Super Saturday – Maynard girls compete in two National Championships in one day!

21 Apr 2017

The Maynard School in Exeter capped off an excellent spring sporting season on Saturday 18 March 2017 with students travelling across the country for two major championship competitions. The under 14 Netball team, the reigning Devon Champions and Regional runners-up, were competing as the South West representatives in the National Schools Netball Championships at Welwyn Garden City whilst 15-year old student, Amelia Moody, was running the biggest race of her career at the National Schools Cross Country Championships in Norwich.
Used to training on Dartmoor mostly in the dark after school, Amelia was hopeful of a hilly track to sap her fellow competitors, so the flat conditions on the day were a huge disappointment. However, she ran a tremendous race to finish 67th out of the 345 competitors in an incredibly close contest with just one second splitting her from three other runners. Her result placed her as the second best runner in Devon and 7th from the entire South West, comprising Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Avon, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
“It was an incredibly nerve wracking experience, made worse by a ten hour journey because the bus was stuck in fourth gear all the way!” said Amelia. “Conditions were perfect but there were so many people to navigate around that I got a bit stuck behind at the start and had to work my way up gradually when there was space. All I wanted was to finish in the top 100 so I’m really pleased with my result!”
Meanwhile, the netball team had drawn the short straw ending up in the most competitive pool that fielded the eventual winner and runners-up of the championships but they battled through their initial matches with tenacity, determination and success.
“It was a tough draw and losing our first match to the eventual winners was hard to come back from but we drew the next game against Headington School and won the one after that against Durham High School for Girls,” said Team Coach, Cathy Gabbitass. “The pivotal moment came when our goal shooter was injured in the fourth game and somehow the team never quite got back to form after that. Once I knew we weren’t going to make it through to the semi-finals, I took the strategic decision to let the whole squad have a play in the final few games so everyone could enjoy, and learn from, the experience.”
“Ultimately, we finished 11th= nationally from every state and independent school in the country which is an amazing achievement for a school of our size. More importantly, however, we flew the flag high for Devon as a county and had a really memorable time in the process. And that’s what it should be all about at this level.”