The first Red Rose Cross Country League fixture of the season saw the Bury Under-11 girls team finish first in Blackburn.

Isla Taylor ran superbly to take second, with Mylah Collier running strongly to finish in fifth and Niamh Murray taking an excellent eighth. The club showed real strength in depth with the other finishers being Violette Overlunde (ninth), Myla Bryan (12th), Sophie Straffon-Finch (18th), Kate Duddy (27th), Honey Long (28th), Evelyn McDonald (30th) and Jasmine Brisbane (33rd).

In the U11 boys, the team of Ronan Parker, Hamish Simpson and Theo Overlunde placed seventh. The boys respective positions were 29th, 30th and 41st.

The U13 boys saw Bury’s only victory of the day. Ethan Statham dominated from the gun, crossing the line 22 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Ethan was Bury’s sole competitor in the race. The U13 girls ran with the boys with the Bury team placing fifth. Kathryn Wolstenholme was the first home in 16th, followed by Heidi Wilkinson running well on her debut for the club in 18th. Ella Straffon-Finch was the last counter in 25th with Lois Green placing 37th.

Daniel Taylor was Bury’s sole competitor in the U15 boys’ race, placing 19th, while Lucy Dent ran well in the U15 girls’ race to take sixth and Agatha Wragg ran strongly to place 20th. The sixth race combined the U17 men, the U20 women and the senior women. Taylor Warburton and Oscar Armstrong ran well to take 14th and 24th, respectively. Niamh Starrs had her best race in a Bury vest placing second in the U20s. Bury’s senior women’s team had to settle for second place behind a strong Blackburn team. International Jess Warner-Judd was the clear winner, but Bury’s Sinead Taylor ran strongly for second. Rose Johnson, in her debut for Bury, took an excellent seventh place with Harriet Griffiths was ninth. Bury’s other finishers were Sinead Burns (17th), Natalie Cusack (19th), Bev McCauley (30th), Susan Wheeldon-Gorst (42nd) and Afroditi Kalambouka (73rd). In the masters category, there was a great win for the Bury trio of Johnson, Cusack and McCauley.

The final race was the senior men, incorporating the U20s men as well. The Bury team placed fourth behind an incredibly strong Rossendale. Ben Coop was first home in sixth place, showing he is returning to form. Josh Cole, travelling up from Bournemouth, took 13th with Jack Griffiths in 27th. Conor Wilkinson took 37th, with Declan Tattersall in 41st and Ed Hunt, making his club debut, in 57th making the six scoring runners. The club’s other competitors were Anthony Hallahan (66th), Giles Bennett (85th), Alex Leach (112th) and Michael Starrs (138th).