Category: Sport
When we arrived at Framlingham College we were very excited. Our first match was against Langley Prep. The final score was 1 -1. It was a very exciting match as we were 1 – 0 down when the whistle blew, but luckily were awarded a short corner just as the whistle blew and had to take it. We scored to draw the match.
Our next match was against Beeston Hall. Although we lost 2 – 0 the whole team worked extremely hard and we felt that we were unlucky not to have got more from the game.
Our third match was against South Lee. We needed to beat them to have a chance of making it into the final of the tournament, but unfortunately after a very close match we lost 1 – 0.
Although we knew we couldn’t get into the final, we were determined to give a good performance in our final match, against Ipswich High School. With everybody working really hard, we came away with a 2 – 0 victory. It was a great way to end the tournament.
The whole team really enjoyed the experience and learned lots for the matches ahead.
By Charlotte Hattan
Our cross country athletes close the season with three National Cross Country Fixtures – Competition at the highest level.
The Saucony English National Cross Country Championship – Entry through your club and the largest event with over 8000 athletes competing in 10 Age Group races.
British Athletics Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships where our students selected will represent Suffolk County ( Loughborough on Saturday 11 March)
New Balance English Schools Cross Country Championships where our students selected will represent Suffolk Schools (Norwich on Saturday 18 March)
Last weekend, Saturday 25 February, a group of seven travelled to Nottingham to compete for Ipswich Harriers in the first of the three Nationals with some fantastic performances.
To give the results some context, junior races typically have 400 to 500 of the fastest cross country athletes in England competing. If you consider that in team sports an England Squad is typically around 30 strong before the final match day side is selected, in cross country it is widely recognised that top 100 takes some doing and top 50 is knocking on the door of National Standard.
Our individual results were as follows:
U13 Boys –
Charlie Turner – 38th – a fantastic second half saw Charlie storm his way into the top 50 pacing his race perfectly
George Wharam – 58th – again a powerful finish saw George closing in on that top 50
Kit Evans-Lombe – 118th – A first National event for Kit and not far away from that top 100. Such is the level of competition in fact that Kit was only 6 seconds behind 100th.
The boys helped Ipswich Harriers to 6th place in the team competition against the very best clubs from around England.
U13 Girls –
Amy Goddard – 215th from 467 finishers. A first National for Amy and she was our only athlete on the day running a year up. 48 seconds between 100th and 215th shows the depth.
U15 Girls –
Sarah Barker – 42nd – an outstanding run saw Sarah power through to finish first for her club as well as break into that top 50 on a National stage for the first time.
Amy Graham – 136th – closing in on that elusive top 100, just 15 seconds ahead. A good return to form for Amy.
Amy and Sarah helped Ipswich Harriers to an incredible 4th place at the Nationals. The Clubs best result of the day!
U15 Boys –
Nathan Goddard – 18th – A top 20 finish at Nationals !
Nathan’s highest ever finish at a National Cross Country fixture and just a tantalising 9 seconds from top 10. Another mature performance moving from 26th to 18th in the final 500 metres.
Congratulations to everyone that competed and we wish you well for the remaining fixtures.
We are delighted to be able to welcome so many schools to Woodbridge for the East Anglian Prep Schools Cross Country Championships on Sunday 5 March. We hope you enjoy the day and best of luck to all of those participating in the event.
Registration opens at 10.30am, with the first race starting at 11.30am
Refreshments will be available all day, and at 2.15pm there will be a tea followed by the awards presentation.
Score: Won 28-5
The Under 15B team travelled to Ipswich High keen to impress after some close recent games.
Nancy Keitley-Webb, Maddie Walmsley and Kiya Smith were added to the squad after strong performances with the C team. Their selection was certainly a positive one as each of the girls had great games for the B’s. The squad knew what they wanted to achieve and started quickly out of the blocks to take a 1-7 lead after the first quarter. Izzie Cullen’s goal shooting proved to be on form and Kiya Smith supported well as they combined well in attack. The second quarter saw Woodbridge blitz ahead and take a 2-18 lead at the half way stage. Once again Izzie Cullen impressed with her shooting, Captain Millie Buchanan and Poppy Fletcher dominated the midfield. Natasha Doole and Flo Scott cut out so many of Ipswich’s attacks that their score line and chances on goal were very limited. At the end of the third quarter Woodbridge stretched their lead to 4-23 and afforded themselves to coast through the final quarter and take a 5-28 lead and victory. A fantastic effort by the whole squad and much deserved win.
Score: Won 29-14
Right from the off, Woodbridge started to attack from their own 22, but after a lineout error Wycliffe won a free ruck and a drop goal was scored. Woodbridge were unfazed and Wycliffe’s defence was tested after runs from James Brown and James Bellhouse. Woodbridge improved their attacking depth and pulled in their defence. Hugo Kelleway found a gap and beat the full back and winger to score. Tom Innes converted for a 7-3 lead.
Wycliffe made a long range penalty attempt but missed. Rupert Clogg caught a high testing ball and set up a Woodbridge attack. Hugo Kelleway kicked ahead, and Clogg made a great tackle on their full back putting Woodbridge in a good position. Tristan Hilger caught another high ball and drove inroads into the Wycliffe defence, before a lost ball allowed Wycliffe to press hard in attack and put Woodbridge under pressure on their line. The Woodbridge defence held defiantly.
The action was unrelenting; Tom Lomas chased down a Wycliffe attack, but a yellow card ensued after a high tackle. Woodbridge were now with 14 men and were camped on their try line. Wycliffe darted blind and their hooker squeezed over to score in the corner and take a 7-8 lead.
With a man down, Woodbridge rallied and attacked from deep. From a scrum the ball switched right, then left, before Captain James Bellhouse rampaged over to score out wide and gain a 12-8 lead for Woodbridge.
Soon thereafter Kieron Saxton caught a ball out wide, but after his scintillating run he was isolated and the ball was lost. A Penalty was given and Woodbridge had a narrow 12-11 lead at half time.
The second half did not start as planned, and after discipline at the breakdown and a further penalty, Wycliffe took a 12-14 lead. Midfield battles ensued, and both teams had their fair share of attacking and defending to do. A very high tackle on Rupert Clogg broke the deadlock, and Wycliffe’s talented centre was yellow-carded. Hugo Kelleway made a great jinking run, and Wycliffe were put onto the back foot. Woodbridge spun the ball wide and Rupert Clogg scored a well-deserved try in the corner for Woodbridge to take a 17-14 lead. Woodbridge continued to press and after a cross field kick from Hugo Kelleway, Wycliffe were under immense pressure on their line. A quickly taken penalty and lightening quick hands put Will Pilkington into space where he expertly squeezed over into the corner. Woodbridge had taken a 22-14 lead and were now looking very dominant. Further pressure was applied to Wycliffe’s cracking defence which allowed man of the match Hugo Kelleway to spot a gap and go through to score under the posts. Tom Innes converted and Woodbridge were ahead and victors 29-14.
A great team performance but special mention to Hugo Kelleway orchestrating at fly half.
Class 1 – 50cm
The Woodbridge Blue Team came a very well-deserved Second Place overall with 4 excellent clear rounds for this very novice team, including Fran Jackson riding 2 different ponies – Minnie the Minx and Kingsettle Thrysma, who had never competed prior to Saturday’s event, plus a good steady clear from Rosie Hunter Blair on Jimbo, and a fabulous clear round from Sasha Reid, jumping 50cm for the first time!! Fran also managed to bag Second Place individually with a very fast round from Minnie the Minx!
Class 2 – 60cm
Another excellent result with 4 clear rounds from The Woodbridge Red Team, including Lily Waterer on Annabel, Sophia Waterer on Amber, Rosie Hunter Blair on Jimbo, and Fran Jackson on Minnie the Minx. Woodbridge Red Team were very proudly presented with individual results in this class too – Rosie Hunter Blair was given The Style Award for the most beautiful, steady and controlled clear round, Fran Jackson took Second Place with Lily following up in 5th Place for the fastest clear rounds! Fran also went clear once again on Thrysma – a great result for them both.
Class 3 – 70cm
Due to a few last minute changes we now had 2 individual riders and only a team of 3 representing Woodbridge. Sophia Waterer on Amber was the first to go, and although losing her whip half way round, Sophia found the strength in her legs to encourage a rather reluctant Amber to jump very well. Lily Waterer followed on Annabel, and her sheer determination ensured a good clear round from them both.
Now it was the turn of the team – the pressure was on the young riders to all jump clear against a strong field in order to be in with a chance of success and keep up with the earlier success of the previous teams! With Olivia Lubbock on Gwen, Alex Ryder-Davis on Faith, and Oliver Reid on Twix, they all jumped fabulous clear rounds, and into Second Place with Olivia and Gwen taking 5th individually, even though they went the long way round!
Class 4 – 80cm
Again with only a team of three and some rather large fences and spreads to face, not to mention some very sharp twists and turns in the course, the Woodbridge White Team stepped up to the challenge. Olivia Lubbock and Gwen went first – a hair raising round by anyone’s standards. After crashing through fence four, and almost totally losing their balance, pony and rider managed to carry on and complete the rest of the course at speed and with only one stirrup! Oliver Reid followed on Twix, and produced a deceptively fast clear round. It was now down to Alex Ryder-Davis and Faith – “No pressure….just enjoy it!” we all said. And they did! A fabulous clear round with some excellent sharp turns and plenty of pace! The Woodbridge White Team came 1st, with Ollie coming 2nd, Alex 3rd and Olivia 6th as individuals.
A fantastic result and great way to end a very successful day for all of the Woodbridge Team riders!!
Thank you to all the Mums and Dads for their support and encouragement which went such a long way to making it a very enjoyable day! Photos to follow
The Under 15B team travelled to Ipswich High keen to impress after some close recent games.
Nancy Keitley-Webb, Maddie Walmsley and Kiya Smith were added to the squad after strong performances with the C team. Their selection was certainly a positive one as each of the girls had great games for the B’s. The squad knew what they wanted to achieve and started quickly out of the blocks to take a 1-7 lead after the first quarter. Izzie Cullen’s goal shooting proved to be on form and Kiya Smith supported well as they combined well in attack. The second quarter saw Woodbridge blitz ahead and take a 2-18 lead at the half way stage. Once again Izzie Cullen impressed with her shooting, Captain Millie Buchanan and Poppy Fletcher dominated the midfield. Natasha Doole and Flo Scott cut out so many of Ipswich’s attacks that their score line and chances on goal were very limited. At the end of the third quarter Woodbridge stretched their lead to 4-23 and afforded themselves to coast through the final quarter and take a 5-28 lead and victory. A fantastic effort by the whole squad and much deserved win
The A team arrived at Orwell Park, very excited for the day ahead.
Our first match was against Framlingham College, we started slowly and the opposition had quite a few chances at goal. Finding our stride in the second half, we created some good opportunities and had some very near misses ourselves. One being the ball rolling along the goal line, but it just didn’t go in! In the end we finished the match with a 0-0 draw.
Our next opponent was Kings College. It was a nail biting game, we were evenly matched at 1-1, until we scored a thrilling goal in the final minutes of the game, taking us to a 2-1 win.
We played Witham Hall next, they had a strong team with a particularly good right wing player, sadly we lost 3-0.
After lunch, we played Stephen Perse with lots of energy. We were evenly matched and ended the game with a disappointing 0-0 draw.
We then played Kingshott, they were very good and we did well to defend and end the match with a 0-0 draw.
We were delighted to find out that we were through to the quarterfinals, where we played Norwich School, but lost 4-1. This sadly marked the end of our tournament.
We had such a wonderful day, we played well as a team and everyone enjoyed it.
By Georgie Phillips
The weekend saw multiple teams from Woodbridge School competing at the Suffolk County Show Jumping and Suffolk County Dressage Qualifiers for the NSEA County Championships at the end of April.
On Saturday 28th Jan at The Jays , Bury St Edmunds, many Schools from all over Suffolk were contesting for the NSEA Suffolk County Show Jumping Qualifiers from 70cms-1.10m.
Woodbridge School’s riding teams are going from strength to strength with the younger team members showing the way winning the 70cms Suffolk County Show Jumping Qualifier; crowning them Suffolk Champions and qualifying them to represent both Suffolk and the School at the County Championships.
The four team members of Perdi Ludgrove (Yr6), Olivia Brown(Yr7), Tess Walker (Yr7) and Ada Marson(Yr6) all produced clear rounds with Ada producing an extremely fast round taking 2nd individually, narrowly missing winning and qualifying herself as an individual as well.
The School also had their youngest team competing in the 70cms who performed exceptionally to take 4th place. This was the first time any of this team had competed at this level before. They had gone for the experience and then all produced good rounds to take 4th place in a very competitive class. The Team was Isla Appleby (Yr7), Lily Waterer(Yr7), Sophia Waterer(Yr5) & Eve Marson (Yr4)
The School fielded two full teams for the 80cms competition; with the teams taking 3rd & 4th place.
Third placed team of Fleur Ludgrove, Oliver Reid, Alex Ryder-Davies & Isla Appleby. Fleur was substituted in at the last minute as Zoe Newman had suffered a minor kick so was unable to ride.
This was the first 80cms competition for Oliver Reid & Isla Appleby.
The Fourth team was Olivia Brown, Tess Walker, Perdi Ludgrove and Ada Marson. Ada again produced a fast round but was pipped from taking the County Title coming 2nd.
Tabitha Wilson-Smith rode a top class round to take the individual Suffolk County title and qualify for the Championships in the 90cms with the team of Tabitha Wilson-Smith, Rowena Wilson-Smith, Zara Lye & Fleur Ludgrove narrowly missing out qualifying themselves by taking the 2nd place.
In the 1m class; James Brown took 3rd place and Zara Lye took 6th.
On Sunday the 29th January, a team of Woodbridge Riders contested the Suffolk County Dressage Qualifier at Easton College.
The Team of Caragh Paul, Tabitha Wilson-Smith, Rowena Wilson-Smith and the youngest member Oliver Reid did exceptionally well to WIN the Dressage qualifier and secure their place to the Championships.
An extra well done to both Wilson-Smith sisters and to Oliver Reid who competed back to back at the weekend on both days with superb results and qualifications on both days.
Dressage Team; (L-R_Caragh Paul (3rd), Tabitha Wilson-Smith (6th), Rowena Wilson-Smith (2nd) & Oliver Reid Suffolk County Dressage Champions
70cms Show Jumping Team: (L-R) Ada Marson (2nd individually), Olivia Brown, Perdi Ludgrove & Tess Walker NSEA Suffolk County 70cms Champions
On Saturday 28 January Alfie Glendinning and Minnie Wayman both competed in the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships at Tooting Bec Lido. With no wet suits allowed and the water an extremely chilly 1.5o c speed was of the essence! First up was Alfie in the boys u14 years 30m free which he won in 21.73 seconds. Minnie was next in the girls u14 years 30m free which she won in 19.07 seconds. Alfie then had another swim, racing in the boys u14 years 30m head up breaststroke which he won in 33.20 seconds. After a dip in the hot tub and some hot drinks Minnie competed in the mixed 4 x 30m freestyle relay with swimmers from Felixstowe, Diss and Leiston. They finished a highly creditable 5th out of 31 teams in a time of 1.26.83. The combined upper age limit for their category was 160 years, they came in at a combined age of 61 years, winning a special prize as youngest team. A hugely enjoyable day, they’re both looking forward to the next Championships in 2019!