MORE than 300 children from 21 schools descended on Giggleswick School to compete in the Catteral Shield Cross Country Championships.

Among the competitors in the event, which has been going for more than for decades, were youngsters from South Craven School, Settle Primary School, Settle College and Upper Wharfedale School.

The challenging course included twists, turns and changes in gradient, and featured four races - under 11 year old boys, under 11 year old girls, and also races for under 13s boys and girls.

The Giggleswick School Catteral Shield was first run more than 40 years ago, when the junior school was known as Catteral Hall.

The original race was run on the nearby Settle and Giggleswick Golf Course, but moved to the school’s Ghyll Field in the 1990s. The course was then extended to include the start and finish on 'Pape’s' when the school invested in turning a rough, wet field into the high quality, well drained sports pitches they are today.

The race has grown considerably in popularity over the years, reflected by the large number of entries.

Giggleswick School’s director of sport, Ed Buck, said: “We were blessed with excellent weather and underfoot conditions which made for a good set of races.

“As always it was impressive to see some strong competition at the head of the field but equally some very determined individual efforts lower down, contributing towards the team scores. All runners certainly rose to the challenges of the testing course. We hope everyone had a great day and we look forward to welcoming back schools to Giggleswick to compete in next year’s competition.”

Results:

U13 Girls: 1 - Lucy, Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School; 2 - Milly, South Craven School; 3- Izzy, South Craven School. U13 Girls: 1- Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School; 2 - Giggleswick School; 3 -South Craven School. U11 Girls: 1 - Lili, Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School; 2 - Emma, Terra Nova School; 3 -Annabel, Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School. U11 Girls Team: 1 -Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School; 2 - Giggleswick Junior School; 3 -Settle Primary School.

U13 Boys: 1 - Hugo, Aysgarth School; 2- Zak, South Craven School; 3 - Kieran, Westholme School. U13 Boys’ Team: 1 - Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School; 2- Aysgarth School; 3- South Craven School. U11 Boys: 1- Magnus, Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School; 2 - Henry, Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School; 3- Thomas, Giggleswick Junior School. U11 Boys: 1 - Giggleswick Junior School; 2-Casterton Sedbergh Preparatory School; 3- Terra Nova School.