TAVISTOCK College took a 33-strong student team of cross country runners to the Plymouth and West Devon championships at Staddiscombe recently.

This was a tough event with all the best runners from schools in this area competing for a top 15 place which secures progression to the Devon schools championships.

This event requires students to sustain a pace for up to 7,000 metres depending on age group which needs endurance as a fitness base. This tests the students’ mental capacity when the body is physically tired, showing whether they have the ability to continue in gruelling conditions.

There were many superb results with 19 students finishing in the top 15 of their races. This included several top three finishes from Year 7’s Lara Dix who was second in the girls’ race with an outstanding run; in the Year 7 boys a superb run by Fynn Baker won the race and Rory Cox was fourth.In the Year 8/9 girls Charlotte Walker finished second while in the Year 8/9 boys there were two medal performances from Will White in third and Euan Dix in second. In Year 10/11 boys there were four Tavistock boys in the top seven – with Will Russell winning the race, Joe Dix third and Abe Reid in fourth.

Results: Year 7 girls, Lara Dix, second; Elsie Maguire seventh; Megan Griffiths 26th and Daisy Riddy, 31st. Year 7 boys, Fynn Baker, first; Rory Cox, fourth; Adam Wolfenden eighth and Elliott Pocknell, 10th; Ollie Houlberg 19th; Austin White 21st; Cane Sadler 34th; Tom Brown 39th.

Year 8/9 girls: Charlotte Walker, second; Hannah Walker 10th; Emma Luckham 14th; Harriett Hayley 34th; Eva Brown 40th; Libby Mitchell 51st; Kaitlyn Paton 53rd. Year 8/9 boys, Ewan Dix second; Will White third; Jacob Holland, seventh; Nicolas Maczugowski eighth; Christopher Francis 18th; James Crossey 39th; Matthew Moore 70th. Year 10/11 boys, Will Russell, first; Joe Dix third; Abe Reid fourth; Aiden Whiting seventh; Josh Cook 35th. Year 12/13 boys, Jacob Blackburn-Denton ninth; Tom Limb 10th.