AN ABBEY Gate College pupil successfully battled the elements and the competition to record victory in a regional cross-country championship.

The ISA North Senior Cross Country Championships, held at Scarisbrick Hall near Ormskirk, saw eight runners from 12 schools encountering gruelling conditions and heavy rain from the start.

But heavy weather didn’t stop the Abbey Gate College’s Jessica Thomas, who took the lead at the start of her under-14 girls race and won for a second consecutive year.

The feat is more impressive as Jessica is only 12, and recently recorded successes in British eventing, swimming and athletics. Last year Jessica broke a 17-year-old independent schools 800m record by finishing in a time of 2 minutes 38 seconds, a full two seconds ahead of the record and 80m ahead of the other competitors.

There were also outstanding runs from Year 7 pupil Alice Bourne, who came sixth and supporting runs from Rachel Kresynak in 15th and Isabel Burton in 18th meant a good team result overall.

Meanwhile, Abbey Gate College’s sixth form theatre studies pupils went on the annual drama residential trip, which this year took them to London.

The students enjoyed some free time in Covent Garden, where they experienced street theatre, including dance, opera and magic.

Later the group attended a production of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good at the newly built St James Theatre, before enjoying the chance to sit in a Royal Box at the Globe Theatre and take in a trip to The Rose, London’s oldest theatres.

This was special as not only is the play an A-level set text, it was also directed by Max Stafford Clark, who also directed the original production in 1988.