HIGHER LEVEl

WARRINGTON Athletics Club took part in the first race of the Cheshire Cross Country League at Frodsham's Castle Park on New Year's Eve.

In treacherous conditions the under 11s girls gave the club a great start to the meet with Sarah Oldfield finishing first, Heather Timmins third and Hanah Tart fourth.

The under 11s boys race saw Daniel Cliffe finish third after leading for three-quarters of the race. Teammate Matthew Jackson was sixth.

The under 13s girls had a good race with Heather Roberts in fifth, narrowly beating teammate Lauren Stephens in sixth.

Katy Appleton gained several places to finish in 24th place.

The under 13s boys team finished close together with Sean Myers 12th, Andrew Scott 13th, Simon Pickersgill 15th, Mark Stringer 16th and Michael Pemberton 18th.

By the time the under 15s girls race had started the weather had deteriorated with the race taking place in a snow storm.

Sarah Vandewalle had another good race to finish 13th with Susan Chiverton 16th despite a fall.

In the 5,200 metres senior women's race under 20s runner Katie Brennan finished in an excellent fourth place, closely followed by Jenny Smith in fifth.

Alison Hartopp ran well to come home 19th with Fiona McGrath's first race after injury going well with 36th place. The improving Claire Irons coped well with the testing hills to finish 49th.

The 7,200-metre senior men's race saw Mike Girvan complete the four-lap race in sixth place, with Graham Ratcliffe 18th, John Gilbert 19th, Ian Bateman 25th, Neil Crompton 33rd and Steve Burthem 39th to complete the scoring team.

Neil Stephens was 42nd, Ian Costello 52nd, Stewart Baxter 81st, Dave Spencer 115th and Nev Jones 123rd.

The club's next race is the Cheshire County Championship at Hartford Campus, Northwich.