Sport Archives - Page 35 of 54

We were delighted to welcome Olympic athlete Donna Fraser to Woodbridge yesterday. Donna spent the afternoon at The Abbey teaching pupils from Year 5 and 6 at The Abbey, and Year 9 pupils from the Senior School.

An amazing experience for them and a very enjoyable one for Donna who wrote to Mr Simpson to say how much fun she had working with our terrific pupils.

Played 5
Won 5
V Bungay Won 6.5 – 3
V Thurston Won 9 – 4.5
V Chantry Won 5.5 – 5
V Ormiston Sudbury Won 8 – 3
V Ormiston Denes Won 8.5 – 4

On the hottest day of the summer so far, we travelled to Sudbury for the U14 County Finals. We knew we were in with a good chance but anything can happen on 20 good balls!

We were put into bat against Bungay to start off with and Flora Pitt got us on the mark, followed by Victoria Burows, Saffron Holliday, Sophie Graham, Annie Yates, and Nell Pilkington, who all scored half rounders or rounders to put us in with a great chance going into the fielding with six and a half rounders to our name. Annie Yates took a brilliant catch behind, as backstop on ball 2 and then Ianthe Hill caught one of their players out, Saffron took a catch in the deep field, and then so did Victoria and Nell. Some great fielding and bowling by Victoria on a difficult and undulating pitch meant the opposition only scored 3 rounders and we were victorious

Next up was Thurston, and we smashed the ball around the park after they gave us four and a half to chase. Annie, Victoria, Libby Martin, Nell, Ianthe, Flora, Laura Golding, Saffron and Sophie all put their names on the score sheet and we finished with nine rounders and another victory.

We then faced Chantry, and knew from the South Suffolk round that this was going to be a tight game. We fielded and let a few slip through our hands, and the pressure was really on with Chantry hitting the ball well into the gaps we were leaving in the field. Annie and Libby were responsible for getting two of their players out, and we had five to aim for. We went into bat knowing that we had to put on a good performance and show them that we were determined! Flora started the scoring off and scored a total of two and a half rounders for us and then Emma Trebilcock, Ianthe and Victoria all put their name on the scoresheet. Some great catches by the opposition in the field meant we were certainly under pressure. Luckily for us a half rounder was all that was needed, and we had another win under our belts, yey!

Then we faced the hosts, Ormiston Academy, Sudbury, and we fielded with a renewed determination. Ormiston gave us a total of three to aim at, and this was after some tight fielding, great stumpings, backing up and catching. Nell, Ianthe, Victoria, Annie, Verity Hobday, Saffron, Flora and Libby all scored to enable us to win 6 – 3.

In the last game which could clinch the victory, we faced Ormiston Denes. We put on a great batting display with Saffron, Sophie, Victoria, Ianthe and Nell all scoring to give us eight and a half rounders to defend, even though their bowling was fantastic! We then fielded brilliantly with Annie catching two of their players out and Nell stumping girls out on second base. They only managed to score 4 rounders and victory was ours.

Well done to all the girls, a fantastic display of team work and skills, they should be very proud of themselves!

Tremendous congratulations to the athletics team who participated in the Y7-10 Athletics Championships at Bedford over the weekend, and who achieved stunning results. An incredible 14 pupils will now go on to represent the School in 12 different events at the National final in Birmingham in July.

Superb and inspiring results from all who participated. The 14 pupils who have qualified are as follows;

Henry Dinwiddy: 1500m
George Wharam: 1500m
Amy Goddard: 1500m
Ruby Vinton: 1500m
Issy Eaton: 200m
John Hendry: 200m
Olivia Buchanan: Javelin
Ella Walker: High Jump
Beau Barrington-Hibbert: Discus
Ella Smith: Discus
U14 Girls’ relay team
U14 Boys’ relay team

The boys came a glorious first, well ahead of Kesgrave, RHS, Ipswich, Northgate, East Bergholt, Copleston, Farlingaye and St Joseph’s, and the girls a fine fourth, to qualify for the next round of the Schools’ athletics competition.

With nine schools taking part in the Year 8 A-grade event, each race had two heats, and so the evening couldn’t have started better when Tom Turner and Mauricio Corfe won the A and B hurdles races in 12.28 and 12.79 respectively. John Hendry followed up with a personal best of 24.62 in the 200m with Mak Zie winning the B string with 27.16. George Wharam made the 800m race look like a sprint, clear in front, with Charlie Turner finishing second (and therefore also first in the B string). Both relay teams won convincingly too: Mak, Ruben Kill, John and Mauricio, and the other team of George, Tom, Charlie, and a fast leg by new comer Tom Yarrow. The field events were just as extraordinary: John second in long jump and Tom first for the B string; Mauricio first in triple jump; new recruit Taye Sutton second in discus with over 21m and Jack Ward close on his heels with 20.40m.All looks set fair for the Regional finals in June.

Meanwhile, wIth some of the squad involved in a tennis fixture, the girls fielded some new recruits alongside seasoned campaigners. Ella Walker came first in her 200m heat; Molly Marshall came second with 4.20m in long jump just 1cm behind the winner; Rebecca Yardy also finished second, in long jump B string; Lakisha Charema came third in the A discus and Jess Elmer was first in the B string. Olivia Buchanan was first in Javelin and Emily Whyte first in the B string (and third overall). In the final reckoning the girls came a very respectable fourth, enjoying the chance to hone their competitive instincts in time for the Regional finals.

The next day was the turn of the Year 9s: victory for the girls and second place for the boys, with both qualifying for the Regional round.

With nine schools taking part in the Year 9A event, competition was tough across the two-heats-per-event format. Sophie Graham started the evening winning her heat in hurdles (second overall) and also winning the javelin with a throw of 37.6m. Flora Pitt was second in the 200m A race and Laura Golding first in the B race. Both Ianthe Hill and Vicky Burrows were second in their 300m A and B races respectively. Nell Pilkington came first in shot, Annie Yates and Saffron Holliday both first in discus in A and B string. Flora Pitt was second in Long Jump with Ianthe Hill jumping well too. The High jump was won by Vicky Burrows…. I’m exhausted just writing it! All in all no wonder the girls triumphed ahead of Northgate, RHS, Ipswich High, Farlingaye, Ipswich, kesgrave, Hadleigh and Holbrook. The Year 9s will be joined by the best of our Year 10s at Watford on Friday 9 June for the Regional Finals of the girls’ Inter team event, looking to repeat their victory in an equivalent event earlier in the season.

Meanwhile the boys also excelled, coming second from seven schools. Leading the way was Hugo Thomas, second in high jump; Hal Ottley, third in triple jump with Charlie Eaton second in the B string; Nathaniel Gunn third in discus and Anthony Doggett winning the B string; Daniel Norman third in javelin and Sam Betteridge first in the B string; and Josh Ralph third in the shot. Well done to all!

And it doesn’t end there…

For the third consecutive afternoon our athletes went to Northgate to compete. This time it was the turn of the Year 7 boys and girls, with the girls prevailing to qualify for the next round to be held on 13^th June back at Northgate. Highlight performances: Anna Jackson was second in the B string 100m; Ella Pitt won her heat and was placed third overall in the 200m A race, and also won the long jump; Lucy Clare won the 300m A; Olivia Lubbock won her heat in the 75m and finished second overall; Olivia Brown second in the B string discus; and Tess Walker third in the A javelin event. In the 800m the girls were clear of the field with Bea Thomas winning with 2.34 and Amy Goddard close on her heels with 2.38 to finish second, and therefore first in the B string. With nine schools taking part competition was intense with the girls finishing tied for third just three points from first and over forty ahead of the rest of the field… Here’s to a reversal in the top of the order come the next round! For the boys the outstanding performances came from Tom Martin who won both the Javelin with 27.53m and the 300m A race, James Holliday who won the high jump with 1.35m and the 300m B race, and Henry Dinwiddy who won the discus with 21.98m and came third in the 800m A race. Woodbridge finished sixth, but only about ten points from qualifying – a worthy effort on a very busy day.

The next day was the turn of the Year 9s: victory for the girls and second place for the boys, with both qualifying for the Regional round.

And it doesn’t end there…

For the third consecutive afternoon our athletes went to Northgate to compete. This time it was the turn of the Year 7 boys and girls, with the girls prevailing to qualify for the next round to be held on 13^th June back at Northgate. Highlight performances: Anna Jackson was second in the B string 100m; Ella Pitt won her heat and was placed third overall in the 200m A race, and also won the long jump; Lucy Clare won the 300m A; Olivia Lubbock won her heat in the 75m and finished second overall; Olivia Brown second in the B string discus; and Tess Walker third in the A javelin event. In the 800m the girls were clear of the field with Bea Thomas winning with 2.34 and Amy Goddard close on her heels with 2.38 to finish second, and therefore first in the B string. With nine schools taking part competition was intense with the girls finishing tied for third just three points from first and over forty ahead of the rest of the field… Here’s to a reversal in the top of the order come the next round! For the boys the outstanding performances came from James Martin who won both the Javelin with 27.53m and the 300m A race, James Holliday who won the high jump with 1.35m and the 300m B race, and Henry Dinwiddy who won the discus with 21.98m and came third in the 800m A race. Woodbridge finished sixth, but only about ten points from qualifying – a worthy effort on a very busy day.

3 out of 4 athletic teams make it to the A regional finals in the ESAA English Schools’ Track and Field Cup!!

Our junior (Years 7/8) and intermediate (Years 9/10) athletics teams went to compete in the ESAA English Schools’ Track and Field Cup at Bury St Edmunds on 11^th May. Woodbridge School dominated the day. With ten schools competing on the Wednesday and the same number again on the Thursday competition was tough. Our best 13 girls and 15 boys in each group were selected for two events each, covering all the events between them. Distances and times gained points and the team scoring the most points qualify.

Our strong unbeaten junior girls’ team won with a total 346 points, exceeding the previous day’s winners RHS (309), thereby earning a place in the A regional finals as the top school. Olivia Buchanan was our top girl scoring 48 points, her javelin throw taking her off the scoring system! Emily Whyte was second top with 44 points from 800m and javelin. Bea Thomas next on 38, closely followed by Issy Eaton 37 and Ella Walker 36. Issy came second in her 100m race to the UK’s number two runner. Arianne Bilgen did well in high jump to win with 1.35m.

The intermediate girls also won, with 343 points, again exceeding previous day’s winners RHS (324), to take them to the A regional final as top qualifiers. Top scorer was Sophie Graham on 46 points from a javelin throw that took her off the scoring system, combined with her hurdles points. Next was Nell Pilkington (42) whose shot throw also took her off the points system and she also did the relay. Sarah Barker scored 35 points with a strong 1500m, Maud Peel 31 and Victoria Burrows 30. Many thanks to Annie Yates, who stepped in to cover Amy Graham who was absent on the day, and pocketed a good number of points.

The Junior boys’ team also won scoring 342 points. Ipswich School had won the day before on 307 so again we finished first overall. Top scorer was John Hendry with 40; we are hoping to add detail to this report soon.

Last year at the County Track and field Championships we took 24 pupils and 12 qualified for selection to the county athletics teams. We thought that was pretty good… This year we took 49 girls and boys from Years 8-13 with an astonishing 22 pupils qualifying in 26 events!

With five heats in the 100m (40 competitors) it gives some idea of the competition to come in the top three to qualify. On the track Issy Eaton went to the finals for both 100m and 200m – coming third in 200m to qualify and just missing out in 4^th place for the 100m. John Hendry also place 3^rd in the final of the 200m gave him a place too. Our distance runners were dominant: Sarah Barker and Nathan Goddard winning the 3000m and George Wharam coming 2^nd. Hurdlers Sophie Graham, India Lawson and Mauricio Corfe all won their races.

The throwers did well too: wins for Sophie Graham 36.27m and sister Laura with a PB of 39.43m quite outstanding!! Olivia Buchanan came 2^nd and Amy Graham (with injury) 3^rd. In discus Sophie Graham won, as did Joanne Garnett, and 3^rd places for Alex Weir Simmonds, Annie Yates, and Laura Graham added to the collection. In shot we had more to celebrate with wins for Jemima Potter and Nell Pilkington, and 2^nd place for Maud Peel.

In the jumps we had wins for India Lawson in high jump, and Ianthe Hill in long jump with Georgia Harrold coming 2^nd. Triple jump saw 2^nd places for India Lawson and Hal Ottley, and 3^rd place for Hugo Thomas.

Those narrowly missing out on qualification but still securing excellent fourth places were Emily Whyte in Javelin, Jemima Potter and Nathaniel Gunn in discus, Charlie Turner in 1500m, and Gussie Terry in Triple Jump.

All 49 should be proud to have achieved the qualifying distance or time to attend this event. Well done all on such a chilly day!

We look forward to next week’s athletics events which take us back to Bury next Thursday for the schools’ team event, and to Northgate on Tuesday with Year 10.

Four schools took part in a Year 4,5,6,7 and 8 girls’ athletics meet at New Hall. In very cold conditions the girls did extremely well and won overall, scoring 238 to defeat Holmwood House 4^th on 378, New Hall 3^rd on 341, and Ipswich High on 298.

The Year 8 girls had complete control with Issy Eaton winning 100m, 200m, and coming from behind in the last leg of the relay to win. Molly Marshall won the 1500m, and long jump, Olivia Buchanan the javelin and, joined by Issy, Ella Walker and Emily Whyte, the relay. The team overall won both track and field events. Meanwhile Year 7 Bea Thomas won the 800m, Amy Goddard the 1500m, Iris Morton the high jump, and Ella Smith the discus to help the Year 7 team win their overall field events.

Congratulations to all.

Six schools took part in the first athletics meet this season at RHS on Saturday: Gresham’s, Ipswich High, Ipswich School, Framlingham Prep, RHS and Woodbridge. Open to girls’ teams of U12, U13 U14 and U15, lots of pupils took part with roughly 12 competitors or more per event. This year the organisers were concentrating on getting as many involved as possible, giving them an opportunity to post times and distances for the season, and in true Woodbridge fashion our girls happily stepped in to do extra events to cover for some late and unavoidable absences.

The girls showed dominance on the middle distance track 800m with Sarah Barker 1^st and Amy Graham 2^nd in U15 team, Bea Thomas 1^st and Amy Goddard 2^nd in the U12 team, and Emily Whyte 3^rd at U13. The throwing events were equally successful: in javelin U12 Katie Norman came 1^st and Tess Walker 3^rd, U13 Olivia Buchanan 1^st Emily Whyte 2^nd, U14 Nell Pilkington 1^st, U15 Amy Graham 1^st and Freya Nyberg throwing well. In discus Ella Smith1^st Olivia Brown 3^rd, U13 Lakisha Charema 3^rd and Jess Elmer 4^th, U14 Annabel Yates 1^st Saffron Holliday 3^rd, U15 Cristine Lui 1^st Joanne Garnett 2^nd. Special mention to Cristine whose success followed from just one training session with Mr Graham! In shot U14 Nell Pilkington was 2^nd with 9m to the winning throw of 9.03m! In the U15 team event Maud Peel came 1^st and Joanne Garnett was 2^nd. Meanwhile Ella Walker finished off her very successful day as part of the winning U13 relay A team (Emily Whyte, Katie Bellhouse and Eleanor Wright) having already won High Jump and 200m.

Apologies to anyone not mentioned who did well; a full set of results will follow from RHS. Thank you to all the parents who brought the girls to school on the Bank holiday weekend and those out supporting at RHS. A big thank you to Mr Goddard and Mr Graham for their presence and training, and to Mrs Pilkington and Miss Sanders for their leadership on the day. Most importantly thank you girls and well done!

Oliver Juzst was one of two goalkeepers selected to attend the England U16 hockey International matches this last weekend ( Saturday 29 April – Monday 1 May) at Lillieshall, Shropshire. The England U16 team were up against Ulster U17 boys.

The first match was played by the older goalkeeper James Mazzerello on Saturday 29 April and resulted in a win to England 2-1. Ollie’s turn came on the Sunday, after a full day of training and waiting, and with the Ulster boys looking for a win. It was a tight game and ended in a 2-2 draw. Penalty shuffles took place after the final whistle and Ollie made 4 out of the 5 saves with the Ulster keeping letting in several shots, although these do not count and were played for experience leaving the final result a draw.

On the final day, Ollie and James shared the game with James playing the first half, Oliver the second. Both our keepers conceded two goals in the game and the final score was 4-3 to Ulster in another tight game.

All-in-all a respectable result considering the England team were playing up a year and we were missing some of our outfield players to club finals commitments.

Congratulations to Oliver on a fantastic debut with the England Team.

Many congratulations to Zara Lye, who, with her mare, contested her first GB Junior Trial at Belton in Lincolnshire on the last day of term in March, and finished a brilliant 6th in the Open Intermediate under 21 age category and 3rd best Junior. They went on to compete for GB at the Ballindenisk International Three Day Event in Ireland last week, and finished a fantastic 10th. This was Zara’s first trip abroad to compete, and it was a long journey across the Irish Sea by ferry but well worth it and an amazing experience.