Jade Ramsey (Northgate). Team: first.

Junior boys: 1 Tom Eames (Parkway); 5 Jack Garvin (St Albans); 10 Jonny Bland (Orwell Park); 11 Daniel Jackson (Farlingaye); 14 Simon Dawson (County Upper); 16 Henry Alexander (Woodbridge). Team: second.

Junior girls: 1 Holly Archer (Samuel Ward); 2 Mary Galbraith (Ipswich); 11 Sophia Nicklin (Woodbridge); 19 Hannah Pettersen (Holbrook); 22 Jasmine Seller (Farlingaye); 43 Laura Clipstone (Thurston). Teams: third.

Intermediate boys: 1 Shaun Webb (East Bergholt); 2 Charlie Fry (Thurston); 3 Sam Cheverton (Denes, Lowestoft); 8 Alex Dunbar (Thurston); 13 Dominic Thackeray (Sudbury); 14 Connor Darby (Sir John Leman, Beccles).

Intermediate girls: 5 Charlotte Christensen (Finborough); 11 Emily Barker (Samuel Ward); 12 Abigail Marriott (Mildenhall); 16 Megan Burt (Benjamin Britten); 17 Sarah Findlay (Framlingham); 20 Kirsty Addy (Leiston). Team: second.

Senior boys: 4 Andrew Ridley (Sudbury); 6 Elliot Palmer (Northgate);

14 Michael Cripps (Thurston); 21 Johnny Palmer (Farlingaye); 27 Tim Byford (Kesgrave); 28 Andrew Waterhouse (Thurston). Team: third.

Senior girls: 7 Jemma Clarry (County Upper): 14 Rebecca Shankey (Thomas Mills); 20 Zara McLoone (Sudbury); 21 Antonia Bourdillion (RHS); 24 Alice Simpson (Ipswich); 27 Helen Waters (County Upper).

Team: fourth.

Aggregate team scores: 1 Suffolk, 2 Northants, 3 Lincs, 4 Norfolk, 5 Cambs.