BRIGHT sunshine and a relatively strong cross wind did not deter athletes from Hereford schools as a large number of athletes battled for victory at the annual District Championships.

Sam Griffiths (John Kyrle) produced the sprint performances of the day, winning the Junior Girls 100m (12.67 sec) and 200m (27.77sec) in emphatic style.

T Jordan (Kingstone) was equally impressive in the Inter Boys sprints, winning the 100m in 11.16sec and the 200m in 24.37 sec, while A Gravell (Bishop's) achieved a similar feat, with victories in the Junior 100m (12.13sec) and 200m (25.95sec).

Although Ella Tayor had to overcome strong opposition from Cathedral's Beccy Heywood to win both the Inter 80m Hurdles (12.29sec) and 100m (13.09 sec), Tess Langford (HCS) ran strongly to record comfortable wins in both the 200m and 300m.

The middle distance races were close affairs, especially the Junior Boys 1500m, where Henry Eastman (Bishop's) had to contend with Cathedral's George Lort, who, despite a valiant sprint along the finishing straight, could not quite make up the one second gap, as Eastman crossed the line in 5min 1sec.

A similar situation arose in the Inter Boys 800m as Joe Raczowski (Bishop's) who, despite leading from gun to tape, had to work hard for victory, as Sam Davies (HCS) produced a gutsy performance, knocking 10 seconds off his personal best to finish less than a second behind Raczowski's winning time of 2min 22 sec.

Tom Stokes (St Mary's) and Vanessa Brann (John Kyrle) won their Inter 1500m races with ease, 4min 53 sec and 5min 10 sec respectively, as did Aylestone's Clara Evans when winning the Junior Girls 1500m (5 min 24 sec) with team-mate Beth Mills in second.

Ali Raine's finishing sprint was enough to win the Junior girls 800m in 2 min 38, with Jade Williams (Aylestone ) second in 2 min 41. Over 400m, H Hale (John Kyrle) dipped under 60 sec in the Junior race, as did team mate Ben Gardener in the Inter boys race.

In the field, the most compelling competition to watch was the Girls High Jump with four girls clearing 1m 40.

In the Inter girls, Ella Taylor (Bishop's) and Ellie Viner (HCS) both cleared 1m 40, with Taylor winning on count back. Lucy Hickman (John Kyrle) produced the best jump of the day, with a leap of 1m 45, defeating Kate Whiteman (HCS), who leapt to a new pb of 1m 40, in the Junior category.

In the Junior boys field events, Josh Wildig (St Mary's) won the Shot (11m 97) and Long Jump (4m 60 ) in style as did Micheal Poolton (HCS) in the Discus (26m92) and A Cheung (John Kyrle) in the Javelin (30m 69).

The Inter Boys Javelin was a hotly contested event, with six boys throwing beyond 30m, but none capable of beating Will Prothero's winning throw of 37m 96.

Aylestone's Lee Burge continued to reign supreme in the Inter shot (11m 92) as did Wyebridge's G Worswick in the Long Jump (5m 03).

T J Henchoz (HCS) produced a pb (4m29) in the last round of the Inter Long Jump to edge in front of team mate Beccy Heywood (4m 17) and followed this with victory in the Javelin. Aylestone's Junior, Steph McNally put the shot an impressive 9m 91cm, while Cathedral's Louisa Smith (Discus/ 19m 66) and Rene Johnson (Javelin / 19m 45) both threw further than the Inter girls when winning their respective events.

The 4x 100m relays, which conclude the day, were hotly contested, especially the Inters where Kingstone's slick changes brought them home in 49.34 sec, with Bishop's second in 49.89sec.

In the girls race HCS 'A' (54.4sec) and 'B' teams held off a late challenge as Ella Taylor of Bishop's ran superbly on the last leg.

A large squad of pupils have been selected to represent Hereford District at the Hereford and Worcester County Championships at Nunnery Wood on Saturday, June 14.