Throughout the week beginning 10 November, our students took part in our Inter-House Cross Country Championships with the intention of gaining as many points as possible for their houses, and also qualifying to represent Carisbrooke College at the upcoming Cross Country Relays at Medina College.

Carisbrooke College has fantastic outdoor space to allow us to organise and run a 1 mile long challenging course which included multiple hill climbs. The course was made even more challenging by the recent weather conditions.  However, our students did not let the weather get in the way of proceedings and did as best as they could.  The top three in each year group were as follows:

Year 7 Boys - Jenson W (7.16), Joshua P (7.28) and Albi M (7.36)
Year 7 Girls - Araya H (8.31), Zara C (8.42) and Ellie W-P (8.48)
Year 8 Boys - Jimmy S (7.30), Mason B-S (7.33) and Harry M (7.39)
Year 8 Girls - Tabitha M (9.28), Esme A (9.46) and Amy W (9.52)
Year 9 Boys - William C (7.04), Jude B (7.35) and Bobby M (7.36)
Year 9 Girls - Amelia A (8.12), Darci C (9.33) and Kayla F (9.47)
Year 10 Boys - Riley H (7.29), Riley M (7.37) and Warrick C (7.46)
Year 10 Girls - Summer C (11.07), Summer D-C (11.24) and Imogen H (11.59)

Our year 11 students were sitting their mock exams all week and so were unable to participate in the event, but they will get their opportunity to do so later in the term.

At the end of the competition the final House standings are:
Year 7 Boys - 7B (286), 7D (225), 7C (170) and 7A (151)
Year 7 Girls - 7D (326), 7B (257), 7A (163) and 7C (113)
Year 8 Boys - 8C (227), 8D (221), 8A (200) and 8B (99)
Year 8 Girls - 8C (218), 8D (211), 8A (174) and 8B (156)
Year 9 Boys - 9C (275), 9B (243), 9D (165) and 9A (156)
Year 9 Girls - 9A (272), 9C (217), 9D (210) and 9B (162)
Year 10 Boys - 10B (240), 10D (237), 10A (172) and 10C (164)
Year 10 Girls - 10C (167), 10B (93), 10D (69) and 10A (70)

Special mention must go to 7D girls who gained the most points with 326 in total for their House.

As a result of the final tutor group standings are:
7D - 551
7B - 543
9C - 492
8C - 445
8D - 432
9A - 428
9B - 405
9D - 375
8A - 374
10B - 333
10C - 331
7A - 314
10D - 306
7C - 283
8B - 255
10A - 242

This now means the current overall standings in our Sporting House competitions see 7D, 8C, 9D, 10B and 11D in the lead across their respective year groups and D House overall taking a 404 point lead over A House, who is closely chased by B and C House.

Carrying on from this our Cross Country runners who put in the fastest times in their respective categories then went to Medina College on Tuesday 18th November to take part in a the annual Isle of Wight Secondary Schools Cross Country Relay Championships.  This year saw Carisbrooke take the largest team we have ever taken with 53 students in total representing the school.  Cross Country relays have not always been a strength of the school but this year we have seen some good potential begin to come through and what was pleasing to see was that all age groups put in competiitve performances.  

Our year 7 boys were up first with three teams being entered due to the eagerness and willingness of the boys wanting to represent their school.  Carisbrooke A ran the perfect team race with Joshua, Albi, Caleb and Jenson all running almost identical split times which saw them take a well earned third place overall as Jenson dipped on the line to beat the other athlete by inches.  Carisbrooke C claimed 8th overall with Leon, Harry, Reuben and Dexteer running well and Carisbrooke B took 9th coming in just behind the C team and were represented by Kenan, Harry, Sullivan and Jack.

Year 7 girls were next up with two sides entered.  Araya, Zara, Savannah and Nora made up the A team and matched the boys with a third place overall with a strong run from all of the girls.  Ella, Phoebe, Gracie and Orla came in 9th overall but we were very impressed with their team spirit and fight to do their school proud.

Year 8 boys entered one team but what a team it was.  Again claiming third overall as Mason, Reuben, Mckinley and Jimmy all did their part which set up Jimmy on the final leg to sprint home and pull a couple of places back towards the end of the race.  

Year 8 girls entered two teams with Carisbrooke A taking 5th overall with Tabitha, Safiya, Esme and Eva putting in a good shift and with Amy, Nell, Amelia and Tilly coming in 8th for the B team, again the girls did us proud.

Year 9 girls Amelia, Darci, Kayla and Georgia also came 5th in their race and when our year 10 boys Riley H, Riley M, Warrick, Jack and James came 6th in their race there were only two other races to mention.  Our year 10 girls team need a special mention as only Imogen from our original team entered made it due to others having to pull out.  As a result, Amelia, Tabitha and Araya from our younger years stepped up to run a second race to ensure Imogen could compete.  This was a stand out moment for us as a school because to see this team work and sense of wanting to support their fellow students was fantastic to see.  As a result they came 5th overall which is amazing considering what some of the students had already done and again, a special mention to Araya who ran in a year 10 race as a year 7.  

That leaves us to mention the year 9 boys race.  Again three teams were entered due to such a positive group of boys wanting to compete and push themselves.  Our C team made up from Oliver, Ted, William and Healey came in 9th overall and the B team finished 6th which included Dylan, Logan, Noah and Harry.  However, our A team, much like their year 7 counterparts all put in consistent times and when William put in a course best time for Carisbrooke (2.53) on the first leg they were clearly in with a chance of doing well.  Jude and then Bobby put in some hard yards to keep the group competing and when Riley took over in the final leg Carisbrooke A were able to maintain a 20m lead over third place and as the race finished with Riley coming in 10m behind the winners, Carisbrooke had claimed their first second place overall.

After seeing how well the students have done, the aim is to now represent the school in the individual competitions coming up over the next few months and also to come back next year and try to go one better.

Excellent attitude, effort and team spirit from all our students today.  Well done!