Sports News
Owen Lambert
During the weekend of 10 / 11 February 2024, Owen Lambert in Year 13 was part of the England Judo Squad travelling to Denmark to compete in the Matsumae Cup & Danish Open.
Owen competed in the seniors (021) on Saturday and was placed 9/34 and on Sunday, in the junior section (U21) placed 3/47 in his weight group finishing with a well earned Bronze medal. A huge achievement with it being his first junior international medal.
He then formed part of the mixed team and helped his team win a Bronze medal.
He showed great judo techniques and lost count of the amount of fights he had along his journey.
Girls' Cricket Masterclasses
Students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 were selected to take part in a girls’ cricket masterclass with Hertfordshire cricket coach Rebecca Kelly over the past 2 weeks. This opportunity included a 2 hour cricket skills session followed by games to prepare students for the upcoming Lady Taveners Indoor Cricket competitions taking place in March.
This year The John Warner School is an ECB Chance 2 Shine Case Study school highlighting the fantastic work and growth the school has made with girls’ cricket over the last 5 years with the support of Herts Cricket.
We have a 10 week girls’ cricket club in the sports hall with a coach every Monday after school. Really well attended over the first few weeks, our students are improving their batting, bowling and fielding skills week on week.
This bodes well for a big summer of cricket ahead for our girls.
County Cross-Country
On Saturday 3 February, three students in Key Stage 4 took part in the Hertfordshire Schools Cross Country Championships in St Albans. The students were lucky and had the weather on side for their races with the sun shining. Isla Garrett in Year 10 was the first John Warner athlete of the day running with the inter girls, covering a distance of 4000m with a long incline to conclude the race. Isla finished in 27th place and it will be exciting to see how she runs next year when she will be competing within her onw age group. Next up were Josh Hearne (Year 10) and Hayden Garrett (Year 11) both running in the inter boys race. Josh and Hayden completed a distance of 5000m and finished 27th and 40th respectively with both boys running really strong races against some challenging competitors.
Individual Results:
Josh Hearne (Year 10) – 27th Inter Boys
Hayden Garrett (Year 11) – 40th Inter Boys
Isla Garrett (Year 10) – 27th Inter Girls
District Indoor Athletics Championships
On Monday 22 January, 30 athletes from Years 7 to 11 competed in the district indoor athletics championships at Picketts Lock. For many, this was the first experience of running on a proper athletics track and for all, a great opportunity to test their ability amongst the best in the district. The team competed in the following disciplines: hurdles, 60m, 200m, 300m, 800m, relay, shot putt, long jump, triple jump and high jump.
The students showed courage and commitment during the course of the day across one of the largest entry fields to date. Twelve schools from the local area competed on the day which meant for many running on the day that they were faced by the challenge of time trials to determine the winners which made their events a little trickier.
Performance of the day goes to Mia Taruvinga (Year 10) who set a new district record for the inter girls 200m in a time of 26.9s: the previous record had stood for 14 years. It is worth noting that Mia is in the first year of this age group. As such we are excited to see what lies ahead for Mia and to see future records being broken by her.
Paris Blackman (Year 7) and Isla Garrett (Year 10) were also worthy winners on the day in the minor boys shot putt and inter girls 800m respectively. We are looking forward to seeing these and all of our other students compete in the summer athletics competitions.
In addition to those performing on the track, Lucy Griggs, Demi-Leigh Gates and Bella Sanniti were brilliant in their support of the marksman and worked together to ensure competitors were lined up properly for races to aid with the smooth running of the event. Members of the local PE community commented on their strong work ethic and are looking forward to seeing the students work as sports leaders in the summer athletics events.
Team Results:
Minor Girls – 9th, Minor Boys – 7th, Junior Girls – 7th, Junior Boys – 11th, Inter Girls – 5th, Inter Boys – 6th,
Individual Winners:
Minor Boys Shot Putt – Paris Blackman – 7.03m
Inter Girls 200m – Mia Taruvinga – 26.9s
Inter Girls 800m – Isla Garrett – 2min 46s
Inter-House Sports Competition
On Friday 9 February, we hosted two inter-house sports competitions for students in Years 8 to 10. Huge numbers of students braved the weather to take part in our inter-house Football & Bench Ball competitions. Everyone played in great spirit and there was a high level of competition throughout the day.
A huge recognition and thanks needs to go to our Year 12 OCR Sport students who ran the competitions. They planned, promoted and delivered the entire event brilliantly, meaning they have now passed an element of their coursework while also giving back to the school community as part of their 6th form 'Super curriculum!' We have some very strong leaders amongst this group and they have a busy summer ahead representing the school in other sports leadership opportunities.
