Glory in Gateshead

The outstanding crop of younger female athletes at Queen's College had their most outstanding success to date when they flew up to Gateshead to take part in the English Schools Track and Field Cup - open only to the dozen top-performing schools in the UK, and a new event for Queen's.

The girls came fourth overall on 382 pts, just four points short of a tied second place with Brentwood School, but some way behind the overall winners James Allen School - a large girls school in south London.

Amongst the best individual performances Josie Loxton threw 34.9m in the javelin and smashed a Championship record that had stood since 1989. Kate Cross threw 31.18m in the discus and scored 33 pts, whilst also scoring highly in the 200m. Keren Greenow and Rebecca Wilde both scored well  in the 800m, whilst Hannah Wilson and Elen Falkingham scooped up the points in the 1500m.

"All the girls had to be at the top of their form," commented coach Julie Harrison, "But our advantage was that they had encountered this level of pressure before in swimming, biathlon or cross-country."

Team: Georgina Rutty, Olivia Hoskins, Katie Cross, Josie Loxton, Keren Greenow, Rebecca Wilde, Hannah Wilson, Elen Falkingham, Imogen Allen, Hannah Larkin, Tessa Down, Madeline Beaumont,