After all the snow, Woodbridge School was finally able to host The Skinners’ School in the second round of the National U18 Plate Competition. Woodbridge dominated the opening minutes but could not capitalise in creating a clear cut chance. Momentum slowly started to shift as Skinners’ grew in confidence, but player of the match, Joshua Graves came into his own leading the defence as Dom Ellice-Freeman, Toby McNally, James Martin and captain James Meakin all tackled well outside the D and dealt with scrambles within it to clear the danger. Meanwhile at the other end a Woodbridge attack led to a penalty corner and Alex Weir-Simmons put his drag flick on target, forcing a double save from the goalkeeper only for Oliver Buchanan to pounce on the rebound and score.
The second half saw Woodbridge much more dominant as they moved the ball to all corners of the pitch to great effect. Hugo Kelleway, Alex Weir-Simmons, Oliver Bacon and Patrick Frebel worked tirelessly and the forwards led, rotated, pressed and worked back zealously. Chances flowed and nine minutes into the second half James Phelan was rewarded for all his hard work with a very good goal, and shortly after Charlie Mayhew scored the first of his two. With a healthy cushion Woodbridge continue to grow in confidence and play with freedom. The Skinners’ goalkeeper played very well but couldn’t stop Alex taking our tally to 5-0.
This was a very good team performance in which each player can be very proud of their own play and contribution to the positive outcome. Gutsy defending gave the attackers confidence and the team must be commended for keeping a clean sheet in this end to end, physical game.
Many congratulations to Eleanore Fitzgerald, Annie Nicholass and Alice Sharratt who have all been successful in the recent auditions from a large field of dancers from across the region for the English Youth Ballet’s production of Cinderella In Hollywood (Theatre Royal Norwich 25-26 May).
They are all pupils of Sandra Hartley at the Saxtead School of Dance.
This promises to be a dazzling production with stunningly striking costumes and wonderful dancing, with international principals in the leading roles. Celebrating its 20th anniversary year, English Youth Ballet’s policy is to perform full length ballets outside London, and to give young dancers the chance to perform in a professional setting.
Woodbridge School has recently been ranked 51st in the top 100 Independent Schools in the UK in 2017 according to School Sport Magazine.
School Sport Magazine’s exclusive top 100 state and Independent sports schools of the year list reflects competitive achievement in a range of sports throughout the year and honours these schools that take competition especially seriously. Reaching the top 100 puts Woodbridge in the top 10 percent of schools in the Country.
Ian Simpson, Head of sport at Woodbridge said “We are extremely proud to have been recognised nationally for the excellent progress we have made and continue to make in sport. At Woodbridge, we are committed to supporting every individual in their pursuit of excellence in every area of their education. It is the hard work and dedication of pupils, staff and parents that make this possible. Each year, we look forward to developing and improving our delivery of sport and this latest news is extremely encouraging.”
Woodbridge School offers a huge range of sports to pupils, enjoying exceptional success in running, athletics, hockey, rugby and netball. Teams regularly gain regional and National awards in competitions.
For the first time the school entered boys’ and girls’ first teams (much the youngest of all teams on show) into the King Henry VIII Cross Country Relay competition, now in its 47th year.
For the boys Nathan Goddard, Kit Evans Lombe, Charlie Turner, Alex Evans Lombe, Chris Long and Ed Rufford completed six 2.53 mile legs of the course in baton relay, ably led off by Nathan Goddard who came back in 8th position. Ed Rufford must be commended as the youngest in the team and producing an excellent run to help the team finish in 21st place.
The girls’ team of Ruby Vinton, April Hill, Amy Goddard and Bea Thomas performed fantastically and finished in 6th place and at one stage were up to 2nd position, Bea Thomas bringing the team home in fine style against some very strong sides.
Although the race is about the team, individual times were also taken, and the best of these were April 13th fastest, Ruby 15th fastest, and on the boys’ side Nathan equal 14th fastest. This was an excellent competition and one that we will certainly return to next year.
Twelve Woodbridge School athletes represented Suffolk at the annual Anglian Schools Cross Country Championships hosted this year at the Royal Hospital School on Saturday 3 February.
There were four age group races for each of the boys and girls and Suffolk were up against the very best from Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk.
Suffolk were in the top three teams in every race and across the eight races were crowned overall champions.
Suffolk won 6 of the 24 individual medals on offer and Woodbridge School athletes claimed 3 of the 6:
Ruby Vinton won Gold in the Minor Girls
April Hill won Bronze in the Junior Girls
Nathan Goddard won Bronze in the Inter Boys
Full results were:
Minor Girls : Ruby Vinton 1st
Minor Boys : Moses McBride 10th (An excellent debut at this level)
Minor Boys : Edward Buckingham 20th (Ed was with Moses before being tripped in the home straight – who says XC is not a contact sport)
Junior Girls : April Hill 3rd
Junior Girls : Bea Thomas 27th
Junior Girls : Amy Goddard 31st
Junior Girls : Jess Elmer 50th
Junior Boys : Charlie Turner 9th (Junior Boys were team winners)
Junior Boys : Kit Evans Lombe 15th
Inter Boys : Nathan Goddard 3rd
Inter Boys : Alex Evans Lombe 35th
Inter Boys : Daniel Davies 57th
Selection to compete at England Schools Cross Country
For the Minor category this was the final race in a series. For Juniors and beyond there was the added pressure of trying to make the cut to compete at England Schools.
This race served as the final trial after which the Suffolk Team would be halved.
It is fantastic to report that the following seven athletes will represent Suffolk at the England Schools Cross Country Championship in Leeds on Saturday 17th March:
Junior Girls : April Hill
Junior Girls : Bea Thomas
Junior Girls : Amy Goddard
Junior Boys: Charlie Turner
Junior Boys : Kit Evans Lombe
Inter Boys : Nathan Goddard
Inter Boys : Alex Evans Lombe
Amy gets another mention in that this year she is the only Woodbridge School athlete selected to compete at England Schools a year young. Amy will get to try out for the same age group next year.
Congratulations to all, a just reward for all the hard work and we wish you every success in Leeds.
Last weekend, three Woodbridge girls flew out to the French Alps to compete in the annual Schoolgirls’ races. Katherine Bye, Beth Turner and Honor Bartlett raced in three disciplines: Giant Slalom, Parallel Slalom and Slalom against girls from schools as far afield as Glenalmond, St Mary’s Calne and Cheltenham Ladies, as well as the big ski schools of Surbiton, Reed’s and NLCS.
In the first race of Giant Slalom, all our girls put down clean runs through the gates and Honor Bartlett finished as the youngest competitor in the top 10, winning the silver medal for her age group. It’s a discipline that we cannot train for on a short dry slope, so our girls did amazingly well to ski with such confidence. What’s more, our overall team time allowed us to qualify for the afternoon’s Parallel Slalom programme, set up as a relay with the whole team competing. We were pitted against eventual runners up in the first round and were certainly not embarrassed in coming in second to them, Beth Turner putting in a great leg for the team. The final race was a traditional slalom race, and with Honor in second overall in the combined, this was a perfect opportunity to move up. Her first blazing run saw her come back to within 0.03 seconds of the leader. But a costly mistake, valiantly corrected by climbing back up the mountain!, saw her lose time and finish in the bronze medal position.
Many thanks to Lucy Bartlett and Rob Turner for coming out to Flaine support the girls too. The team really was a credit to the school and showed the talent we have on the slopes. Bring on more training sessions on the Ipswich Glacier on those bitter Friday evenings!
On Saturday 27 January Woodbridge School had five top Cross Country athletes compete at the South Of England Cross Country Championships in Brighton. Each race had 200 to 350 of the best athletes from the South compete for honours.
All five were medal winners from the recent Suffolk Schools Cross Country but this was another level and it just so happened that all five were racing a year up and so can compete in the same age group race next year.
We start with young Ruby Vinton who has had an astonishing first year at this level. Each race gets a little more difficult but each time Ruby stands up to the challenge and this Saturday was no different. Racing the best older girls in the South, Ruby fought hard to the line and was crowned Champion of the South. Ruby had to dip for the line and after 3 km in the mud was credited with exactly the same time of 10:50 as the second place finisher from Windsor.
An outstanding performance and a proud day for the Vinton Family and all associated with Woodbridge School and Ipswich Harriers athletic club. It was quite something to watch one of our own win such a prestigious event. A massive congratulations to Ruby!
In the U15 Girls, April Hill continues her climb back to the very top, with this race being her best so far this winter. April beat all her close Suffolk Competitors for the first time this winter finishing a credible 12th overall. This performance helped Ipswich Harriers to a fantastic team bronze on the day.
Unbelievably, such is the depth in her age group that all of the top 12 will be in the same race next year. With confidence returning that should do little to stop April getting back to her very best.
Charlie Turner competed in a fiercely competitive U15 Boys race where he ran a well judged race to finish strongly in 54th. Such is the depth that 45 seconds faster over 4.5 km in the mud and he would have placed 12th. Most importantly Charlie gets to go again next year and he was 18th amongst the year nines.
Nathan Goddard and Alex Evans Lombe competed in the U17 Men. The race was relentless over 6 km with Nathan finishing strongly in 33rd overall, another consistent performance and 13th year eleven.
Alex was exactly 100th. A great effort by Alex for his first attempt at an event of this standard and 42nd amongst the year elevens.
Next stop will be Anglian Schools this Saturday 3 February for the 12 Woodbridge School athletes representing Suffolk Schools.
Good luck to everyone competing.
Henry and Jonjo took part in this event and ran in the minor category (Y5 and Y6) against the top fifty runners selected after two previous races. Henry came 20th and Jonjo came 44th. Well done boys!
When we reached St Felix we were very excited about the match. The match started off well with an 8-0 lead after the first quarter. The goals were scored by Ellen and Charlotte. The second quarter was similar, with some brilliant interceptions by Amelia, Issy and Lexie. At half time we were 13-0 up and in the second half we mixed up the positions. This showed we were versatile players. Although we changed positions Georgie, Selina and Marina managed to score 5 goals together. All the girls really enjoyed playing and were delighted with the win. St Felix looked after us very well and gave us a very good tea.
By Georgie and Charlotte
On a freezing day in late January with driving snow at Forrest Edge Equestrian Centre near Swaffham, the younger team of Woodbridge riders excelled to win the NSEA Country Dressage Championship Qualifier from King’s Ely School by just 0.064 of a mark!
Led ably by top scorer Sasha Reid (9 yrs) on Harry, the team of Sasha, Perdi Ludgrove (12), Alex Ryder-Davies (13) and Lily Waterer (12) were duly crowned the NSEA Suffolk Champions.
They now join two jumping teams from Woodbridge who qualified late last year to go to the NSEA County Championships at Bury Farm International Arena in Bedfordshire on 20th April 2018.
The other team of Tabby Wilson-Smith, Oliver Reid, Olivia Brown and Ada Marson were fourth, still only 1.282 marks behind their team mates.
A few of the riders competed in the warm-up class with good results: Sasha won, just ahead of her brother Oliver Reid in third and Ada Marson in sixth.
Many congratulations to all the riders on their successes under such testing conditions.
