About Millfield News
Sports Desk - 6 November 2011
In the first week back after the break, there have already been some inspirational moments in sport. For swimmers and several staff members these included bring-a-friend-Friday, with over 100 people gathered for 6:00 am circuits, quickly followed by BIG Saturday led by Joel Knight and the distance squad. For story and pictures, check out the Millfield Swimming website.
A group of Upper 6th rugby boys enjoyed a lifetime experience in hopping a plane to Dublin to play and be hosted by the famous Blackrock College. For many it will have been their first Millfield Tour, though sadly included defeat 5-35. Their colleagues enjoyed a clean sweep in the block fixture against Colstons, the biggest of which was an 86-0 win for Foals B, with come-from-behind wins for the 3rd XV and Foals C.
The 1st XI hockey girls reached 7 hours without conceding a goal, in racking up a 5-0 win over Cheltenham College! Well done to Lucy Taylor and Becky Garner who have been sharing duties in goal, and to the team around them helping it happen. The 2nd XI and the U15As also recorded strong wins against Cheltenham, while the 3rd lost out pluckily 1-2. Individually, Ffion Thompson and Andy Tait were respectively selected for the England U16 and U15 training squads.
The 1st XI footballers marched on in the English Schools Cup, with a 6-0 win over Queen Elizabeth Academy to reach the 5th round, and the U16 and U15 B teams also scored strong wins over Sherborne International School (5-1 and 4-1 respectively). The U19 and U17 basketballers posted a couple of wins over Yeovil Jets (91-86 and 76-32 respectively), though went down in the U14s against Heathfield. The netballers won narrowly against Guildford (25-23) at 1st VII, though could not repeat that at U16 or U15 level. The cross country teams, led by Sam Bedford, finished 42nd and 49th in the National Club Relays, as the only school having qualified. And the sailors were on course to avenge a previous reverse to Sherborne when, after beating Clifton College 3-0, the wind dropped and ended racing!
And perhaps there is little more inspirational than the continued rise of Jazmin Sawyers and Oscar Appleby who successfully represented Great Britain in the bobsleigh Youth Olympic qualifiers in Igls (Austria). In the week when Duncan Goodhew received an OM of the Year Award, it is worth noting that recent OMs Sian Huxtable and Olly Bidulph also raced in Igls, while Mohamed and Marwan El Shorbagy gave the squash world a real nudge in both reaching the last 16 of the World Open! The Youth Winter Olympic Games will be held in Innsbruck, Austria, 13-22 January 2012, with the bobsleigh events on the last day.