School Sports Report - from PembrokeshireSport.co.uk

PHOTOS: The victorious STP (above) cross-country squad.
Welsh Champions: (Below, right) Todd Wilson, Morgan Smith, Alex matchett & Matthew Richards.

Cross-Country success at STP

The 2010/2011 cross-country season brought more success again for the young athletes at Sir Thomas Picton School as the season began with the traditional three-race Pembrokeshire league with matches being staged at Milford and Pembroke.  
With large teams being fielded in all categories STP came out on top in four of the categories and finished second in two to claim the League title with 172 points from Preseli (141 points) in second and Tasker Milward in third (128.5).  

First-ever Pembrokeshire success

The autumn term finished with the Annual Welsh Inter-Schools Cross-Country Championships at Brecon where STP once again fielded strong teams.  The Middle Girls team of Caitlin Thompson, Poppy Lewis, Charlotte Rees and Georgia Busby ran superbly well to claim the team bronze finishing only one point behind Llantwit High School in the silver medal position.  The final race of the day saw the senior boys’ team of Matthew Richards, Alex Matchett, Morgan Smith and Todd Watson snatch victory by a single point from Lewis School, with Cwm Rhymni taking third place.  The win was a first ever Pembrokeshire success in this age group, and the first time since 1994 that a Dyfed school had taken the senior boys section.

Most athletes for Dyfed team

January saw Oakwood host the Pembrokeshire and Dyfed Schools championships.  Large fields assembled for the Pembrokeshire stage that saw the school claim the Pembrokeshire title once again with Tasker Milward and Ysgol Dewi Sant sharing the runners up spot.  Following the Dyfed Championships Sir Thomas Picton supplied 15 athletes to the Dyfed squad – the most from any school within the region.  They were:
Kelsey Williams, Poppy Lewis, Georgia Busby, Charlotte Rees, Caitlin Thompson, Josie Lewis, Noah Richards, Jack Griffiths, Billy Truman, Jack Rees, Laurie Haworth, Morgan Smith, Matthew Richards, Connor Bashford and Luke Cornish.  

Well done Matthew

These athletes helped Dyfed jointly claim the overall team title with Cardiff and Vale with Matthew Richards (senior boy) collecting the trophy as the Dyfed Team captain.  Earlier in the day Matthew’s 5th place finish earned him selection to the Welsh School’s U20 team that competed in the Home Countries International in Northern Ireland.  A solid performance saw him improve to finish as the second place finisher for the Welsh team.
The next target for the STP athletes will be their school sports on May 11th followed by the Pembrokeshire Schools Track and Field championships to be held on May 18th and 21st.