The dedication that Lancing pupils show to sport seems to be never ending! The reports and highlights this week reflect the success that hard work can bring. Semi-finals of national cups have been played, as well as places won in them. The annual Three Mile Race also brought out the best in our runners, with personal best times being set and some record-breaking times being run.

Cross-Country
We start the reports with news of a very successful Cross-Country match at Cranleigh two weekends ago. In the Intermediate Boys’ race there were fine runs from Tom W, Tim L and Xavier C over 3 miles, and in the Senior Boys’ race from Ed G, Max J and Nick R, who took on a long 5 mile course through tough conditions. There were also encouraging debuts from Nick P, Hugh B, Lutz B, Alex AG, and Francesca W in the Girls' race. In the team results, Lancing were fourth out of 7 in the Intermediate Boys' and fourth out of 8 in the Senior Boys' race.

Thursday marked a very successful Three Mile and Girls’ race in near perfect running conditions. There were a very encouraging 249 runners going round the course with some excellent competition at the front of the field. The boys’ race was won in fine style by Tom W in a very fast time (16.43) – this is the second fastest time recorded round this course by a Lancing pupil. Just behind him were Tim L and Henry Y. The team race was won by Second's with Teme House second and Gibbs' third; an identical result to last year.

The Senior Girls’ Race was won by Coco A, who just missed the course record set by Georgina Nightingall last year by a few seconds. Second was Poppy E with Saskia G third.  In the Intermediate race Esther C won for the second successive year, with Enyseh T second and Jasmine Y third. The team competition was retained by Field's with Manor second and Sankey's third.

Hockey
Fixture of the week was undoubtedly the Boys’ 1st XI Cup semi final. They reached this stage by defeating a strong Bradfield team in the quarter finals of the National Boarding Schools Cup. The team arrived at Canford expecting an extremely hard fought game of hockey and after being hosted for lunch, headed over to the pitches for an intensive warm up. An early goal from Canford after a mix up at the back put the team in a difficult position (not knowing whether to press or hold back) however a well worked short corner routine nearly got them immediately back in the match. Captain Chris M strongly believed that if it had been ‘their day’ and that early chance had been taken, the match could have gone either way. Canford had a number of fast, skilful players and their work rate and ball pace was incredibly impressive to experience. The team will hope to learn from them in the future. Overall, the heavy defeat was a disappointing score line but a learning experience for all involved; Eastbourne College and Lord Wandsworth loom, and the team will need to pull together to bounce back from that loss.

Aside from the results this week, we must take time to congratulate Johno C on his selection for the Swifts touring side that departs over the Easter break. The side comprises 16 boys who have been selected on their playing ability from schools all over Great Britain. They are scheduled to play three of the top U18 club sides in Holland and two matches against a Belgian U18 representative side. The Swifts Sports Trust is a charitable organisation, which seeks to give educational opportunities to school pupils through the organisation and support of overseas sporting tours. Mr Grime added that given the quality of the schools that have been represented, Johno’s selection is clearly a great honour for him and Lancing College.

Netball
On Tuesday, the Junior teams took on the Towers Convent. In the U14 game, Lancing led 4-3 after the first quarter; however Towers came back strongly in the 2nd quarter to take a half-time lead of 10-6. After half time Lancing concentrated on turning the ball over to create attack after attack. However Towers proved too strong for Lancing with the final score 11-18. Player of the Match was again given to Catie F for her defending and interceptions.

The U15B team made it two wins on the bounce, winning 22-10. With the strength of the team being in the players’ ability to work together and anticipate each others’ moves, it was difficult to pick out an individual player, so this week there are joint players of the match; Soo Y for tirelessly defending the goal as Goal Keeper at one end of the court, and Izzy VE for her masterful shooting skills at the other. Rebecca J also put in some outstanding work as Goal Defence and in the centre court area. 

The U15As stamped their authority on their game within the first quarter and took what proved to be an unassailable lead.  They closed down Towers’ attacking options effectively and drove play forward well.  For their resolute defence, Demelza D and Captain Rebecca C should both receive mention; however, for sheer fleetness of foot and control in setting up attacking play in the final third, MVP goes jointly to Hannah R and Jasmine H. This was a well deserved victory and one with much promise for the future of Lancing Netball.

Before we leave the Netball courts, we must mention the Charity netball Plate tournament that came to a climax in the Plate final on Wednesday evening. In the words of competition organiser Miss Elizabeth Wright, this game was ‘huge’, with the Director of Sport facing off against the Head of Girls’ Games. The game was quick paced and the action flowed up and down the pitch. Determined defending from Miss Parkinson at one end and from Bradley W at the other, kept the scores low with both teams on an equal footing. However, eventually the pace of Seung Kyu N and Enyseh T proved too much for Mr Crowe’s team, and Miss Parkinson’s team, despite a close fought game, were the deserved winners. Mr Crowe would also like to add that his team were unfortunately without his aerial presence and dominance which must have been a key contributory factor in the loss. All teams would like to thank Libby and Abbie for all their help in organising such a good event.

Squash
The squash courts became the focal point of pivotal matches for both the 1st and U15 teams yesterday. With both being unbeaten, they faced Wellington College and Exeter College respectively. A win for either team would have meant a trip to Manchester for the National Schools Finals.

The first team suffered their only loss of the season, going down 3-2 to Wellington. Key points lost at vital times cost the team their place at the finals next week. There was better news from the juniors as yet another impressive win was recorded by the U15s against Exeter. A resounding 4-1 victory was produced with Ed C, Rob C, Joel C and Nick B all winning convincingly. This result marks back to back appearances in the national finals for Lancing at the U15 age group. Can they go one better than last year? Man of the match was Nick B, and this victory gets them the team of the week award.