The second fixture of the South East Lancs Cross Country League took place at Heaton Park on Sunday and saw some brilliant individual and team performances from Bury’s growing junior section, writes Mark Granby.

The first race was the under-11s boys and girls’ race over 2km and saw victories for both the boys and the girls’ teams. Making his club debut, Dexter Mesce took a superb second place and with Max Worsley in third and Isaac Cullen in sixth, the team had a three-point advantage over East Cheshire. Isla Taylor ran superbly again to win the girls’ race, with Niamh Murray third and Myah Collier seventh to secure the team victory over Salford Mets.

Other Bury competitors: Scott Cullen (10th), Hamish Simpson (13th), James Tallentire (17th), Leo Collins (24th), Harry Sample (27th), Kai Hilton (31st), Nina Boodhun (14th), Kate Duddy (15th), Lila Metcalfe (17th), Honey-May Long (21st), Sophie Straffon-Finch (23rd), Isabella Sharman (27th), Mia Cohen (31st), Evelyn McDonald (39th), Maya Akram (40th) and Serena McDonald (43rd).

Coach Fiona Healy was delighted with the performances.

The U13 girls also won their team race. Heidi Wilkinson placed fifth, Kathryn Wolstenholme seventh and Ella Straffon-Finch 10th. Darcy Collins placed 16th.

Lucy Dent was the runaway winner of the U15 girls’ race, finishing 55 seconds clear of the rest of the field over the 4.5km course. Bury’s other finisher was Coco-Lily Honor in 11th place. Luke Drinnan was Bury’s sole competitor in the U17 men’s race, taking seventh place.

Rachel Marshall ran well to take third in the senior women’s race. With Bev McAuley in 21st and Susan Wheeldon-Gorst in 24th, the team placed fourth. The other Bury finisher was Afroditi Kalambouka, in 39th. Rob Fowler ran strongly to place fourth in the senior men’s race, as Bury’s sole competitor.

Further afield, two Bury AC members competed in the Manchester Area Cross Country League at Kenworthy Woods. Sebastian Del Campo, running for Manchester Metropolitan University, ran brilliantly for seventh place in the quality field, while Martin Clark ran strongly to place 14th.

On Sunday, Craig Sykes was the sole Bury AC competitor at the Preston 10. He recorded 1hr 2mins 43secs to finish fourth in the V50 age category.