HALESOWEN runners were in action when the fourth round of the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League was held in Leicestershire last Sunday.

A flat course provided a fast race but athletes still had to work hard navigating mud and frozen ground where the sun hadn’t managed to reach.

The under 11 boys race provided great drama as Halesowen’s Sam Mannings beat Ben Edwards from Tamworth by one second to take the win with Max Price taking third for the club, just one more second behind. Another top 10 placing for the club came from Joss Camden who took eighth.

First in for the Halesowen in the under 17 men’s race was Joshua Timmins who placed seventh and first in for the club in the under 15 boys was Jack MacFarlane who placed 30th with another 30th place for Halesowen’s first athlete in the under 13 boys race, Theo Sims-Woodhouse.

In the girls races, it was Isabel Hall who was first in for the club in the under 17 race placing 13th. In the under 15 girls race it was top 10 placing’s for Lily Higgins (second), Casateria Ferreira (fourth), Abigail Saker (fifth) and Olivia Worth (10th).

Katrina Simpson, who is a usually a high placing athlete, finished down the field in 39th due to one of her spikes falling victim to the mud and her having to run the majority of the race with only one shoe on.

The under 13’s girls race saw Orla Walker finish seventh for the club and in the under 11’s it was Eleanor Stark who was first in for the club in 25th place.

Overall the club sits third in the series out of the 20 clubs in the competition with the under 15 girls leading the way and looking clear favourites to win their team category event with just one more fixture to go.

The under 11 boys are currently second in their team category standings, with fifth places for the under 11 girls, under 17 men and under 17 women. The under 15 boys are currently placing sixth, the under 13 girls seventh and the under 13 boys eighth.