THE schools at Somerhill provided a testing venue for the 2007 Kent Schools Cross Country Championships with 550 athletes contesting the eight races.

Non-championship races for year 7 athletes were introduced in 2006 and proved their popularity again this year. The winners were Pandora Banbury for Maidstone district and Jack Balsdon representing St Augustine’s in the Canterbury area.

Banbury was particularly impressive with a victory margin of 30 seconds. Balsdon had to work hard in the finishing straight to defeat Felix Harding (Tonbridge and Sevenoaks) by two seconds.

Rebecca Weston (St Augustine’s) dominated the Junior Girls race. Josh Bentham (Tunbridge Wells) was a clear winner of the Junior Boys title.

Beth Carter (St Augustine’s) won the Intermediate Girls title from Kent bronze medal winner, Grace Nicholls (Ashford) and Vicky Rukin of Tonbridge and Sevenoaks.

Seb Harding (Tunbridge Wells) impressively defeated Michael Mason (Tonbridge and Sevenoaks) and Kurt Wolfe (Tonbridge and Sevenoaks) in the Intermediate Boys race.

Lilley Martin (St Augustine’s) and Jack Tyler (Medway) were the Senior champions in contrasting styles. Martin cruised to victory by 20 seconds from a small field of 16 athletes but Tyler was pushed to the limit in a thrilling sprint finish with Robert Dennis (Thanet) with both athletes awarded the same time.