Success stories aplenty
James Gilman turned out for Mochdre Cricket Club’s 3rd XI in a weekend fixture against Bangor, which is the first time he has been selected to the senior squad in a competitive environment.
The former Prep School Head Boy made a telling contribution for the side, bowling nine overs despite his tender age and restricting the batting order to 29 runs during his spell.
He also impressed considerably with the bat after going in at number eight, finishing the day unbeaten on 14 as Mochdre narrowly fell short of reaching their required target.
This is the latest in a series of outstanding cricket achievements from James, who has also been part of the school’s senior side in recent weeks to further enhance his experience and development.
He has been working exceptionally hard with dedicated coaching staff at Rydal Penrhos on all areas of his game both during the campaign and as part of the school’s winter nets programme, in addition to the extra hours James is putting in with Mochdre’s youth and senior set-ups.
James’ excellent progress has also seen him selected to the Eryri squad in recent weeks.
Keira Bonnington took her place in the U18 girls’ category at the British Indoor Skiing Championships, which was held at the Chill Factore in Manchester.
The sports scholar and Prefect demonstrated her incredible potential on the dry slopes to record a best time of 15.72 seconds, which was enough to see her finish top of the podium and secure the title.
This represents a significant achievement from the Sixth Former, who has been one of the leading lights of Rydal Penrhos’ thriving ski provision.
Her performance played a hugely important role in the school winning the Mixed Team title at the competition, with brother Chay Bonnington and Ben Davies finishing ninth and tenth respectively in the U16 boys’ event.
Prep School pupil Xavier Poynton scooped the U10 boys’ category, with Cameron Pye also performing well at the event.
Mrs Head, said: “Keira is a supremely talented young sportswoman who has really been at the top of her game across multiple areas during the academic year, and for her to win such a high-profile event is a just reward for her outstanding overall contribution."
Sam Bixby was part of the Menai Bridge cricket squad that clinched the North Wales T20 Championship for a second consecutive year with a 52-run victory over St Asaph.
Bridge opener Luke Jones was able to make 16 before playing a Danny Ryan delivery into the hands of Elliot Morris, shortly prior to skipper Dion Holden being ousted from the crease by Jason Foulkes for a duck.
A standout partnership from wicketkeeper-batsman Jack Gower and Carl Jones put the visitors back in the ascendancy, with the former eventually clean bowled by Foulkes after making a quick-fire 63 from 45 balls.
Jones fared far better, with the talented individual smashing his way to an unbeaten 83 off 51 deliveries, which included no fewer than ten boundaries, as Bridge set an imposing target of 202-3 from their allotted 20 overs at the crease.
The city side were given a revised target of 117 due to the deteriorating weather but never looked likely to reach their target, with Danny Ryan’s unbeaten 15 enabling them to post a score of 64-5.
The student and the master competed against each other at a high-profile sailing event recently.
Felix Corson took his place in the field at the WASZP UK National Championships, which was held at Rutland Sailing Club over a three-day period.
The Middle School pupil was joined in the field by Max Todd, who is a seasoned international competitor who is also Head Coach of Rydal Penrhos’ thriving sailing provision.
Despite this being Felix’s first time competing in an all-adult foiling event, he showed his class to achieve a creditable 19th placed finish overall, which is even more impressive as an overhaul problem forced him to retire from the third race of the competition.
Mr Todd quickly established himself as one of the leading contenders for the title, finding himself in second place until a broken sail meant he eventually came in fifth position overall.
This was one of the first UK events to be sailed on the new larger foil which is now standard on all WASZPs and all sailors agreed this has been a great change for the class.