It was a case of glory all the way for Southend when the regional finals of the English Schools Track and Field Cup were staged in warm sunshine at Basildon's Gloucester Park Track yesterday.
Southend High won both boys' competitions to earn a place in the national finals, which go ahead in Southampton on Saturday July 5.
And to make sure the fair sex were well represented, Southend High also took the junior girls' event to join the boys from Prittlewell Chase in their latest attempts for national glory next month.
It was only in the intermediate girls, where Chelmsford High won from Sacred Heart with Southend High third, did local schools miss out.
Only the winning line-ups from the regional finals are guaranteed a place in the national final of a competition in which local schools have enjoyed huge success over the years.
But lower-placed schools from yesterday still have a chance of winning through once the totals of the competing line-ups from B finals and other regional events all over the country are added up.
The intermediate boys proved to be a clean sweep for south-east Essex schools with Southend High winning on 518 from Thundersley's King John (483) and Rayleigh's Fitzwimarc, just a further point back.
In the junior boys Southend were always under pressure from close rivals Great Baddow, but eventually won on 454 -- eight ahead of their nearest rivals.
Southend High for Girls, based in Southchurch Boulevard, won the junior competition on 374 with another indication of the strength in depth in the area coming from Fitzwimarc, who finished second on 343.
Published Tuesday, June 17, 2003
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