Rayleigh's Fitzwimarc School were the dominating factor when the Castle Point and Rochford Schools' Cross Country Championships were staged at Rayleigh's Sweyne Park.

Having captured all four individual team prizes, they easily took the Gordon Irons Trophy overall crown with four points from Thundersley's King John (11), with Castle View, Canvey, and Kind Edmund, Rochford, joint third on 22.

In the junior girls, Fitz A won on 14 points from King John A (34) and Fitz B (54).

Individual top placings: 1, C Raven (King John); 2, A Lingard (Fitzwimarc); 3, N Aspinall (Fitzwimarc); 4, L Myers (Fitzwimarc); 5, N Corless (Fitzwimarc); 6, L Nash (Fitzwimarc); 7, L Sinfield (Furtherwick Park); 8, S Jeffrey (King John); 9, H Martin (Castle View); 10, K Deeley (Furtherwick Park); 11, A Parker (King John); 12, L Singer (Greensward); 13, J Chase (Greensward); 14, H Leslie (King John); 15, A Wright (Fitzwimarc).

Fitz A's winning score in the intermediate girls was 29 points from King John A (36) and King Edmund A (58).

Individual top placings: 1, H Mottram (Sweyne Park); 2, E Keenlyside (Fitzwimarc); 3, J Todd (King John); 4, N Chignell (Appleton); 5, K Osburn (King Edmund); 6, S Woolf (King John); 7, K Mottram (Sweyne Park); 8, L Carter (Fitzwimarc); 9, T Watson (Fitzwimarc); 10, C Withrington (Fitzwimarc); 11, A Gibson (Appleton); 12, A Gibson (Appleton); 13, H Sackett (King John); 14, E Roig (King John); 15, S Drake (King John).

It was Fitz all the way in the junior boys with the Rayleigh school winning on 63 points from their own B team (131) and Castle View third on 150.

Individual top placings: 1, C Bourne (Castle View); 2, D Rogers (Deanes); 3, R Chapman (King Edmund); 4, T Gillingnette (Cornelius Vermuyden); 5, M Crooks (Castle View); 6, J Parr (King Edmund); 7, C Driscoll (Fitzwimarc); 8, Weyell (Fitzwimarc); 9, N Brown (Fitzwimarc); 11, R Hipgrave (Appleton); 12, S Bourne (Castle View); 13, H Borwage (Fitzwimarc); 14, C Wheeler (King John); 15, K Webb (Greensward).

It was the same story in the intermediate boys with Fitz A's triumphant total here being 28 points from Fitz B (95) and King John A (143).

Individual top placings: 1, L Chapman (Fitzwimarc); 2, D Fletcher (Castle View); 3, White (Fitzwimarc); 4, Bush (Fitzwimarc); 5, B Langley (Fitzwimarc); 6, C Madle (Deanes); 7, G Hill (Fitzwimarc); 8, Ives (Fitzwimarc); 9, J Taylor (King Edmund); 10, Wheeler (King John); 11, A Peters (Fitzwimarc); 12, G Rowlands (Fitzwimarc); 13, J Gahagan (Fitzwimarc); 14, M Barrett (Deanes); 15, Toulson (King John).

(Right) Off and running - competitors get the Castle Point and Rochford Schools' Cross-Country Championship junior girls' race underway.

(Left) Determination - Kristina Marshall (right) overtakes Penair's Nicola Maddick down the back straight and eventually captured third place for Southend High in the junior girls.

(Below right) True grit - Fitzwimarc's Lee Chapman wins the intermediate boys event at Sweyne Park

Pictures: MAXINE CLARKE and LUAN MARSHALL

Dynamic duo's master stroke

If you want to be a big hit in the world of athletics - take a dip in your local swimming pool.

That appears to be the answer to success in cross-country after it was revealed that the two local athletes to achieve individual glory in the English schools national team championships at Wakefield, Yorkshire, are both keen swimmers.

Adam Hickey, who led Southend High to victory in the junior boys' event, and Kristina Marshall, who spearheaded the Southend High junior girls to a third spot, are both members of the Borough of Southend Swimming and Training Club who, at Warrior Square Pool, concentrate their training on distance swimming.

This obviously builds-up the stamina and lung power as the two proved with superb performances in gruelling conditions at Wakefield.

The second boy home for the winning Southend squad, David Crichton in 15th spot, is also a Borough of Southend swimmer.

Another notable feature is that Adam, David and Kristina were all pupils at Shoebury's Thorpedene School before passing the 11-plus to go to their respective Southend High Schools.

Although not among the honours, of the two Southend Highs there were plenty of other outstanding performances from other local schools in the finals, which were hit by freezing conditions plus wind, hail and snow just before the races.

Full results

Junior girls: Fitzwimarc 10th with 193 points (Scoring team - Nikita Aspinall 32nd in 9 mins. 32 secs); Louise Keenlyside 36th in 9 mins. 32 secs; Lindsay Nash 55th in 9 mins. 48 secs) and Sophie Gahagan 70th in 9 mins. 58 secs. Non-scorers: Nikki Corless 74th and Carly Manfield 101st).

Intermediate girls: Fitzwimarc 8th with 176 points (Scoring team - Laura Myers 25th in 11 mins. 22 secs; Emma Keenlyside 42nd in 11 mins. 45 secs; Annie Lingard 48th in 11 mins. 50 secs and Toni Watson 61st in 12 mins. 14 secs. Non-scorers: Lea Carter 102nd and Charlotte Withrington 115th). King John 17th with 257 points (Scoring team - Carla Raven 49th in 11 mins. 52 secs; Jessica Todd 62nd in 12 mins. 15 secs; Samantha Woolf 67th in 12 mins. 22 secs; Hannah Leslie 79th in 12 mins. 30 secs. Non-scorers: Melissa Stone 123rd and Brook Dalby 111th).

Intermediate boys: Fitzwimarc 17th with 246 points (Scoring team - Lee Chapman 23rd in 16 mins. 44 secs; Ben Langley 64th in 17 mins. 32 secs; Garrod Hill 75th in 17 mins. 48 secs; Gareth Rowlands 84th in 17 mins. 59 secs. Non-scorers: Ben Worboys 108th and Lee Scrafton 109th). Southend High 24th with 378 points (Scoring team) - David Reddihough 46th in 17 mins. 20 secs, David Polley 99th in 18 mins. 21 secs; Alexander Bell 116th in 19 mins. 07 secs and Mark Sisson 117th in 19 mins. 07 secs.

Non-scorers: Phillip Nardone 121st and Matthew Davies 127th).

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.