Saturday 17 March saw 8 Manor children brave the cold conditions to compete in the British Schools’ Biathlon Championships at Crystal Palace. “The Beast from the East” brought arctic conditions with the snow coming down horizontally (not pleasant along the back straight of the running track as the snow blew straight into their faces!) However, this didn’t dampen spirits and the girls performed amazingly.
The U10 girls were up first on the track and they were; Ceci B, Frankie H, Evelyn H and Marnie L. Even in the freezing temperatures we saw personal best times being run on the track! 800m of pure grit and determination! The U11’s soon followed with Giorgia A, Evey P, Rosie P and Matilda T taking to the track. Again, great times were achieved for the conditions as we then raced inside to warm up before the swim!
In the pool (Crystal Palace has a 50m pool so the children only needed to swim one length, albeit a very long length!) more personal best times meant that the U10 team managed to secure a 4th place finish overall! A great result in what has become an increasingly popular and therefore much more competitive event. The U11 team secured a 9th place finish out of 21 teams that qualified which again is a fantastic result. Evey P managed to secure 13th place as an individual which moved her up two places on what she achieved last year!
Well done to all of you, it was a great day in very difficult conditions!