MID Devon Hunt Pony Club Senior Girls Tetrathlon team are the National Champions.
The team of Laura and Sarah Gommersall and Jess Trerise beat a field of 23 teams to achieve their long held ambition to become the best in the country.
They started competing for the Mid Devon nine years ago as Minis and all their training and hard work finally paid off in what may well be their last competition at this level.
The event was held at Moreton Morrell in Warwickshire and this year included international teams from Canada, USA and Ireland.
Competition started on Friday morning with the shooting phase and three solid shoots saw the team in fourth place.
The swimming was held at Warwick University and the girls were on top form, producing three great swims, Sarah improving her PB by five metres.
At the end of the phase Mid Devon had moved up to second place.
As they walked the cross country on Friday evening the heavens opened making the course look very daunting and it was a thoughtful team that prepared their horses on Saturday morning for the challenge ahead.
In fact their fears were groundless with all three girls riding clear over the fences, Laura finishing inside the time which was proving challenging for the early riders due to the slippery conditions.
As the rest of the riding scores were posted it was clear that the Mid Devon were in the lead, just six points ahead of the Oakley Hunt (who were fielding two GB internationals), with the Monmouth another six points behind in third.
Although all three girls are good runners and were well prepared, waiting for the start on Sunday morning was still a nerve wracking moment with such a small lead and a steep and twisting course in front of them.
But with all the other South West competitors cheering them home the stop watches showed they had done it!
In the end they had increased their lead over the Oakley to 162 points with the Monmouth a further 250 points behind in third place.
Laura finished third individually and Sarah was just ten points behind in fourth place.
The South West?s successes continued in the boys? section with Tom Barber of the East Devon winning the Boys Championship and the international event with Toby Ryan coming eighth and the North Cornwall PC girls came second in the Novice competition.
The team would like to thank all those whose help and support has got them to the Championships, with a special mention to the Dadd family from Bovey Tracey.
l LOCAL successes at the National Championships at Moreton Morrell last weekend:
Toby Ryan, age 18, of the Lamerton Pony Club came 8th individually in the Open Class with a solid performance in all 4 phases of the competition, finishing with a well judged ride and an excellent run to win a bronze award, while Tom Preece, still only 13, won the Challenge Trophy for the youngest boy to complete the Open class for the second year running, a remarkable feat.