January half term Senior School sports review
Yr8 District Hockey Tournament
The Yr8 A and B hockey teams travelled to Bottisham Village College on 29 October to take part in the Yr8 District Hockey Tournament. The B team and A team tournaments were combined, meaning the B team had a tough afternoon ahead of them. The tournament started with a loss of 2-0 for the B team playing against St Bedes A. Next up the girls played Netherhall which was a highly contested match and ended in a 1-1 draw. The next match against Swavesey saw the girls play some of their best hockey of the day, as they worked well as a team and were rewarded with a 1-0 win. The final match of the day was against Chesterton. Despite losing the match 1-0, the girls did not give up and showed excellent defending under pressure to keep the score at just 1-0. The B team should be proud of their efforts as they played very well against a tough group of A teams and finished 4th in their pool. The A team’s first match of the day was against Coleridege, and they got off to a fantastic start with a 1-0 win. Next up the girls faced Cambourne and despite playing well, the gamed ended in an unlucky 1-0 loss. The team then played Melbourn, who ended up being finalists, and good defense from both teams, lead to a result of 0-0. The team finished the day strongly with two wins of 1-0 and 3-0 against St Bedes B and NCA respectively, meaning that they finished third in their pool. Congratulations to all girls that took part and for maintaining great spirit throughout the day! A big thank you to Ella. B (Yr9), Tamzin. D-R (Yr9) and Connie. P (Yr9) who came along for the day to help Miss Rhynehart organise the tournament.
Yr7 District Hockey Tournament
On 7 November, the Yr7 B and C Hockey teams took part in the Yr7 District Hockey Tournament. They played against other schools’ A and B teams respectively, so had a tough day ahead of them. The B team lost their first game against Chesterton 2-0 as they tried to familiarise themselves with playing on grass. They soon settled into their game, drawing their next match against Cambourne 1-1 and winning 1-0 against Sawston. Their final two matches against Swavesey and Melbourn both resulted in 0-0 draws. The girls’ skills improved throughout the day as they were able to adapt their Hockey to play more effectively on grass. The C team played 3 matches, losing against both Bassingbourn and NCA and drew 1-1 against CAP. The girls fought hard and never gave up, showing great spirit throughout the day. Congratulations to all girls that took part.
U14 and U16 County Netball Tournament
9 November was the U14 and U16 County Netball Tournament, which was held at The Perse Upper. Both teams had qualified to play in this tournament from the Independent Schools Netball Tournament which was held earlier in the term. Both teams played extremely well throughout the day, working together, demonstrating excellent teamwork. Both teams won 3 of their games and had some other matches that were very closely fought. We are very proud of the overall performance from both the U14 and the U16 teams that represented the school this year.
U14 - Lucia. C (Yr9), Connie. P (Yr9), Tamzin. D-R (Yr9), Maisy. V (Yr9), Sarah. H (Yr8), Honor. C (Yr8), Mariella. R (Yr8), Grace. G (Yr8) and Ariana. F (Yr8)
U16 - Poppy. E (Yr11), Amy. H (Yr11), Olivia. B (Yr11), Lara. B (Yr11), Rosie. C (Yr10), Maria. S (Yr10), Emily. H (Yr10) and Imogen. H-H (Yr10)
U13 County Hockey Tournament
On 11 November, the U13 Hockey squad consisting of 3 students in Yr8 and 7 students in Yr7 took part in the U13 County Hockey Tournament. They played 6 games where they drew 2 and lost 4. The girls never gave up throughout the day and worked hard in every game showing great determination and resilience. It was a great opportunity for them to experience playing at such a high level and were able to learn lots which they can take forward into next year’s tournament.
U13 Girls Football Grand Prix
On 19 November girls in Yr7 and Yr8 participated in the U13 Girls Football Grand Prix held at Swavesey Village Collage. It was a 7 aside fun tournament with the aim of getting as any girls playing football as possible. The initiative was embraced by our girls with St Marys being one of only two schools to enter three teams. The A team won 4 matches, lost one in a tight contest and had one draw. The B team and C team both played well and enjoyed the experience. A standout for us was the A team captain Uma. C (Yr8) who scored an impressive five goals for the tournament. Well done to all those who participated.
District Cross-Country - Tuesday 3 December, several girls from Year 7 to Year 11 took part in the District Cross Country Championships held at Netherhall School. Despite the freezing cold weather, the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves and displayed some excellent performances throughout the day. In the intermediate girl’s race (Yr10/11), 3 girls qualified for the next round, with Amelie. S (Yr10) finishing in 5th, Kilda. M (Yr11) in 11th and Martha. F (Yr10) in 14th. Zoe. B (Yr7) and Matilda. M (Yr9) also showed great performances in their age group races, both finishing 14th which meant qualification for the next round. Overall the Intermediate girls came 3rd as a team and the Senior girls came 2nd. All the girls that took part should be congratulated on their performances. The next round will be the County Cross Country Championships held in January and we wish all the girls that will be competing good luck.
GSA Swimming Gala - On Thursday 5 December, both the Yr7/8 and Yr9/10 swimming teams competed in the GSA Swimming Gala which was held at Stamford school. Other schools that took part in the gala were Bedford Girl’s, Stamford High, King’s High and Derby High. On the day there were some excellent team and individual performances. The U15s won the A team medley relay which included Matilda. R (Yr9), Leonie. A (Yr9), Amelie. S (Yr10) and Sophie. H (Yr10). They also came joint 1st overall for the gala with Bedford Girls’. The individual standouts of the day were Amelie. S (Yr10) who won the 50m back stroke and Matilda. R (Yr9) who won the 50m butterfly. Scarlett. J (Yr7) finished a close 2nd in the U13A 25m breaststroke event. Well done to all swimmers on the day.
Individual Success - Tamzin. D-R (Yr9) competed in the Lea Valley Indoor Open Athletics competition on Sunday 1 December. She competed in the U15 age group doing both 60m hurdles and long jump, where she finished with a time of 11.05s and a distance of 4.11m respectively. Emma. A (Yr9) has continued with her hockey success playing in an English Home County League Hockey match against Northampton, where her team won 11-1. Emma impressively scored 2 goals within five minutes of each other. Lucia. C (Yr9) has also been playing at a high level in hockey where she has been training with the U14 County Hockey squad. Sarah. H (Yr8), Lucie. D (Yr8), Imogen. H-H (Yr10), Georgie. D (Yr10), Maria. S (Yr10) and Emily. H (Yr10) have also been successfully training with the County Netball Academy this year. Georgia. M (Yr10) attended the Short Course Nationals Swimming Gala on Thursday 5 December.