Staffordshire triumph in English Schools National Cross-Country Championships
The Staffordshire cross country junior boys' team made history, winning the English Schools National Cross-Country Championships for the first time since 1983.
The team made a drastic improvement at this year’s event, beating bigger and more populated counties along the way, after finishing last out of the 43 competing counties at the 2024 championships.
Four members from last year’s juniors team returned to compete against the other 334 athletes at the 2025 championships.
Each county from England selects their best team of athletes for this prestigious competition, with just under 2,000 athletes competing between the ages of 12 and 18 at this year’s event.
The Staffordshire Schools Cross-Country team consisted of 39 of the best young athletes from the county, who qualified through the school cross country event earlier this year.
While the whole team impressed at this year’s championships, the standout performance came from the junior boys' team.
Brandan Smart (Cannock & Stafford AC and Blessed William Howard School), Charlie Cresswell (Cannock & Stafford AC and Kingsmead School), Rocco Hawley (Wolverhampton & Bilston AC and Penkridge Middle School) and Finlay Stanton (Cannock & Stafford AC and Cheslyn Hay School) were part of the winning team.
They were joined by Charlie Brown (Newcastle Staffs AC and Clayton School), who finished 11th in the field, earning himself a first reserve place for the England Schools Team.
The other members of the winning team included, Oskar Alsop (Royal Sutton Coldfield AC and John Taylor High School), Oliver James (Burton AC and De Ferrers School) and Max Roberts (City of Stoke AC and Moorside School).
