ALL Saints and Joseph Rowntree Schools from York took the county round of the National Schools' netball competition by storm, qualifying in five of the six places available for the regional finals in January.

Joseph Rowntree made it a hat-trick winning the Under-18 and U16 sections and coming runners-up in the U14s.

All Saints did the double winning the U14s and finishing runners-up in the U16s.

The U14s competition went to the very last game of the tournament. Joseph Rowntree beat contenders Harrogate Grammar 11-10 in the opening game, while All Saints saw Harrogate come back in the dying minutes of their game to nick a 6-6 draw.

All Saints and Joseph Rowntree went neck and neck in the last game of the tournament with All Saints needing a win to avoid losing out to Harrogate. They managed to win 9-4 to become county champions with Joseph Rowntree taking the runners-up slot.

Meanwhile, for the first time in the school's history six girls from Queen Margaret's, Escrick, will be representing the North East of England at the English Schools' cross-country championships next month.

Jess Osbourne, George Philipps, Emma Philipps, Faye Barnett (year 10), together with Elizabeth Eden and Isabella Hill (year nine), have won through two stages of competitions to go to the national finals.

The event is run by the English Schools' Athletics Association, a voluntary body which is presently in danger of stopping due to insufficient funding and sponsorship.

Stage one was at York where schools from North Yorkshire competed in a team event. The schools run as a team to gain the best possible cumulative places.

As all QM girls came in the top 20 they qualified for the North of England where they finished third overall to reach the national finals which are to be held in Oswestry on December 4.

Queen Margaret's have also retained their York Schools' Under-14 title, beating Tadcaster 3-1 in the final on Astroturf at Escrick.

Updated: 11:30 Wednesday, November 24, 2004