Sidmouth College pupil Sam Pyne was involved in the South West regional cross country championships last weekend.

Pyne was the only Sidmouth student to be involved in the county team for the championships which were held in Bournemouth.

The course was fairly flat, but fortunately not as muddy as might have been expected given the amount of train that has been falling over the past few weeks.

High winds made the race very challenging! Starting in Devon’s number two gate, Pyne found himself in the top half of the field from where he was able to make his way forward as the route wound its way around the park and through the woods.

At the start of the second lap of the circuit Pyne was sitting sixth, testament to the hours of training the youngster had put in pre-race around the fields of Otterton and Sidmouth College.

He continued to power his way to the front of the pack before finishing strongly to take the tape in second place in a splendid time of 11:52 which was just three seconds shy of the winning time!

That is not the end of the year seven pupil’s running this season for he now heads for the 2014 Inter Counties Cross Country Championships which are being held in Birmingham on Saturday, March 8 where young Pyne will once again run in the colours of Devon.