The morning started with an exciting Opening Ceremony featuring cheerleaders and dancers, as well as a declaration of an oath by event participants and organisers to honour the Spirit of the Games Values. This ‘Winter School Games’ hosted many other West Yorkshire finals, from hockey to rowing and netball to table tennis. But we were, by then, quite eager to get over to where the Cross Country event was to take place!
There were six races in total with the Year 4 girls going in the second. This suited us just fine as it meant we could watch the first race and get an idea of the course, the distance and the duration. The course itself was quite muddy, but to get to the spectating area we had to cross a complete mud bath! Our faithful supporters followed us, despite the mud, to get into good cheering positions.
As the girls lined up at the start line, they were able to support each other with lots of inspiring and encouraging words of wisdom. It really was lovely to listen in to their team spiritedness. As the start gun failed, the whistle blew and the girls took off to a roaring cheer from the crowd.
Mme Brian waited with baited breath at the finish line, ready to collect the position cards. After what felt like a lifetime, but was actually just about 4 minutes, Tilda sprinted over the finish line in second place. She was closely followed by both Rosie 7th and Ellie 12th. Lily’s determination and grit ensured her finish shortly after. There were hugs all round for a truly magnificent team performance. While Tilda proudly wore her silver medal, the other girls held their heads high, knowing they had performed at their absolute best. Once again, ‘a small school feeling big’ doesn’t quite cut it – we were feeling gigantic!
Daisy had the hard job of having to wait a long time, as the Y6 Girls Race was the very last event. Eventually, the time came and we walked down to the start line. The fact that Daisy was on her own didn’t faze her at all. It was another special moment for Mme Brian to watch this confident, independent young lady chat away to the girls in teams around her.
At the finish line, Mme Brian had another tense wait – this time it was a slightly longer wait as the Y6 course was over a longer distance to the Y4 course. But, she was soon able to cheer Daisy over the finish in an amazing 22nd place. By now, Mme Brian really found it hard to control the tears as she was bursting with so much pride! ‘This girl can’ is a fitting phrase to use for Daisy.
