By Margaret Crosby

Published at 11:05, Thursday, 16 August 2012

THERE was extra loud cheering in support of Jessica Ennis at the Olympic Stadium coming from her former teacher Hilary McAvoy, of Hensingham.

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Hilary and her husband John were thrilled to get tickets to see Jessica take part in the shot-put and 200 metres.

Hilary, 52, had helped Jessica through her A-level psychology course at King Ecgbert School, Sheffield, before the dedicated athlete went on to graduate in the subject from Sheffield Hallam University.

“It’s all a bit surreal,’’ said Hilary, the daughter of Bill Ivison, 83, of Rosebank, Hensingham, and the late Hilda. “The atmosphere at the Olympic Park and especially in the stadium was so amazing.

“I felt very lucky to get tickets to see Jess compete on the Friday evening and I have never cheered so loud. I would have loved to have been there on the Saturday evening when she won the 800m and got her medal. Instead we cheered and cried in front of the telly. I am so proud of how well she has done.’’

Hilary, herself a former Whitehaven Grammar schoolgirl, recalls Jessica as a very able sixth form student who was committed and hardworking “but she was very bubbly, not boring, a lovely, lovely girl, with a nice group of friends”.

“She was just very dedicated. You can see why she has achieved what she has. The PE department saw promise there – she was about 10 when she first went to the Athletic Club in Sheffield. At school she competed at local level, it was really when she went on to university that she started to do the more major competitions.

“Jess never used her training regime as an excuse not to fulfil her obligations. Sometimes she was allowed extended deadlines in which to submit her course work, but she always got there.

“She is still very grounded, still lives locally and pops back to meet up with her friends. The school keeps in touch with her. I sometimes bump into her in Sainsbury’s and we have a chat about how she’s getting on. And my husband sees her walking the dog in the local woods where he trains.”

The nation took Jessica to their hearts after her sensational gold medal winning performance in the gruelling women’s heptathlon. She coped with immense pressure to score a British and Commonwealth record of 6,955 points.

Hilary left school to study psychology at university in Sheffield and taught the subject in adult education classes before moving into schools when phychology was introduced as an AS level subject in 2000. Hilary’s husband, Dr John McAvoy, a former Workington Grammar School student, works as a GP in Sheffield.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk