Merchant Taylors’ Girls become County Champions at Merseyside Cross Country Championships

28 Mar 2017

Pupils at Merchant Taylors’ continue to thrive both inside and out of the classroom, with many achieving great success in their sporting endeavours alongside their academics. For the girls’ cross country teams last week, this was no different, with both the year 7 and senior teams being crowned County Champions at the Merseyside Cross Country Championships that took place on Saturday 14th January at Arrowe Park on the Wirral.

What makes MTGS a leading school in Cross Country is the commitment and hard work seen by the vast number of runners that compete in each race. In the last 20 years, MTGS have always had a group of senior runners competing consistently for the school. These girls are fantastic role models for our younger runners, namely this year Morag Molyneux (Cross Country Captain), Ellen Murgatroyd (Vice Cross Country Captain), Emily Woodier, Rebecca Southwart, Faye Carr and Emily Storch. These girls have been supported in the open age group with a group of committed girls in Year 10.

We are absolutely delighted to see this senior squad become County Champions in the final league race and in addition to this, our B Team in the senior age group attained a bronze medal. The highly committed runners in our Inter age group are also enjoying a great deal of success. The success of the exceptional Year 7 runners this year must also be commended and we congratulate them on their County Champions 2016/17 title.

At MTGS the Cross Country team is chosen from a very successful running club held on a Friday night. This is well attended by girls of all abilities who help to create a positive ethos towards running for fitness, competitions and enjoyment. This develops and enables the girls who then go on to compete in the cross country races throughout the year.

Mrs Moore (Head of PE) states, “We have some star runners in school but what brings us success at County level is our squad approach to running and being part of a team. The spread of talent and commitment continues to inspire us all to continue to strive for success in the coming seasons.”

The Junior runners also compete in a series of league races within the Sefton district on a Wednesday. These are ongoing and we wish the girls the best of luck in the coming races.