Perse pupil strides to national cross country victory
Jasmine Christmas (Year 8) set a perfect pace by winning a British Athletics Cross Challenge Series event in Liverpool.
The prestigious cross country competition features five races across the country, leading up to a final at Loughborough in March, with points being awarded at each event.
Running for Cambridge & Coleridge, Jasmine beat a field of almost 120 athletes to win the girls’ U13 race at Sefton Park in a time of 11min 10sec, six seconds clear of her nearest rival.
She said: “I was really happy to win in Liverpool because it’s one of the biggest races in the series.
“The start was nice because it was a really wide and long stretch which allowed me to settle into the group and find my position.
“For two-thirds of the race, I was in the front group and not thinking too much about pushing ahead.
“However, I felt the need to make a gap then because the girl who eventually finished second is an 800m runner and she had beaten me a few weeks before in a sprint.
“Once I’d got the gap, from there it was pretty smooth. I just looked straight ahead the whole time and it was nice because it’s the first time I’ve been at a race with a ribbon across the finish line.”
Jasmine, who also helped the Perse junior girls’ team reach the English Schools’ Athletic Association (ESAA) Cross Country Cup national final, now has her sights set on the English Championships and ESAA Cross Country Championships in 2023.
A strong performance from Cambridge & Coleridge's Jasmine Christmas in the U13 girls' race 👏
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) November 26, 2022
1️⃣ Jasmine Christmas
2️⃣ Maya Schofield#WhereItStarts pic.twitter.com/OCSvTAxtzs
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