Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire pupils were triumphant at the North of England cross-country squad, by winning the recent ISA Cross-Country Championships, held near Coventry, last week.
Twelve-year old Andrew Hess achieved his own individual glory by winning his event and becoming the National ISA Cross-Country Champion for his age group. Andrew, aged 12 and a pupil at Hull Collegiate School is also a member of the Kingston Upon Hull Athletics club and is to represent the area at the English Schools Athletics Association cross-country meeting in Manchester later this month.
Charlotte Dodds, aged 15, achieved her glory with a second place medal in the Under 16 girls race. Charlotte will also be attending the ESAA meeting in Manchester with Andrew, plus fellow pupil Grace Midgely.
The North of England team events also produced a series of winners, with the Under 14 and Under 16 North of England girls team winning their races and the Under 12 and Under 19 North of England girls team placed 2nd.
The pupils, all from Hull Collegiate School based in Anlaby, made up nearly half of the North of England cross-country squad, with 11 of the 24 members of the Junior squad coming from the Prep School and 16 Senior School pupils joining the Senior squad. This is a huge achievement for the local runners as the North of England territory covers a huge area ranging from Durham, the whole of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, over to Cumbria and North Wales. Regional qualifying heats were held earlier this year to select the top ten athletes from each region and the Hull-based runners achieved their first taste of success by dominating the final North of England line-up.
“We are immensely proud of our pupils,” says Mr Andrew North, Sports Co-ordinator at Hull Collegiate Prep School. “The school is set in 5 hectares of grounds and we have our own cross-country track. Our pupils are out in all weather running across the 3 km route and this hard-work has definitely paid off as pupils from the school made up nearly half of the final North of England squad.”
The Cross-Country Championships were held at Princethorpe College, near Coventry in wet and cold weather. Although the sleet did stop just long enough for the junior runners, Mrs Dot Feszczak, the senior school sports teacher who took the pupils to the event, admits that the conditions were appalling.

“Virtually everyone surpassed themselves on the day in extremely difficult conditions,” says Mrs Feszczak. “The course was very slippery and it was difficult to run well. One of our parents came to support the North of England Team and she was superb encouraging the runners at a particularly challenging part of the course.”
The results of the Junior and Senior Teams were combined and at the end of the Tournament the North of England were placed overall winners on the day.”

Open Week will be held during Monday 5th to Friday 9th October 2009.

Join us for a guided tour of the school and find out how the school functions during a typical working day. Open Week is the perfect opportunity for you to witness real lessons and see our pupils in action, both in the classroom and on our sports pitches.

Tours can be tailored to suit your personal requirements, taking in particular areas of interest and strengths of your child/children. There will also be time for refreshments and an informal chat with the Principal.

We have opened the school for an entire week so that you can visit on a day which is convenient to you. However, all our weeks are Open Weeks and, should you be unable to visit this time, we would be delighted to welcome you on any alternative day throughout the school year.

Please contact the Registrar, Mrs Sharon McEwan, on 01482 657016, for further information and to arrange a visit.

We look forward to welcoming you to Hull Collegiate School soon.