The Big 12's new-look, 16-team schedule was announced on Tuesday with the integration of Arizona, Arizona State and Utah as well as the return of Colorado into the league.

The Big 12 said in November that this schedule, featuring nine conference games, prioritizes geography, historic matchups and rivalries. The Big 12 joins the Big Ten in continuing to play nine conference games. The SEC and ACC both have adopted an eight-game league schedule for 2024.

BYU will travel to Utah on Nov. 9, the first time since 2010 that a rivalry that has been played 101 times will be a conference game. The two last met in 2021.

The official 2024 Big 12 football schedule pic.twitter.com/9NiF0hJsEy

Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 30, 2024

Arizona will host Arizona State on Nov. 30 for the Territorial Cup, a rivalry since 1899, and Baylor will play at Houston on Nov. 30 for the first time since 1995 when they were both Southwest Conference members. The Sunflower Showdown between Kansas and Kansas State will be on Oct. 26.

The first conference matchup will be in Fort Worth on Sept. 14 when UCF visits TCU, kicking off the 29th season of the league, but the first without Texas or Oklahoma. While the schedule has been decided for weeks, several games have yet to be determined whether they'll play on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Two games have been confirmed for the Friday after Thanksgiving: Oklahoma State at Colorado and Utah at UCF. Two games featuring new conference opponents -- Baylor and Utah on Sept. 7 and Arizona at Kansas State on the weekend of Sept. 14 -- are considered nonconference matchups since they were previously scheduled.

Television selections for the first three weeks of the season will be made by ESPN and Fox this summer and will be announced accordingly.

The league's championship will be on Dec. 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

As 30 NFL teams look toward the 2024 offseason and just one game remains in the playoffs -- the San Francisco 49ers will meet the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII -- we're taking a look at what lies ahead over the next two months, with free agency set to kick off in March.

We asked our NFL Nation writers to pick the one player from the team they cover whose contract status will shape that franchise's offseason the most. The list includes a few quarterbacks who led their teams to the playoffs, a handful of top running backs, a star wide receiver from the AFC North and a Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle who had a lengthy holdout last offseason.

Which players could define the offseason? We'll start in the AFC East:

Jump to:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH

AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills

DT DaQuan Jones

This could just as easily be wide receiver Gabe Davis, who said he plans to explore free agency in March, but the only defensive tackle from the 53-man roster under contract for 2024 is Ed Oliver. That's in addition to multiple free agents at defensive end. Jones was a key starter alongside Oliver when healthy (Jones missed nine games due to a torn pectoral suffered in Week 5), and bringing him back would make a lot of sense, but with Buffalo dealing with a tight cap situation, actually doing so might not be easy.

"We missed DaQuan when he got hurt in London, and I told him as much [Monday]," general manager Brandon Beane said. "... He's earned the right to test his market and see what it looks like. But we would be a fool not to entertain bringing him back." -- Alaina Getzenberg

Miami Dolphins

DT Christian Wilkins

The Dolphins and Wilkins failed to reach an agreement last offseason and agreed to table conversations until after the regular season. Well, the 2019 first-round pick turned in a career year with nine sacks and appears to be in a stronger position to negotiate than he was in 2023.

Miami extended Wilkins' partner at defensive tackle, Zach Sieler, two weeks before the season started but would still need to find a replacement for Wilkins if the sides are once again unable to reach an agreement. Money is tight in Miami -- the Dolphins are $55.3 million over the projected cap, according to Roster Management System -- but re-signing Wilkins should be a priority. -- Marcel Louis-Jacques

New England Patriots

OT/G Mike Onwenu

The 2020 sixth-rounder has developed into a capable starter at right guard and/or right tackle, putting him in line for a big payday. Team owner Robert Kraft said championship teams draft well, and Onwenu is a good example of the type of player the franchise has developed and thus should feel comfortable signing to a second contract. Failing to do so would create a hole to fill on the offensive line, which is already one of the team's top areas of need. -- Mike Reiss

New York Jets

DE Bryce Huff

Huff, who made the team four years ago as an undrafted free agent, is likely seeking at least $15 million per year after recording a career-high 10 sacks. The Jets want to keep Huff, their most dynamic edge player, but they drafted edge rushers Will McDonald IV and Jermaine Johnson in each of the past two first rounds. It will be hard to retain Huff, who wants to be an every-down player. The franchise tag is an outside possibility. -- Rich Cimini

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens

DT Justin Madubuike

Madubuike was arguably the biggest breakout in the league this season, becoming the NFL's best interior pass-rusher. He had 13 sacks in his contract year after totaling 8.5 sacks combined in his first three seasons.

The Ravens, who have tried to sign Madubuike to a new deal, are expected to place the franchise tag on him to keep him from becoming a free agent. The tag, which was around $19 million for defensive tackles last year, would limit what an already-cap-limited team (the Ravens are $638K over the projected cap) can do in free agency. -- Jamison Hensley

Cincinnati Bengals

WR Tee Higgins

The Bengals will have to make an important decision on the 2020 second-round pick, who is at the end of his rookie contract. He had an off year in 2023 largely due to injuries, catching 42 passes for 656 yards and five touchdowns, but he averaged 71.7 receptions, 1,009.3 yards and 6.3 touchdowns per season from 2020-22.

Higgins is a prime candidate to receive the franchise tag, which is estimated to be worth $21.7 million. With Ja'Marr Chase still on his rookie contract and Joe Burrow's mega extension not set to take full effect until 2025, Cincinnati can afford to keep the trio together for at least one more season. -- Ben Baby

Cleveland Browns

QB Joe Flacco

The 39-year-old former Super Bowl MVP propelled the Browns to a four-game winning streak late in the year and a playoff berth, throwing for 1,616 yards and 13 touchdown passes in five games after being signed in late November.

Franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson is on his way back from right shoulder surgery, however, and the Browns are $55.5 million over the cap for 2024. General manager Andrew Berry says the Browns would "absolutely love" to have Flacco back but admitted there will be "constraints" on how much they'll be able to pay a backup QB. -- Jake Trotter

Pittsburgh Steelers

QB Mason Rudolph

After not receiving much interest from the rest of the NFL last offseason, Rudolph wound up back in Pittsburgh on a one-year deal. He should field quite a few calls this time around after turning in solid performances in three regular-season starts and against the Bills in the playoffs, throwing five touchdown passes to one interception. He finished the regular season with a 70.6 QBR, significantly better than Kenny Pickett (38.2) and Mitch Trubisky (34.5).

While Mike Tomlin said Pickett will resume his status as QB1, the coach also said he wanted Pickett to be challenged, and Tomlin expressed a desire to continue doing business with Rudolph. The Steelers' entire quarterback room is in flux, and the front office will have to decide if -- or how -- to include Rudolph in the team's future plans. -- Brooke Pryor

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans

DE Jonathan Greenard

Greenard led the team in sacks (12.5), the most from a Texans defender since J.J. Watt had 16 in 2018. The Texans already have a Pro Bowler on the defensive line in rookie Will Anderson Jr., but coach DeMeco Ryans believes in a defense led by a dominant line powered by a wave of pass-rushers.

Last week, Ryans said, "Everything I believe in, it starts up front with the rush and also with the offensive line and protecting. So, we'll continue to build with our fronts. Start at the front and build backwards, that's how I envision it, and Jonathan had a really great year." With $61.8 million in available cap space, there's room to bring back Greenard. -- DJ Bien-Aime

Indianapolis Colts

WR Michael Pittman Jr.

No Colts receiver has been targeted at a higher rate than Pittman since Hall of Fame finalist Reggie Wayne in 2012. So, yeah, the Colts will work to find a way to retain Pittman, who is believed to be seeking a deal that compares favorably with those of some of the better wideouts in the league. Pittman has said he has some interest in seeing what free agency has to offer -- which makes the franchise tag a possibility -- but the Colts will undoubtedly be motivated to strike a deal with a player who was fifth in the NFL in receptions (109) in 2023. -- Stephen Holder

Jacksonville Jaguars

OLB Josh Allen

Allen had arguably the best season by a defensive player in franchise history (17.5 sacks) and accounted for nearly half of the team's 40 sacks. There's only one other pass-rusher on the roster (Travon Walker), so bringing back Allen on either the franchise tag or a contract extension should be the Jaguars' top offseason priority. The expectation is the team uses the franchise tag and tries to work out a deal before the season starts, which is what the team did this past offseason with tight end Evan Engram. -- Michael DiRocco

Tennessee Titans

RB Derrick Henry

Henry has been the cornerstone of the Titans' offense since 2019, as his 7,209 rushing yards the past five seasons are 1,664 more than the No. 2 player. But Tennessee's offensive philosophy will change under new coach Brian Callahan. Even though he's 30 years old and has 2,030 career carries, Henry is still a top-five running back and likely has two productive seasons left. The Titans will have a tough decision to make. -- Turron Davenport

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos

LB Josey Jewell

Beyond the decision the Broncos make with quarterback Russell Wilson -- many in the league expect him to be released -- Jewell, who has posted 100-tackle seasons in three of the past four years, leads the team's list of unrestricted free agents. The Broncos, having traded plenty of draft picks in recent years, don't have a natural replacement for Jewell on the roster and will have one of the league's worst salary-cap situations if Wilson is released.

General manager George Paton has already admitted the team will almost certainly sit out the first wave of free agency, so it will be difficult for the Broncos to keep Jewell or their other frontline free agents unless they are willing to take less to stay. -- Jeff Legwold

Kansas City Chiefs

DT Chris Jones

The Chiefs wouldn't give Jones the money he wanted on a long-term contract last year when he was holding out, so it makes no sense for them to give it to him this time around. It also isn't logical for them to make him the franchise player, which means it's possible Jones will be moving on.

The Chiefs tried to prepare for that eventuality over the past two years, drafting defensive ends George Karlaftis and Felix Anudike-Uzomah in the first round, but losing Jones, who had 10.5 sacks this season and has 75.5 in his career, would still be immense. -- Adam Teicher

Las Vegas Raiders

RB Josh Jacobs

After his All-Pro 2022 campaign, Jacobs balked at the Raiders tagging him last spring, refusing to sign the tag and skipping the entirety of Las Vegas' offseason program, training camp and preseason. What followed was his worst season to date, with the 2019 first-rounder finishing with career lows in rushing yards (805), yards-per-carry average (3.5), touchdowns (6) and games played (13).

Still, he is a favorite of team owner Mark Davis and coach Antonio Pierce, though new general manager Tom Telesco has no relationship with Jacobs. Jacobs said he was all-in if Pierce returned. But at what price? Zamir White showed he could carry the load in Jacobs' late-season absence by rushing for 397 yards and a TD while catching nine passes for 60 yards in the games the veteran missed. -- Paul Gutierrez

Los Angeles Chargers

RB Austin Ekeler

Ekeler and the Chargers had a very public contract standoff ahead of the 2023 season, which included Ekeler requesting a trade before ultimately returning on a contract with added incentives. He struggled this season, however. He tied the highest drop percentage of his career (5.4%), and his 628 rushing yards were his fewest since 2020.

Ekeler said he wouldn't rule out a return to the Chargers but will be "selective" about where he plays next. With a new coach and GM, the Chargers investing significantly in the running back position on an already salary-cap-strapped roster (they're $54.2 million over the projected cap) seems far-fetched. -- Kris Rhim

NFC EAST

Dallas Cowboys

OT Tyron Smith

The decision might not be the Cowboys' alone. Smith has to decide if he wants to play a 14th season. He missed four games with injuries in 2023, but he and the team found a practice plan that allowed him to get work off to the side and still be ready. He was still named a second-team All-Pro. Coach Mike McCarthy said it's the best he has seen Smith perform since he got to the Cowboys in 2020.

Smith is 33 and has a lot of wear and tear, but he has value. If he doesn't want to play anymore, do the Cowboys move Tyler Smith to left tackle or keep him at left guard? They do not have somebody else ready to play tackle. Tyron Smith is their best bet, but does he want to play, and can the Cowboys find the right price? -- Todd Archer

New York Giants

RB Saquon Barkley

The Giants need to decide if they want to pay (or tag) their best offensive player, who had 1,242 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns despite missing three games. If they allow Barkley to walk, it will create another major void in an offense already filled with holes.

The Giants must address quarterback and also need a No. 1 wide receiver and multiple starting offensive linemen. Do they want to add running back to that list of needs? Not even talking with teams about moving Barkley at the trade deadline this past season seems to suggest they want him to return. -- Jordan Raanan

Philadelphia Eagles

RB D'Andre Swift

Swift was arguably underutilized by the Eagles and still finished fifth in the NFL in rushing yards (1,049), which was by far a career-high. He is a home-run threat out of the backfield and proved he can be a productive feature back, particularly behind this offensive line.

Philadelphia is generally hesitant to pay running backs, though. Instead of signing pending free agent Miles Sanders last offseason, they let him walk and traded for Swift, who was in the last year of his rookie contract. If history serves, they could take a similar approach with Swift. -- Tim McManus

Washington Commanders

S Kamren Curl

The Commanders have 20 unrestricted free agents, including receiver Curtis Samuel and cornerback Kendall Fuller. But one member of the previous staff said Washington must re-sign Curl because of his versatility. With only one career interception, he's not a playmaker, but he's a smart, steady player who plays well in the box and can also rotate deep. It's hard to know what the team will do, however, with a new coach still to be named -- and a new defense to come with him. -- John Keim

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears

CB Jaylon Johnson

Bears GM Ryan Poles left little doubt that re-signing Johnson is Chicago's top priority this offseason. "Jaylon's not going to go anywhere, and we'll work through it to get something done," Poles said on Jan. 10. Johnson earned second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors, as he nabbed a career-high four interceptions and allowed a 50.9 passer rating into his coverage, which was the lowest of the four All-Pro cornerbacks.

Johnson said he wants to remain in Chicago even after extension talks stalled last fall and said recently on a podcast that he's "definitely deserving of [being] the highest paid [at the] position," which would cost the Bears north of $20 million per year. That's a price they can afford to pay given their salary cap situation for 2024 (more than $49.1 million of space) if they choose to work out a long-term deal and not resort to using the franchise tag. -- Courtney Cronin

Detroit Lions

S C.J. Gardner-Johnson

After a Super Bowl run with the Eagles in 2022, where he was the NFL's co-leader in interceptions with six, Gardner-Johnson signed a one-year deal with the Lions as a possible window to a bigger deal this offseason. He suffered a torn pectoral during Week 2, however, which placed him on injured reserve, and didn't return until the regular-season finale versus Minnesota, where he picked off a pass.

When healthy, Gardner-Johnson brings experience and has been productive, but the likelihood of him returning to Detroit could depend on whether defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn returns. Glenn has fielded several interviews for head-coaching positions and shares a close bond with Gardner-Johnson, which is what drew the safety to the Lions organization. -- Eric Woodyard

Green Bay Packers

S Darnell Savage

The youthful Packers don't have a lot of must-sign free agents; running back AJ Dillon and guard Jon Runyan probably will have to seek jobs elsewhere. But Savage could be one to return. The 2019 first-round pick has been praised for his leadership and communication skills and would probably prefer to return to the Packers, who might be looking for two new starting safeties if they don't bring back Savage. He had 51 tackles in 10 games in the regular season plus a key pick-six in Green Bay's wild-card upset of Dallas. -- Rob Demovsky

Minnesota Vikings

QB Kirk Cousins

Cousins' contract will void March 13, preventing the Vikings from using their franchise tag on him and guaranteeing him a path to the free agent market if he wants it. The team's key decision-makers are on record saying they will try to get Cousins re-signed, and the quarterback has said he wants to finish his career in Minnesota. The outcome likely will hinge on whether the Vikings are willing to give Cousins, who turns 36 in the summer, multiple fully guaranteed years in his new deal. That seems a 50-50 proposition at best. -- Kevin Seifert

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons

DL Calais Campbell

This would have been a simpler decision had Arthur Smith had been retained as Falcons coach -- and it probably would have been Campbell's choice whether to return after a 56-tackle, 6.5-sack season. There are multiple layers to this: Does Campbell, who will be 38 next season, want to keep playing? If that answer is yes, does he believe in the vision and path to quick success of Raheem Morris' coaching staff? And does Morris' staff want to invest in Campbell, who had a $7.5 million cap hit in 2023? Those are the questions that will determine Campbell's future in Atlanta. -- Michael Rothstein

Carolina Panthers

OLB Brian Burns

It's really just a matter of if the Panthers get a long-term deal done with Burns or use the franchise tag on him. Despite a down season (eight sacks after having 12.5 in 2022), Burns still wants to be paid on par with the top five highest-paid edge rushers in the NFL. At 25, he's too good to let go to another team.

Burns' representatives couldn't get a deal done with former general manager Scott Fitterer, so much of what happens next will depend on new coach Dave Canales and new GM Dan Morgan. But it's safe to say they'll want to build around Burns, a two-time Pro Bowl selection who has proved that he can excel in a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme. -- David Newton

New Orleans Saints

WR Michael Thomas

Thomas isn't technically a free agent, but the Saints have to rework his contract before the third day of the 2024 league year or trigger massive future roster bonuses. That means he either is coming back on a new deal or will be a free agent for the first time in his career.

Thomas has not played a full season since his record-setting 2019, recording 39 catches for 448 yards and a touchdown in 10 games in 2023, which could mean the Saints could try to move forward with their younger group of receivers in lieu of Thomas, who turns 31 in March. -- Katherine Terrell

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

QB Baker Mayfield

The Bucs want Mayfield back, but with offensive coordinator Dave Canales gone, how much can they pay him while having to account for re-signing Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Lavonte David, especially since there's sure to be competition for Mayfield's services? The Bucs are projected to have roughly $34 million in salary cap space.

Mayfield threw for 4,044 yards in the regular season -- ninth-best in the league -- while his 2.8 touchdown-to-interception ratio tied him with Brock Purdy for ninth in the NFL. His 28 touchdown passes were seventh most in the league. -- Jenna Laine

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals

WR Marquise Brown

The Cardinals didn't give Brown the big extension he wanted heading into this season, making 2023 a lame-duck year. But herein lies the conundrum facing the Cardinals: Brown is injury-prone, having not played a full season since 2020, but is productive when healthy. He tried to play through a heel injury this season but played his last game on Dec. 3 and was eventually placed on injured reserve.

However, he's a close friend of quarterback Kyler Murray, so Arizona will have to weigh whether or not Murray wants to keep playing with Brown against how much to pay the receiver considering his injury history. -- Josh Weinfuss

Los Angeles Rams

G Kevin Dotson

Dotson, whom the Rams traded for during training camp, ended the season as Pro Football Focus' No. 2-ranked guard. The team would love to have him back, but it won't be cheap. The Rams are projected to have $27.2 million of cap space according to Roster Management System, so while they could re-sign Dotson, they might prefer to focus on adding to a young defense that finished No. 20 in the league in yards allowed per game. -- Sarah Barshop

San Francisco 49ers

DE Chase Young

The 49ers don't have many significant decisions on pending free agents, but Young presents an interesting case. The Niners gave up a third-round compensatory pick to acquire him and could get a pick back if he signs a big deal elsewhere.

But it seems unlikely that Young -- who had 2.5 sacks, 16 pressures and a 13.1% pass rush win rate in the regular season after the trade -- will get a deal large enough to bring a significant comp pick back to San Francisco. Which means he could be in for a short-term, incentive-heavy deal that the Niners could potentially afford. If he does leave, edge rusher once again becomes an offseason need, likely to be addressed early in the draft. -- Nick Wagoner

Seattle Seahawks

DT Leonard Williams

The Seahawks gave up a second-round pick (plus a 2025 fifth-rounder) when they acquired Williams and his expiring contract from the Giants in October, which left no doubt that they would try hard to re-sign him this offseason. But it won't be easy.

The Seahawks are projected to be about $4 million over the cap before subtractions and restructures, and they're already paying big money to linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and defensive end Dre'Mont Jones. Williams outproduced and got more snaps than Jones in his 10 games with Seattle, making it hard to imagine him taking anything less than the $17.2 million yearly average that Jones is making. -- Brady Henderson

The Toronto Blue Jays and Justin Turner have agreed to a one-year deal worth $13 million, a source confirmed to ESPN.

Turner can make an additional $1.5 million in bonuses, according to multiple reports. The deal was first reported Tuesday by MLB Network.

The Blue Jays had been linked with high-profile free agents and potential trade targets earlier this offseason but instead have added multiple veterans on one-year deals. Toronto also brought back outfielder Kevin Kiermaier and added utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa last month.

Turner, 39, batted .276 with 23 home runs and a career-high 96 RBIs last season with the Boston Red Sox. The two-time All-Star had spent his previous nine seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Toronto hopes Turner will bolster a lineup that struggled to support stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette with consistent production. The Blue Jays were 11th in the majors in OPS (.745), 14th in runs scored (746), 16th in home runs (188) and 13th in slugging percentage (.417) last season.

Turner figures to be Toronto's primary designated hitter but also can serve as a backup to Guerrero at first base.

Good numbers and quality in Beckenham as internationals out in force in Southern event plus Midlands in Leamington and Northerns in Sedgefield

SOUTH OF ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS, Beckenham Place Park, January 27

With a few adjustments to the course such as making the senior mens 15km two bigger laps instead of three to cut out almost lapping, this proved the most successful of the championships held in Beckenham on the edge of South London and Kent.

Clubs who previously have missed championships put on by the South of England were back in the fold and over 2200 finishers took part in the 10 races compared to the Norths 1400 and Midlands 900.

The quality was high too with two English National champions leading home the senior races and plenty of promising youngsters who will be in the thick of a medal battle next month at Weston Park near Telford.

Mike Boucher of Aldershot did the lions share of ensuring the improvement in tweaking it more to an athlete friendly course.

There are still adjustments maybe needed to make it more spectator-friendly with all bar the senior men disappearing from sight early on each lap then emerging from the woods close to the finish  to go up the final hill but a championships with big numbers like this cant use a lap like used by Eamonn Martin at the previous weeks London International. Martin was an interested spectator here.

Senior men

James Kingston has only just turned 22 years of age but he is building up a highly successful championship record.

A member of Britains winning European under-23 team in Brussels, the reigning English National champion retained his South of England title by a big margin.

After holding back on the initial two lap course around the former public golf course, he eventually stretched out to win by well over 100 metres.

I was as comfortable as I could be running 15km cross-country, he said. He now moves on to retaining his National title next march and he said he doesnt plan to race until then and go back into a hard block of training

Second was also the same as in 2023 as Alex Lepretre proved the best of the rest as he led Highgate to a very clear victory.

Essex champion Callum Charleston, son of 1986 Commonwealth Games steeplechase finalist Richard, luckily did not repeat his 2023 position as he advanced from 48th last year.

Another greatly improved athlete Roger Poolman (16th last year) gave Highgate two in four while Ben Cole also gave Tonbridge two in five with his highest position in the event. Laster next year he hits the M40s.

This year there was a good battle to be the first M40 plus athlete with Bedfords Irish athlete John Eves narrowly getting the better of James Connor, 2:15 marathoner Nick Torry and former champion John Gilbert, who won this race in Brighton in 2018.

Men (15km): 1 J Kingston (Ton) 42:50; 2 A Lepretre (High) 43:16; 3 C Charleston (AFD) 43:22; 4 R Poolman (High) 43:35; 5 B Cole (Ton) 43:46; 6 D Evans (SB) 43:51; 7 T Butler (SB) 44:04; 8 S Eglen (AFD) 44:17; 9 H Brodie (Bed C) 44:31; 10 A Teuten (Soton) 44:37; 11 S McCallum (HW) 44:45; 12 F Grierson (High) 44:54; 13 M Nicholls (Kent) 45:03; 14 S Ghafari (High) 45:09; 15 F Slemeck (HW) 45:10; 16 E Shepherd (Woodford Green w Essex L) 45:18; 17 J OHara (Soton) 45:26; 18 S Costley (Soton) 45:28; 19 J Eves (Bed C) 45:50; 20 J Connor (Have) 45:52; 21 J Sanderson (G&G) 45:55; 22 G Mallett (HW) 45:56; 23 C Chambers (Ton) 45:58; 24 R Wilson (High) 46:00; 25 J Stockings (HW) 46:05; 26 N Torry (Kent) 46:06; 27 J Turner (B&H) 46:12; 28 C Haywood (High) 46:13; 29 K Seyed (London Heathside AC) 46:18; 30 J Gilbert (Kent) 46:22; 31 S Heath (Brighton Phoenix AC) 46:24; 32 E Mallett (HW) 46:27; 33 J Minter (Bed C) 46:28; 34 R Sesemann (Kent) 46:30; 35 T Foster (G&G) 46:32; 36 H Hart (Belg) 46:33; 37 J Hoad (THH) 46:33; 38 B Davies (Bed C) 46:34; 39 G King (Win) 46:35; 40 H Silverstein (HW) 46:39; 41 R McDowell (HW) 46:48; 42 S Sommerville (Belg) 46:53; 43 P Crout (SB) 46:56; 44 A Sutton (HW) 46:57; 45 C Reilly (G&G) 46:59; 46 M Marshall (Head) 47:00; 47 J Hotham (Victoria Park Harriers ) 47:02; 48 O Garrod (Belg) 47:12; 49 S Beedell (Woodford Green w Essex L) 47:12; 50 A Clarke (Herne H) 47:15; 51 B Tyler (M&M) 47:18; 52 A Fautly (Winchester RC) 47:19; 53 R Doherty (Strag) 47:22; 54 A Briffett (Horsh BS) 47:25; 55 J Stewart (Have) 47:25; 56 E Dixon (G&G) 47:32; 57 J Ross (High) 47:32; 58 S Jinks (High) 47:33; 59 J Gordon (NEB) 47:38; 60 M Ellis (Ton) 47:39; 61 B Davis (Have) 47:40; 62 Y Sevestre (London Heathside AC) 47:41; 63 J Ramm (Dulw) 47:42; 64 M Speed (Kent) 47:42; 65 C Dockerill (Kent) 47:43; 66 B Warren (Herne H) 47:51; 67 S Atkins (Have) 47:52; 68 A Wilson (Dulw) 47:53; 69 C ONeill (Soton) 47:58; 70 J Wooldridge (London Heathside AC) 48:00; 71 B Clarke (Kent) 48:02; 72 O Fox (THH) 48:03; 73 L Greaves (High) 48:04; 74 S Norris (Send) 48:05; 75 D Dibaba (Kent) 48:06; 76 R Boorman (HW) 48:07; 77 J Steenson (High) 48:09; 78 B Babaker (Camb H) 48:13; 79 M Lusby (Wells) 48:22; 80 M Evans (B&B) 48:26; 81 B Howe (Dulw) 48:29; 82 A Walton (HW) 48:30; 83 O Hind (Kent) 48:31; 84 S Blake (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 48:32; 85 S Wilkinson (B&H) 48:35; 86 P Chambers (High) 48:42; 87 T Higgins (Ton) 48:45; 88 J Orrell (Hunts) 48:45; 89 G Morris (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 48:48; 90 N Faulkner (TVH) 48:52; 91 Z Arasaretnam-Hale (B&H) 48:55; 92 A Dart (Brack) 48:57; 93 H Calvert (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 49:04; 94 S Renfer (High) 49:10; 95 J Robinson (Serp) 49:10; 96 N Lightfoot (G&G) 49:11; 97 J Neville (Belg) 49:11; 98 T Brooke (Camb H) 49:12; 99 R Keane (TVH) 49:14; 100 A Headley (Bed C) 49:18

101 K Fini (B&B) 49:24; 102 D Steel (Woodford Green w Essex L) 49:30; 103 S Rodda (Read) 49:30; 104 B Goddard (Woking) 49:31; 105 L Taylor (Send) 49:32; 106 R Gillard (Send) 49:37; 107 T Kirby (Stubb G) 49:40; 108 A Chambers (High) 49:41; 109 J Laybourn (High) 49:41; 110 R Thomas (Ton) 49:42; 111 C Emmerson (Bed C) 49:43; 112 L Clarke (Belg) 49:43; 113 J Cunningham (Herne H) 49:44; 114 N Phillips (Kent) 49:51; 115 K Hurst (BBRC) 49:54; 116 F Martinez (Serp) 49:54; 117 R Latala (Ashf D) 49:59; 118 T Collins (M&M) 49:59; 119 V Lio (Serp) 50:00; 120 M Green (Newb) 50:02; 121 A Holford (Woodford Green w Essex L) 50:03; 122 C Job (G&G) 50:06; 123 A Gorham (Ashf D) 50:06; 124 N Besson (Serp) 50:06; 125 A Barnes (London Heathside AC) 50:10; 126 J Entwistle (Woodford Green w Essex L) 50:12; 127 A Aldridge (Newb) 50:14; 128 D Brewer (High) 50:18; 129 K White (Mil K) 50:19; 130 G Belfield (Winchester RC) 50:20; 131 C Ruddy (Belg) 50:22; 132 G Loxton (Belg) 50:27; 133 P Bailey (S Lon) 50:29; 134 N Hutchinson (Worth) 50:32; 135 N Buckle (Belg) 50:34; 136 P Gould (London Heathside AC) 50:35; 137 L Pettit (Brighton Phoenix AC) 50:37; 138 B Howard (B&H) 50:39; 139 L Dickson (Winchester RC) 50:40; 140 D Smith (High) 50:40; 141 L Rowland (Kent) 50:41; 142 C McNally (Belg) 50:43; 143 J English (Kent) 50:46; 144 T Lole (Belg) 50:46; 145 M Rallison (London Heathside AC) 50:54; 146 H Tivnen (Strag) 50:56; 147 A Russell (Dulw) 50:56; 148 B Mitchell (Kent) 50:58; 149 S Wade (HW) 50:59; 150 B Bishop (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 51:02; 151 C Fraser (Kent) 51:03; 152 J Tipper (Kent) 51:05; 153 J Pomfret (Woking) 51:05; 154 H Torry (Serp) 51:08; 155 P Sanders (Kent) 51:09; 156 R Barnes (Stopsley Striders JC) 51:13; 157 A Prinsep (Soton) 51:14; 158 J Hallsworth (Dulw) 51:15; 159 P Walsh (Send) 51:17; 160 W Bell (NEB) 51:20; 161 L Busby (Wyc P) 51:20; 162 P Wooldridge (Serp) 51:21; 163 A Hamilton (BMH) 51:28; 164 J Scott (Belg) 51:29; 165 E Rolls (Clap C) 51:30; 166 A Lyne (S Lon) 51:30; 167 J Shipston (High) 51:31; 168 J Lane (M&M) 51:32; 169 A Robinson (NEB) 51:33; 170 J Vis (Kent) 51:35; 171 M Rose (Herne H) 51:35; 172 D Kennedy (B&B) 51:38; 173 S Morrison (Herne H) 51:38; 174 J Hartley (Kent) 51:41; 175 E Gibson (Dulw) 51:44; 176 X Compton (Soton) 51:48; 177 S Pulley (Soton) 51:52; 178 S Evans (Kent) 51:54; 179 J Ball (E&E) 51:59; 180 A Enser (Brack) 52:03; 181 L Piper (Brighton Phoenix AC) 52:04; 182 D Brighton (Woking) 52:10; 183 J Wilson (E&E) 52:10; 184 T Desborough (B&B) 52:12; 185 T Starck (Wyc P) 52:12; 186 R May (St Alb S) 52:12; 187 M Waller (Send) 52:17; 188 M Thies (LFR) 52:18; 189 L Fitz-John (Spring S) 52:21; 190 G Divall (Victoria Park Harriers ) 52:26; 191 C Compton (Kent) 52:30; 192 T Slater (TVH) 52:32; 193 J Cooper (Harrow) 52:38; 194 P Sansome (Winchester RC) 52:40; 195 D Speight (Hill) 52:41; 196 J Preston (Belg) 52:42; 197 B McCallion (HY Runners) 52:46; 198 M Barry (Central P) 52:49; 199 B Jenkins (Orion) 52:50; 200 B Paviour (Herne H) 52:51

TEAM: 1 High 84; 2 Herc W 145; 3 Kent 232; 4 Ton 286; 5 Bedford 310; 6 G&G 375; 7 AFD 427; 8 Soton 447

Senior women
Jess Gibbon, who won this race and the English National in 2022, the year she was in the winning team in the Europeans, regained her title by a clear margin.

She largely stuck to parkruns in 2023 but a 12th at the London cross-country showed she was ready to mix it with the best winter exponents.

At Parliament Hill she finished a place ahead of Georgie Grgec but the 12-second margin there was stretched to 42 seconds at Beckenham.

Grgec, 31st in her last appearance in this race in 2018, won Herne Hills first ever senior womens medal.

Kent and London champion Holly Dixon won her first individual medal with a controlled run to move up to third.

Megan Gadsby, who won the under-20 race last year, made a good senior debut to finish fourth.

Amy Clements, the former IAU World 50km medallist, was the first W40 athlete.

Aldershot had to wait for sixth for their first scorer (Katie Hughes) but with four in 15 they won easily from Thames Hare & Hounds and Belgrave.

Women (8km): 1 J Gibbon (Read) 25:46; 2 G Grgec (Herne H) 26:28; 3 H Dixon (Camb H) 26:40; 4 M Gadsby (Norw) 26:57; 5 H Hall (Winchester RC) 26:58; 6 K Hughes (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 27:02; 7 K Estlea-Morris (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 27:18; 8 H Bloor (Lewes) 27:21; 9 G Bruinvels (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 27:26; 10 E Carroll (TVH) 27:29; 11 A Barbour (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 27:30; 12 E Apsley (THH) 27:32; 13 A Clements (Kent) 27:33; 14 S Monk (G&G) 27:43; 15 M Jordan-Lee (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 28:00; 16 R Bunting (London Heathside AC) 28:10; 17 M Jordan-Lee (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 28:21; 18 K Olding (TVH) 28:30; 19 L Adamson (Belg) 28:37; 20 S Carter (THH) 28:46; 21 B Murray (THH) 28:48; 22 L Major (THH) 28:51; 23 R Piggott (London Heathside AC) 28:53; 24 L Bromilow (Mil K) 28:55; 25 E Warren (G&G) 28:59; 26 L Nichols (Bed C) 29:00; 27 G Bridge (Oxf C) 29:02; 28 S Holt (Strag) 29:03; 29 N Lenane (Belg) 29:05; 30 M Squibb (B&B) 29:08; 31 S Ainley (TVH) 29:10; 32 K Xiang (Belg) 29:13; 33 S Hewitt (Belg) 29:15; 34 I King (Mil K) 29:22; 35 A Jones (Mhead) 29:26; 36 J Keene (B&B) 29:30; 37 H Cox (Fulham) 29:32; 38 N Allan (Brighton Phoenix AC) 29:39; 39 M Smith (B&B) 29:41; 40 H Preedy (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 29:42; 41 K Sheedy (Dulw) 29:46; 42 N Griffiths (Soton) 29:49; 43 Z Hewitson (Royst) 29:55; 44 K Casterton (Serp) 29:58; 45 R Lord (Stubb G) 29:59; 46 R Wallace (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 30:06; 47 N Sheel (Serp) 30:08; 48 S Peach (Norw) 30:10; 49 E Leggate (C&C) 30:11; 50 C Day (Rane) 30:14; 51 A Dalton (Herne H) 30:16; 52 L Gill (Fulham) 30:17; 53 S Whatmough (Rane) 30:19; 54 H Rayden (St Alb S) 30:24; 55 Z White (B&B) 30:26; 56 T Anderson (Winchester RC) 30:29; 57 E Henston (Strag) 30:29; 58 A Parker (Kent) 30:30; 59 S Munday (Belg) 30:31; 60 E Stevens (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 30:34; 61 C Grima (HW) 30:38; 62 R OKill (Send) 30:40; 63 D Knotkova-Hanley (Lewes) 30:41; 64 N Thompson (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 30:42; 65 M Hunt (Serp) 30:51; 66 N Beadle (Belg) 30:57; 67 M Heslop (Ton) 31:00; 68 O Papaioannou (Belg) 31:02; 69 K Hawkshaw (London Heathside AC) 31:03; 70 J Colley (C&C) 31:04; 71 L Gent (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 31:09; 72 A Baird (Trent P) 31:17; 73 R Clarke (Clap C) 31:18; 74 B Bowness (Clap C) 31:26; 75 L Seach (St Alb S) 31:26; 76 A Flower (Clap C) 31:31; 77 A McArdell (Woodford Green w Essex L) 31:32; 78 G Bailey (Have) 31:35; 79 L Gallyer-Barnett (Belg) 31:37; 80 C Paterson (Hill) 31:46; 81 J Edmunds (Royst) 31:49; 82 S James (Mhead) 31:51; 83 R Boswell (THH) 31:52; 84 M Wood (C&C) 31:54; 85 P Keen (C&C) 31:55; 86 V Cartwright (Kent) 31:57; 87 S Vallis (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 31:58; 88 C Borg (London Heathside AC) 31:58; 89 P Habbick (St Alb S) 31:59; 90 S Biggs (Strag) 32:04; 91 S McKeeman (Fulham) 32:09; 92 J Butler (B&B) 32:09; 93 N Frisby (Spring S) 32:10; 94 K Ellison (Herne H) 32:12; 95 A White (Kent) 32:13; 96 G Carter-Collins (Ashf D) 32:15; 97 N Haarer (Rane) 32:16; 98 R Keddie (K&P) 32:17; 99 E Swire (Winchester RC) 32:20; 100 K Haniver (Stubb G) 32:22; 101 H Shannon (Dulw) 32:23; 102 R Matson (Have) 32:24; 103 J Wedmore (Herne H) 32:27; 104 E Hale (M&M) 32:32; 105 N Hornzee (Strag) 32:33; 106 L Connolly (S Lon) 32:34; 107 M Armstrong-Pileth (Croy) 32:34; 108 C Oxlade (Kent) 32:35; 109 G Weston (London Heathside AC) 32:37; 110 B Aldridge (Bcay) 32:38; 111 L Blythe (TVH) 32:39; 112 J Dear (L Buzz) 32:40; 113 S Amend (Belg) 32:41; 114 S Swaine (Herne H) 32:44; 115 S Latchman (Brighton Phoenix AC) 32:44; 116 F Sille (Mhead) 32:44; 117 N Glover (Sevonoaks AC) 32:45; 118 P Cooper (Camb H) 32:47; 119 L Seaman (Vegan) 32:51; 120 B Walker (London Heathside AC) 32:55; 121 J Hinds (Ilf) 32:56; 122 L Faherty (High) 32:58; 123 A Greenwood (Trent P) 32:59; 124 F Stocco (London Heathside AC) 33:06; 125 I Morris (Norw) 33:07; 126 N Cendrowicz (High) 33:11; 127 A Germana (S Lon) 33:18; 128 P Williams (Kent) 33:22; 129 J Gill (New Forest RC) 33:23; 130 H Morris (DMV) 33:24; 131 L Hancock (Clap C) 33:28; 132 E Skinner (Kent) 33:34; 133 K Wright (Arena) 33:37; 134 J Bytheway (K&P) 33:38; 135 R Frake (Oxf C) 33:38; 136 T Oldershaw (Ton) 33:38; 137 C Warren (Ton) 33:41; 138 E Brookes (Central P) 33:41; 139 L Buchanan (Newb) 33:42; 140 C Fenwick (Sevonoaks AC) 33:42; 141 C Cummings (Fulham) 33:46; 142 R Hutton (S Lon) 33:52; 143 L Bestow (B&B) 33:56; 144 J Gutteridge (SoC) 33:58; 145 V Filsell (THH) 34:03; 146 R Lumas (Brighton Phoenix AC) 34:05; 147 L Pitt (Clap C) 34:09; 148 J Davies (THH) 34:10; 149 T Addison (London Heathside AC) 34:13; 150 K Smith (Dulw) 34:15

TEAM: 1 AFD 37; 2 THH 75; 3 Bel 113; 4 B&B 160; 5 TVH 170; 6 London H 196; 7 Herne H 250; 8 Kent 252

Younger age groups
Last year James Dargan won the under-17 race and was second in the English National but the European under-20 5000m fourth placer, followed up his win at Parliament Hill with another here and he also gained a team gold.

Radleys Quinn Miell-Ingram, who followed Dargan home the previous week as well as the English Schools Cup Final, did so again here.

Joseph OConnell took third and Liam Stone fourth as Aldershot dominated as they had five of the top 11 and eight of the top 23.

Last year Sam Plummer was second to Dargan as a first year under-17 and now top of the age group he won from Michael Clark, who only started racing in 2023 and has another year in the age group.

Plummer, who won the English Schools and Schools International last winter, led Chelmsford to a dominating team victory with Joseph Grange third and Jacob Hurrell fifth.

Joseph Scanes, who won the South of England 1500m title last summer, followed up his Parliament Hill victory with a clear win over Winchester RCs Ethan Skipwith and his Blackheath team-mate Joseph Hill.

But despite their two in three, Blackheath had to give way to Nick Andersons recently formed Winchester RC team who packed 4 in 20 to Blackheaths 4 in 35.

Just two seconds covered the leading quartet in the under-13 race.

Hertfordshire champion James McDonald of Dacorum, who has been unbeaten this winter,  edged Surrey champion Edward Cunliffe.

McDonald is coached by Mike Dunphy, who has been coaching for well over half a century and is now in his eighties.

Cunliffe of Herne Hill (Dunphys former club), was unusually making his third appearance in the age group, having been 36th and 29th the previous two years.

Isaac Gibson-Dunt and Finley Winship finished right behind the leading duo.

Windsor, with four in 21, all coached by former Samy twin, Shireen Higgins were easy team winners.

The womens under-20 race also went to the wire.

Winchester RCs Rose Chesterfield, making her debut in the Championships at any age group, had the finest win of her life to deny Jenny Leggate, who was 11th last year.

Leggate had the consolation of team gold though as Cambridge and Coleridge (with four in 19) defeated the usually dominant Aldershot.

Middlesex champion Lauren Russell of Highgate was third.

In the under-17s over the same course, clear winner Eliza Nicholson was half a minute quicker than the older age group.

Nicholson had been second to Innes FitzGerald the week before (and first under-17) at Parliament Hill where she beat the likes of Jess Bailey and on this form the Schools International 3000m winner and Commonwealth Youth Games 3000m medallist will be hard to beat in the English National.

At Liverpool, Katie Pye had finished half a minute ahead of Nicholson and made the winning British team for the Europeans, but here the Surrey champion was half a minute back with Lucy Wilkinson a clear third.

Windsor gained another clear win here as their four in 23 gave them a dominant team title.

One of the most expected winners of the day was Olivia Forrest, who had went one better than 2023 to take the under-15 title.

This winter she had won at Cardiff, Liverpool, Renfrew and Parliament Hill as well as take Eastern and Essex titles and the English Schools Cup Final.

Since December 23, including parkruns, she has headed 10 races, including her 10km debut, and also run a fast 3000m.

Here she won by 100 metres from the younger Kitty Scott, who last year won the under-13 race and led Aldershot to team success.

Jorjia March, the English National under-13 champion, took the bronze and that was a big improvement on her seventh under-13 last year.

Another Essex champion Summer Smith advanced from fifth last year to take under-13 gold and the Brentwood Beagle and her time would have seen within the top 10 boys who ran over the same course.

Naomi Walmsley of Aldershot was second and she also [picked up a team silver as Chelmsford led by Ava King in fourth had a clear win with four in 15.

Last years British and Inter Counties champion Kara Gorman finished third to match her position at Cardiff, Liverpool, Parliament Hill and last years Southern and English National!

It was her third top six place in the under-13s as she had been sixth in 2022.

U20 (8km): 1 J Dargan (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 23:26; 2 Q Miell-Ingram (Rad) 23:32; 3 J OConnell (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 23:35; 4 L Stone (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 23:44; 5 A Riley (B&H) 24:15; 6 J Doye (Woodford Green w Essex L) 24:24; 7 O James (Bmth) 24:30; 8 I Morgan (C&C) 24:31; 9 H Yelling (B&H) 24:33; 10 M Pickering (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 24:37; 11 T Chandler (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 24:39; 12 M Dubery (Ton) 24:41; 13 T Claridge (Ton) 24:43; 14 C Parker (Read) 24:44; 15 T Adler (E&E) 24:49; 16 M Morgan (C&C) 24:54; 17 R Man (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 24:56; 18 H Johnston (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 25:01; 19 T Kimber (Craw) 25:02; 20 C Hudson (Harrow) 25:05; 21 W Goddard (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 25:06; 22 C Norman (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 25:08; 23 S Nesbitt (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 25:10; 24 A Lydon (C&C) 25:14; 25 B Pearce (Ton) 25:20; 26 O OConnor (London Heathside AC) 25:33; 27 H Totton (Mil K) 25:36; 28 D Adams (Norw) 25:36; 29 W Nuttall (Chelm) 25:38; 30 H Gear (M&M) 25:39; 31 I Arnott (Ton) 25:46; 32 A Woldegiorgis (London Heathside AC) 25:46; 33 C Wright (Lewes) 25:48; 34 J Winship (Brack) 25:52; 35 G Thomas (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 25:58; 36 J Gunning (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 26:03; 37 R Andrews (Norw) 26:04; 38 D Pauley (Hunts) 26:06; 39 H Bell (Herne H) 26:06; 40 L Buchallet (C&C) 26:07; 41 J Perry (Chelm) 26:10; 42 H Smith (Norw) 26:12; 43 E Supple (Bed C) 26:16; 44 A Marshall (St Alb S) 26:18; 45 D Shattock (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 26:18; 46 J Edwards (Mil K) 26:26; 47 B Williams (N&P) 26:29; 48 G Hopkins (Ton) 26:31; 49 T Woodward (Chelm) 26:32; 50 J Jewell (Soton U) 26:35

TEAM: 1 AFD 18; 2 Tonbridge 81; 3 C&C 88; 4 WSEH 125; 5 Norwich 159

U17 (6km): 1 S Plummer (Chelm) 18:15; 2 M Clrak (Norw) 18:21; 3 J Grange (Chelm) 18:23; 4 L Conway (C&C) 18:37; 5 J Hurrell (Chelm) 18:40; 6 B Andrews-Callec (Jersey Spartans Athletics club) 18:41; 7 F Shepherd (M&M) 18:42; 8 G Stubbs (SB) 18:47; 9 O Smith (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 18:51; 10 B Street (HW) 18:55; 11 C Benyan (C&C) 18:55; 12 M Hudson (Sutt) 18:59; 13 Z Dunne (Norw) 19:01; 14 T Ash (Norw) 19:08; 15 R Gayer (SB) 19:09; 16 J Cameron (High) 19:12; 17 T Rollins (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 19:13; 18 E Manning (Sutt) 19:14; 19 T Jones (Send) 19:15; 20 E Willis (Reig) 19:16; 21 L Moore (TVH) 19:17; 22 N Hammett (MKDP) 19:17; 23 J Hunt (Ton) 19:21; 24 A Ballard (Chelm) 19:26; 25 T Chadwick (High) 19:27; 26 C Prendergast (Ton) 19:28; 27 G Christmas (C&C) 19:28; 28 T Bawtree (Ton) 19:29; 29 H Richardson (Bmth) 19:30; 30 E Carney (Jersey Spartans Athletics club) 19:31; 31 O Cooper (Wat) 19:34; 32 T Cloves (Sutt) 19:35; 33 J Starvis (B&B) 19:35; 34 C Cull (Sutt) 19:37; 35 A Wilson (Herne H) 19:38; 36 C Morgan (Abing) 19:38; 37 F Kent (High) 19:38; 38 N Thomas (BMH) 19:38; 39 T Beale (Bed C) 19:40; 40 N DHaese (K&P) 19:43; 41 M Parsley (Norw) 19:43; 42 G Martin (Chelm) 19:45; 43 A Middleton (B&B) 19:48; 44 H Fraser (Ton) 19:48; 45 S Toqeer (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 19:50; 46 F Pearce (Ebne) 19:51; 47 R Haigh (Sutt) 19:51; 48 J Pearce (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 19:52; 49 N Waller (Send) 19:54; 50 J Hunt (Ton) 19:55; 51 M Sanderson (B Beagles) 19:56; 52 N Fernandez (HW) 19:57; 53 O Russell (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 19:57; 54 R Herd (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 19:59; 55 R Curtis (B&H) 20:04; 56 A Mulvihill (High) 20:04; 57 K Ilya (Ebne) 20:07; 58 J Greenwood (Central P) 20:08; 59 S Parkinson (Winchester RC) 20:08; 60 B Murphy (Herts P) 20:10

TEAM: 1 Chelmsford 33; 2 Norwich 70; 3 Sutton 96; 4 C&C 116; 5 Ton 121

U15 (4.5km): 1 J Scanes (B&B) 13:20; 2 E Skipwith (Winchester RC) 13:43; 3 J Hill (B&B) 13:44; 4 F Rowe (Have) 13:49; 5 A Johnson (C&C) 14:02; 6 C Holmes (Herne H) 14:04; 7 S Horsley (Ilf) 14:07; 8 H Stockill (Woodford Green w Essex L) 14:12; 9 A Phillips (SB) 14:15; 10 J Trotman (Lewes) 14:16; 11 F Lumber-Fry (Ebne) 14:22; 12 S Noott (Winchester RC) 14:25; 13 D Orbell (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 14:27; 14 L Hemmings (PNV) 14:29; 15 J Petrie (Ton) 14:30; 16 I Collier (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 14:30; 17 C Wilson (Winchester RC) 14:31; 18 J Smith (Mil K) 14:33; 19 E Phillips (SB) 14:33; 20 I Martin (Winchester RC) 14:33; 21 T Silvey (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 14:34; 22 L Norden (Woodford Green w Essex L) 14:35; 23 W Humm (Brack) 14:36; 24 T Clerkin (Herne H) 14:40; 25 A Kelly (Chelm) 14:40; 26 A Martin (B&B) 14:42; 27 J Nash (Herne H) 14:43; 28 O Eaton (Woodford Green w Essex L) 14:44; 29 L Roch (Herne H) 14:48; 30 C Warren (Ton) 14:49; 31 H Pearson (C&C) 14:50; 32 W Weyham (S Lon) 14:52; 33 A Iyengar (Camb H) 14:52; 34 M OConnor (Lewes) 14:54; 35 L Moloney-Pedro (B&B) 14:55; 36 S Leahy (Croy) 14:55; 37 E Kelly (Croy) 14:55; 38 S Turner (London Heathside AC) 14:58; 39 F McLaren (Have) 14:58; 40 K Paridon (C&C) 14:58; 41 D Horgan (B&B) 14:58; 42 L Shattock (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 14:59; 43 H Scott (Bed C) 14:59; 44 W Bachelor (Ton) 15:00; 45 E Sone (S Lon) 15:00; 46 G Smith (Ebne) 15:01; 47 O Graffin (Ton) 15:02; 48 J Norton (Newb) 15:02; 49 H OShea (E&E) 15:02; 50 L Draper (Weald Tri) 15:03; 51 T Holland (E&E) 15:05; 52 E Kuijten (Team Kennet Triathlon AC) 15:06; 53 S Sweeney (Have) 15:06; 54 N Clark (B&B) 15:06; 55 B Rivero-Stevenet (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 15:07; 56 N Manojkumar (BMH) 15:07; 57 E Bowstead (C&C) 15:07; 58 H Potton (Send) 15:08; 59 B Lucas (Brack) 15:09; 60 D Arnold (Woodford Green w Essex L) 15:09

TEAM: 1 Winchester RC 51; 2 Blackheath 65; 3 Herne H 86; 4 Woodford Green 118; 5 C&C 133

U13 (3km): 1 O McDonald (Dac) 9:48; 2 E Cunniffe (Herne H) 9:48; 3 I Gibson-Dunt (St Albans) 9:49; 4 F Winship (Norw) 9:50; 5 T Creed (HW) 9:54; 6 F Ferman (Chelm) 10:02; 7 T Bainbridge (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 10:07; 8 H Cantell (C&C) 10:08; 9 E Langley-Aybar (Brack) 10:10; 10 J Fraser (HW) 10:11; 11 J Parker (Mil K) 10:11; 12 D Baker (G&G) 10:14; 13 J Legg (Brack) 10:14; 14 F Jenkin (S Lon) 10:15; 15 J Webster (Ebne) 10:15; 16 W Hughes (S Lon) 10:16; 17 T Thom-Watts (B&H) 10:17; 18 A Evans (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 10:17; 19 C Rushton (Sutt) 10:19; 20 J Brooker (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 10:20; 21 B Hilliar (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 10:21; 22 E Rushton (Sutt) 10:22; 23 C Grocott (Bmth) 10:22; 24 A Hart (Colchester and Tendering) 10:24; 25 A Salfu (Mil K) 10:25; 26 S Foster (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 10:26; 27 B Roberts (Ebne) 10:29; 28 E Roberts (K&P) 10:29; 29 R Willis (London Heathside AC) 10:31; 30 L Boulton (Herne H) 10:31; 31 W May (Read) 10:32; 32 S Bryce (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 10:33; 33 T Westmore (Brack) 10:33; 34 F Gotkine (B&B) 10:34; 35 J Sewell (Have) 10:36; 36 M Adam (Ebne) 10:38; 37 F Archie (Ebne) 10:39; 38 C Nicolson (London Heathside AC) 10:40; 39 T Fay (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 10:41; 40 D Eli (Norw) 10:41; 41 D Southgate (Mil K) 10:42; 42 N Collins (Central P) 10:44; 43 A Charles (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 10:44; 44 E Goodwin (St Albans) 10:45; 45 F Hayward (Wyc P) 10:46; 46 E Pascal (SB) 10:46; 47 J Martin (B&B) 10:49; 48 A Richards (Camb H) 10:49; 49 A Van Den Berg-Hows (Camb H) 10:50; 50 A Roberts (K&P) 10:50; 51 O De Burca (Lewes) 10:51; 52 J Dinnage (Weald Tri) 10:51; 53 J Rogers (Ton) 10:51; 54 O Barker (Ashf) 10:51; 55 J Graffin (Ton) 10:52; 56 R Greenwood (Trent P) 10:52; 57 C Lee (SS) 10:52; 58 C Treloar (St Albans) 10:53; 59 H Kucerov (Herne H) 10:54; 60 H Hunter (Read) 10:55

TEAM: 1 WSEH 66; 2 Eastbourne 115; 3 Herc W 141; 4 Herne H 158; 5 Bracknell 175

U20 women (6km): 1 R Chesterfield (Winchester RC) 20:57; 2 J Leggate (C&C) 20:57; 3 L Russell (High) 21:06; 4 P Roessler (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 21:16; 5 R Clutterbuck (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 21:21; 6 M Freeland (Mil K) 21:27; 7 K Atkinson (Chelm) 21:45; 8 H Clark (B&B) 21:55; 9 L Jones (C&C) 22:01; 10 I Mansley (C&C) 22:13; 11 A Hedley (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 22:16; 12 J Ridley (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 22:22; 13 A Bloomfield (E&E) 22:28; 14 G Buchanan (Norw) 22:30; 15 A Royden (M&M) 22:36; 16 E Strevens (Ebne) 22:39; 17 E Webb (M&M) 22:40; 18 C West (Worth) 22:49; 19 H Clayton (C&C) 22:51; 20 C Firth (B&B) 22:55; 21 S Lomas (E&E) 23:00; 22 K Hewitt (Herne H) 23:08; 23 A Cox (Craw) 23:11; 24 E Chong (High) 23:13; 25 L Crossley (M&M) 23:15; 26 L Sutton (M&M) 23:19; 27 S Glencross (E&E) 23:29; 28 N McLoughlin (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 23:36; 29 A Mead (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 23:39; 30 E McCluskey (Barn) 23:40; 31 S McCallum (Chelm) 23:44; 32 M Laidlaw (E&E) 23:50; 33 N Lee (Read) 23:52; 34 C Edge (TVH) 23:54; 35 H Hunter (Herne H) 23:56; 36 J Alonso-Gautrais (High) 24:06; 37 E McLean (Ebne) 24:11; 38 I Chesterton (Bed C) 24:13; 39 J Poland (Ton) 24:15; 40 A Reed (C&C) 24:22
TEAM: 1 C&C 40; 2 AFD 72; 3 M&M 83; 4 E&E 93; 5 High 113

U17 (6km): 1 E Nicholson (B&B) 20:21; 2 K Pye (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 20:55; 3 L Wilkinson (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 21:07; 4 A James (Lewes) 21:22; 5 A Reid (Woodford Green w Essex L) 21:38; 6 S Barrett (Norw) 21:41; 7 E Bartlett (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 21:45; 8 S Shaw (Craw) 21:48; 9 J Heller (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 21:50; 10 K Shaw (C&C) 21:55; 11 I Edwards (BMH) 22:10; 12 L Danobrega (Bed C) 22:11; 13 K Atkinson (Chelm) 22:11; 14 L Farr (Bed C) 22:13; 15 E Hudson (G&G) 22:20; 16 V Issacs (G&G) 22:33; 17 E Wells (Poole) 22:40; 18 A Kemp (S Lon) 22:49; 19 G Tuesday (Lewes) 22:53; 20 E Jonas (North Norfolk Harriers AC) 22:54; 21 A Cox (Craw) 22:55; 22 Z Rennie (Read) 22:56; 23 E Davey (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 23:10; 24 A Lawrence (Camb H) 23:14; 25 D Yelling (B&H) 23:21; 26 L Quinn (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 23:23; 27 I Sommerville (Lewes) 23:25; 28 R Dickety (Norw) 23:27; 29 E James (Read) 23:27; 30 L Taylor (Send) 23:29; 31 L Brown (E&E) 23:30; 32 E Burton (Wyc P) 23:31; 33 E Orbell (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 23:32; 34 E Carman (Worth) 23:34; 35 S Shipton (Chelm) 23:40; 36 M Dunger (Bed C) 23:44; 37 C Easter (Norw) 23:50; 38 Z Girling (E&E) 23:51; 39 E Geake (Ton) 23:52; 40 E Symonds (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 23:53; 41 R Green (C&C) 23:55; 42 A Bushell (G&G) 23:59; 43 I Uhart (Wyc P) 24:02; 44 S Percival (Bed C) 24:03; 45 G Luckhurst (Wat) 24:03; 46 Y Grant (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 24:04; 47 E Watkins (London Heathside AC) 24:05; 48 L Delvendahl (High) 24:07; 49 I Beernaert (Belg) 24:11; 50 E Baker (Sevonoaks AC) 24:16; 51 D Pring (Lewes) 24:27; 52 I Crossley (M&M) 24:29; 53 A Marden (Read) 24:29; 54 S Isaacs (Wley) 24:31; 55 I Watkins (London Heathside AC) 24:35; 56 Z Jetha (Croy) 24:37; 57 A Manek (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 24:39; 58 L Nuttall (Chelm) 24:46; 59 O Jones (Worth) 24:47; 60 L Barlow (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 24:48

TEAM: 1 WSEH 42; 2 AFD 101; 3 Lewes 101; 4 Bedford 106; 5 G&G 134

U15 (4.5km): 1 O Forrest (B Beagles) 14:51; 2 K Scott (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 15:10; 3 J March (Barn) 15:20; 4 D Connor (Ebne) 15:23; 5 E Harrold (Chelm) 15:27; 6 T Ferguson (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 15:30; 7 C Hughes (C&C) 15:40; 8 P Shaw (SB) 15:43; 9 F Pearce (Ebne) 15:44; 10 D Stollery (Chelm) 15:44; 11 S Richmond (Weald Tri) 15:45; 12 S Chapman (Mil K) 15:50; 13 K Webb (Mil K) 15:51; 14 E Warn (B Beagles) 15:56; 15 I Hall (Jer) 15:58; 16 C Campbell (Oxf C) 16:00; 17 T Robertson (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 16:01; 18 I Harrison (HW) 16:03; 19 R Petrova (Ebne) 16:07; 20 A Kirk (London Heathside AC) 16:08; 21 A Tharmakulasingam (Sutt) 16:16; 22 K McBride (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 16:17; 23 A McDonagh (B&B) 16:20; 24 L Johnson (Dac) 16:21; 25 O Garcia-Davis (HW) 16:23; 26 K Ealden (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 16:24; 27 L Webb (Mil K) 16:30; 28 S Hawthorn (G&G) 16:30; 29 A Hamilton-Martin (Brack) 16:31; 30 I Wheeler (Horsh BS) 16:32; 31 A Zyl (Harrow) 16:32; 32 F Mills (Herne H) 16:33; 33 I Kaur (Sutt) 16:36; 34 O Geary (Mil K) 16:42; 35 U Doublet (BMH) 16:43; 36 C Bailey (Team Kennet Triathlon AC) 16:46; 37 L Cox (B&H) 16:46; 38 J Walsh (B&H) 16:49; 39 K Corkin (London Heathside AC) 16:50; 40 R Cormacain (London Heathside AC) 16:51; 41 I Forrest (B Beagles) 16:53; 42 M Minielly (Herne H) 16:58; 43 H Sterry (Jer) 16:58; 44 G Brough (Sutt) 17:00; 45 I Gowing (Ton) 17:00; 46 M Hunt (London Heathside AC) 17:02; 47 L Kitto (Herne H) 17:04; 48 L Heather (Norw) 17:04; 49 O Enright (Mil K) 17:05; 50 E Winton (Lewes) 17:07; 51 R Crossley (M&M) 17:09; 52 J Christmas (C&C) 17:10; 53 J Walker (Send) 17:11; 54 A Keen (Sevonoaks AC) 17:12; 55 E Whyman (Craw) 17:15; 56 T Bosley (Mil K) 17:18; 57 I Crotty (S Lon) 17:21; 58 A McAndie (HW) 17:26; 59 L Freeland (Mil K) 17:26; 60 S Cudmore-Smith (M&M) 17:26

TEAM: 1 AFD 67; 2 Marshall Milt K 86; 3 Eastbourne 123; 4 London Heathside 145; 5 Herc W 166

U13 (3km): 1 S Smith (B Beagles) 10:08; 2 N Walmsley (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 10:10; 3 K Gorman (Chilt) 10:14; 4 A King (Chelm) 10:26; 5 P Guest (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 10:30; 6 Z Allan (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 10:39; 7 E Ponkratieva (SMR) 10:45; 8 A Whitehouse (Craw) 10:46; 9 H Woodley (Chelm) 10:46; 10 E Kelly (Chelm) 10:53; 11 K Hoppe (Soton) 10:59; 12 E McGinley (Wat) 11:01; 13 A Porter (SB) 11:04; 14 D Larkin (Belg) 11:08; 15 F Philipps (Chelm) 11:09; 16 C Healy (Brack) 11:10; 17 H Robertson (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 11:15; 18 S Mendes (Herne H) 11:17; 19 G Isabelle (Wley) 11:18; 20 H Lucas (Brack) 11:19; 21 F Tewkesbury (HY Runners) 11:20; 22 L Sanford (Chelm) 11:21; 23 F Williams (Jer) 11:21; 24 A Watts (Ton) 11:23; 25 F Harper-Tee (HW) 11:23; 26 S Bonnar (Camb H) 11:26; 27 C Foster (Camb H) 11:26; 28 F Croucher (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 11:28; 29 G Booth (S Lon) 11:31; 30 G Fox (B&H) 11:31; 31 A Homans-Yau (B&B) 11:33; 32 M Keam-George (TVH) 11:34; 33 S Owen (SS) 11:35; 34 E Lydon (Hunts) 11:36; 35 E Smith (St Alb S) 11:38; 36 C Booth (Kett) 11:40; 37 E Thomas (B Beagles) 11:42; 38 E Fitzgerald (Hill) 11:44; 39 B Cooke (Chelm) 11:45; 40 I McLennan (Herne H) 11:45; 41 K Dover (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 11:45; 42 A Bramwell (HW) 11:45; 43 E Bruyn (B&B) 11:45; 44 Q Bookless (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 11:46; 45 S Mossi (B&B) 11:47; 46 I Kehoe (Chelm) 11:49; 47 S Hooper (Aldershot Farnham & DAC) 11:50; 48 I Carter (Herne H) 11:51; 49 F Ridge (Cley) 11:51; 50 T Chesney (Mil K) 11:51; 51 M Bond (Windsor S E & Hounslow AC) 11:52; 52 O Martin (Chelm) 11:52; 53 E Taylor (Bmth) 11:52; 54 F Matten (B&H) 11:52; 55 K Dalton (Harrow) 11:53; 56 B Dalton (Harrow) 11:53; 57 I Jenkins (B&B) 11:54; 58 A Cole (HY Runners) 11:55; 59 K Morgan (HY Runners) 11:55; 60 Z Tate (Wyc P) 11:55

TEAM: 1 Chelmsford 38; 2 AFD 52; 3 WSEH 165; 4 B&B 176; 5 Brentwood 184

MIDLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, January 27

Newbold Comyn again played host to the event and both Beacon Hill and the infamous ditch again came into play as Tom Evans took the senior mens race and Gemma Steel retained her womens title, Martin Duff reports.

In the younger age groups, Wreake & Soar Valley took four individual victories and three team awards while the next best was Birchfield, while Rugby & Northampton took three golds.

Overall, numbers, especially of teams filling their full complement of scorers, seemed significantly less than in the January league fixtures.

Senior men
The closest races were in the two senior events and especially in the mens where Tom Evans, Omar Ahmed and Jack Millar battled it out over four laps of the common.

There were hills, ditches and mud and of the protagonists tried, in turn, for victory. Evans took a go in front on the first lap as Ahmed seemed to stumble at a ditch, then Millar, third last year, tried his hand.

Busy throughout was Ahmed, who tried to make a break on the last lap at the toughest, muddiest and wettest, of the ditches but Millar kept the Birchfield man on the rougher grass off of the well-worn track.

Finally, it was Evans who had stayed out of trouble throughout, after a heavy week following his second place at Parliament Hill seven days earlier, made his break for a 70-metre victory.

The 2020 winner Ahmed, who was also second in 2019, had won the Birmingham League two weeks earlier and snatched second from Millar on a sharp downhill drop and then held on.

Notts Milan Campion was a well beaten fourth, ahead of Charlie Davis, who led fast improving club Birmingham Running & Triathlon Club (BRAT) to a comfortable team win over Millars Bristol & West.

Back in eighth, leading veteran M45 Alastair Watson helped Campion earn Notts AC third team medals, but only 19 clubs closed in a scoring six. Watson finished just ahead of British Masters International cross-country overall winner Lee Gratton.

Evans said of his running: the ultra-stuff is my main focus but I do cross-country to be fast and strong. The Lewes man, whose club vest confused some with that of Midland outfit Coventry Godiva, said that he hopes to do the World Cross Country Championships.

Men (12km): 1 T Evans (Lewes) 38:02; 2 O Ahmed (Bir) 38:16; 3 J Millar (B&W) 38:21; 4 M Campion (Notts) 39:39; 5 C Davis (BRAT) 39:44; 6 F McGrath (B&W) 40:02; 7 J Tuffin (BRAT) 40:10; 8 A Watson (Notts) 40:26; 9 L Gratton (Ruge) 40:35; 10 A Peacock (BRAT) 40:54; 11 C Hanlon (Leamington Cycling And AC) 41:00; 12 H Lupton (Charn) 41:04; 13 G Goodwin (R&N) 41:06; 14 A Hampson (Mans) 41:17; 15 E Banks (Bir) 41:21; 16 B Holmes (SSH) 41:28; 17 J Stolberg (BRAT) 41:30; 18 C Main (Charn) 41:43; 19 J Thewlis (B&W) 41:47; 20 G Allen (Leamington Cycling And AC) 41:55; 21 S Snelson (Banb) 42:08; 22 H Brocklehurst (BRAT) 42:17; 23 J Bennett (Bir) 42:20; 24 G Hatton (Newk) 42:23; 25 B Robinson (B&W) 42:29; 26 L Moses (Barr R) 42:50; 27 J Rainsford (Hean) 42:53; 28 M Scarsbrook (Bir) 42:55; 29 O Harradence (RSC) 43:12; 30 J Smith (B&R) 43:17; 31 V Martin (Stoke) 43:20; 32 C Patterson (Mans) 43:20; 33 B Plummer (Long E) 43:33; 34 K Quiney (Tip) 43:33; 35 B Gamble (Tip) 43:35; 36 J McGraw (BRAT) 43:38; 37 M Williams (Notts) 43:38; 38 C Pacey (Newk) 43:39; 39 B Norris (Notts) 44:00; 40 D Swain (Bir) 44:01; 41 J McLeod (Cov) 44:01; 42 L Ingram (OWLS) 44:20; 43 T Don (Barr R) 44:26; 44 T Marshall (Newk) 44:29; 45 R Elston (B&W) 44:33; 46 T Hartley (Notts) 44:36; 47 M Elkington (Hoad) 44:42; 48 L Nagington (Newc S) 44:44; 49 W Tucker (Newk) 44:47; 50 J Muddeman (Notts) 44:52; 51 A Bruce (B&W) 44:52; 52 J De (Notts) 44:52; 53 M Chesterton (Newk) 44:52; 54 P Bouttier-Butler (Leic C) 45:01; 55 L Marshall (Newk) 45:04; 56 M Appleton (B&R) 45:05; 57 D Bissuel (BRAT) 45:06; 58 J Read (Tip) 45:09; 59 G Donald (B&W) 45:12; 60 J Droogmans (Newc S) 45:16; 61 J Hunter (Leamington Cycling And AC) 45:18; 62 M Couldwell (Charn) 45:22; 63 T Quiney (Tip) 45:31; 64 A Percy (Herm) 45:33; 65 T Adkins (B&R) 45:34; 66 T Hales (Tel H) 45:47; 67 L Maskew (W&B) 45:48; 68 T Holden (Tip) 45:55; 69 M Williams (Tip) 45:57; 70 M Everett (R&N) 46:07; 71 J Boam (Mans) 46:09; 72 D Gemmell (B&R) 46:14; 73 D Nugent (Mans) 46:24; 74 T Oury (Aldr) 46:39; 75 D Priest (B&W) 46:39; 76 P Dear (Hale) 46:41; 77 D Perry (Tip) 46:54; 78 P Ball (B&R) 46:56; 79 M Coffey (Poplar Running Club) 46:57; 80 R Connor (Stoke) 46:58; 81 A Boon (Cov) 47:00; 82 R Baker (Kenil) 47:02; 83 L Dunne (Absolute Tri) 47:03; 84 S Wilks (Strat) 47:04; 85 G Singh (RoadHogs) 47:06; 86 A Adedimeji (BRAT) 47:07; 87 J Horn (Velo) 47:09; 88 R Dyjak (Tam) 47:09; 89 M Brydon (B&W) 47:13; 90 A Anderson (B&W) 47:13; 91 B Caress (Mans) 47:16; 92 D Taylor (Cov) 47:18; 93 H Morton (Leamington Cycling And AC) 47:20; 94 J Green (Corby) 47:22; 95 R Burman (RSC) 47:24; 96 B Foster (W&B) 47:33; 97 M Vaitha (Beau L) 47:41; 98 D Robinson (Newk) 47:45; 99 R Hayle (Notts) 47:46; 100 H Beech-Mcphilbin (Notts) 47:52

TEAM: 1 BRAT 97; 2 Bristol & West 149; 3 Notts 134; 4 Newark 263; 5 Tipton 327; 6 Mansfield 382; 7 Bromsgrove & Redditch 425; 8 Coventry Godiva 561; 9 Rugby & Northampton 581; 10 Charnwood 601; 11 Leamington 636; 12 Heanor 875; 13 Wolverhampton & Bilston 880; 14 Kenilworth 901; 15 Stratford 928

Senior women
Womens race winner Gemma Steel has been sidelined for almost four months with sciatica before making a tentative return in a couple of parkruns. Her last run before injury had been a 26:06 outing in the Bassingham 5 in August which been overlooked in beating Ann Fords 35-year-old W35 best of 26:21.

Here, Steel was more tentative at the start than is her usual style and was then part of a leading group on the first lap before breaking away with recent Midland womens League winner Bryony Gunn.

Team mate Sophie Coldwell had led in the early stages and she followed behind 2023 runner-up and English National bronze medallist Julie Emmerson who was with the leading two after a mile or so.

After Emmerson was dropped, Gunn and Steel battled it out to the closing stages before the final outcome that saw Steel home, to also take the Midland Masters club title that was held in conjunction.

Talking afterwards, Steel confirmed that she asked herself why she had opted to do the race: I wondered what I was doing; am I doing it too soon? But I have worked really hard in the gym and on the bike to recover from my sciatica.

Steel also noted that The tougher (than last year) course played into my hands and I got away 2km out.

Women (8km): 1 G Steel (Charn) 28:52; 2 B Gunn (Bir) 29:01; 3 J Emmerson (Cov) 29:56; 4 S Coldwell (Charn) 30:10; 5 G Campbell (Strat) 30:24; 6 J Potter (Charn) 30:34; 7 H Carruthers (Bir) 31:02; 8 E Smith (Charn) 31:12; 9 K Entwistle (B&W) 31:18; 10 A Jackson (Leic C) 31:29; 11 A Seager (Charn) 31:34; 12 A Fuller (Kenil) 31:37; 13 B Tabor (W&B) 31:38; 14 M Browne (Warley Woods Pacers) 31:47; 15 E Negus (Nun) 32:00; 16 R Gifford (Leamington Cycling And AC) 32:11; 17 T Freeman (B&R) 32:15; 18 J Sanzo (B&W) 32:18; 19 S Hurst (Cov) 32:29; 20 R Twardochleb (BRAT) 32:32; 21 P Oliver (Cov) 32:43; 22 R Weston (Banb) 32:52; 23 Z Hadfield (Leamington Cycling And AC) 33:00; 24 E Jones (BRAT) 33:05; 25 G Tongue (Charn) 33:06; 26 R Bourne (Staffs M) 33:30; 27 K Bamford (B&W) 33:42; 28 K Spencer (Nun) 33:50; 29 H Pollak (B&W) 33:52; 30 L Thomas (B&R) 33:57; 31 H Wells (Tel H) 34:01; 32 E Albery (Dav) 34:04; 33 G Delaney (RSC) 34:07; 34 J Clay (Staffs M) 34:23; 35 E Watters (Bir) 34:29; 36 P Roadley (Mans) 34:31; 37 G Brocklehurst (BRAT) 34:37; 38 J Clamp (Notts) 34:41; 39 H Wall (Staffs M) 34:55; 40 A Hadley (Tip) 35:07; 41 J Hone (Nbrook) 35:10; 42 A Williams (Tip) 35:18; 43 C Warrington (B&R) 35:22; 44 K Robertson (Spa) 35:25; 45 F Stanyard (B&R) 35:29; 46 E Bexson (Strat) 35:46; 47 K Ramsey (Charn) 35:54; 48 N Egginton (Charn) 36:05; 49 C Capper (Newc S) 36:15; 50 E Lee (Merc) 36:23; 51 T Lea (R&N) 36:30; 52 H Pike (BRAT) 36:34; 53 C Everard (Spa) 36:38; 54 L Vaughan (B&R) 36:43; 55 C Davidson (Spa) 36:43; 56 S Conway (Bir) 36:46; 57 L Al-Ani (Bville) 36:50; 58 L Latimer (R&N) 36:59; 59 A Neill (Staffs M) 37:00; 60 E Garnett (Kenil) 37:03; 61 E Williams (Notts) 37:10; 62 M Clarke (Tel) 37:11; 63 L Kendrick (Tip) 37:13; 64 M Kirkham (Knowle & Dorridge) 37:22; 65 C Dinescu (Mans) 37:29; 66 S Wilkinson-Hargate (R&N) 37:31; 67 S Hewison (Bville) 37:45; 68 S Walker (Tip) 37:59; 69 S McKenzie (Centu) 38:04; 70 N Burnett (Kenil) 38:05; 71 L Green (Kenil) 38:07; 72 L Pettifer (Kenil) 38:09; 73 S Street-Hall (Tip) 38:33; 74 S Taylor (Ilk) 38:39; 75 S Naidu-Young (Kenil) 38:43; 76 L Andrews (Kenil) 38:46; 77 L Goodwin (BRAT) 38:51; 78 E Gardner (B&W) 38:53; 79 I Boneham (Cov) 38:58; 80 B Neal (Notts) 39:04; 81 L Turner (Spa) 39:09; 82 S Ross (Strat) 39:10; 83 J Kidd (Kenil) 39:26; 84 H Covell (Cov) 39:35; 85 E Reid (Kenil) 39:49; 86 H Beecham (Aldr) 39:52; 87 S Lunn (Kenil) 40:01; 88 S Kneill-Boxley (C&S) 40:04; 89 V Doran (Tel H) 40:05; 90 H Jones (Mans) 40:22; 91 M Hensman (Bville) 40:25; 92 J Parry (Newc S) 40:34; 93 K Bailey (Hean) 40:41; 94 E Vickers (Strat) 40:43; 95 J Bartholomew (Spark) 40:48; 96 G Riley (Hean) 40:54; 97 L New (Wigston) 40:55; 98 J Mumford (Cov) 40:56; 99 B Gwynn (Spa) 41:07; 100 L Yeomans (Tel H) 41:09

TEAM: 1 Charnwood 19; 2 Bristol & West 83; 3 Birchfield 100; 4 Coventry 122; 5 BRAT 133; 6 B^ R 135; 7 Staffs M 158; 8 Tipton 213; 9 Kenolworth 213; 10 Stratford 227; 11 Spa 233; 12 R&N 301; 13 Notts 307; 14 Bourneville 321; 15 Telford 362; 16 Heanor 422; 17 Northbrook 436; 18 Centurion 458; 19 Sparkhill 460; 20 Sneyd 544

Younger age groups
Wreake & Soar Valley might have had more individual wins but Birchfield Harriers had two in the under-20 and under-17 mens events though Aron Gebremariam and Ash Burgess respectively.

Neither took any prisoners and both had comfortable, if lonely, wins. For 17-year-old Gebremariam, it was only his second outing, following a fourth spot in the Birmingham League two weeks earlier, after only recently coming to this country as a legal immigrant recently from Eritrea.

Burgess, second here last year, also had a comfortable win after running into eighth spot in the older under-20 race at Parliament Hill the previous week. Of his win here, he said: We were all doing our own running.

One of the dominant under-17 women this winter has been Shaikira King and the Wreake runner again came out on top to add this title to her under-15 win here last year, before an English National title at Bolesworth Castle last February.

Of her race here, King said: I am doing more 5km races to get endurance and my win was really refreshing, adding that the English Schools title was high on her priority list.

A well beaten second, Bethany Trow said of her efforts to stay with King: I tried.

After a solid victory in the Liverpool Cross Challenge, King chose to miss the trip to the previous weeks London International at Parliament Hill and looked the sharper for it.

The under-20 womens race also saw another Wreake and Soar Valley winner but only after overcoming a challenge from Wells Citys Hannah Blundy who nearly came a cropper at one of the easier ditches, mid-race. This let in Bethan Horner who was fresher when it came to the final shoot-out.

There was a victory for host club, Leamington, in the under-15 boys event as Archie Lane, second here last year, came good after following his third spot in London seven days earlier. He said: I was with Ewan (Withnall), but the ditch breaks your rhythm.

Rugby & Northampton had a good day and a solid under-15 girls victory for Olivia McGhee after a fast start. I tend to do that she said of her tactics, but added: I was meant to go off with them. This was confirmed by second placed Tilly Thursfield who added: Its her normal thing.

The first race away had been that for the under-13 girls and Maisie Mullett, who has been in top form all winter, again ran out a winner to retain her title and lead her Wreake club to a team win.

This victory here came on top of two autumn British Athletics Cross Challenge wins, two relay fastest laps and a string of league top placings before another a week earlier over Parliament Hill. She said: I felt really relieved after winning in London.

Wreakes fourth age group win came in the under-13 boys race where Kieran James, fourth last year, made no mistakes. This came over Finlay Stanton who was fourth in the Liverpool Cross Challenge race.

U20 men (8km): 1 A Gebremariam (Bir) 26:09; 2 F Ward (R&N) 26:26; 3 D Van Aardt (W&SV) 26:38; 4 A Adams (B&R) 26:58; 5 L Buttrick (Absolute Tri) 27:08; 6 J Greenhalgh (Mans) 27:15; 7 J Williams (SSH) 27:34; 8 H Bond (Stoke) 28:06; 9 F Churton (Stoke) 28:08; 10 T Brinkley (R&N) 28:37; 11 N Crees (RSC) 28:37; 12 L Starr (R&N) 28:39; 13 J Rathod (Hunc) 28:41; 14 N Gilford (R&N) 28:45; 15 E Naisbitt (SSH) 28:57; 16 A Pester (Strat) 29:01; 17 H Gibbs (B&R) 29:09; 18 R Patel (Tip) 29:11; 19 N Campbell (Strat) 29:32; 20 D Evans (R&N) 29:43; 21 W Jameson (SSH) 29:56; 22 N O (Stoke) 30:16; 23 C Coles (Glouc) 30:26; 24 G Allen (Hale) 30:38; 25 D Newman (Shrews) 30:42; 26 J Malecki (Bir) 30:43; 27 T Maidment (SSH) 31:07; 28 L Hesketh (Notts) 31:13; 29 A Jackson (Cov) 31:23; 30 J Phillips (Spark) 31:32

TEAM: 1 Rugby & Northampton 38; 2 Solihull & Small Heath 70; 3 Stoke 76

U17 (6km): 1 A Burgess (Bir) 20:01; 2 I Achchi (R&N) 20:23; 3 M Collins (R&N) 20:39; 4 J Price (BRAT) 20:47; 5 J Llewellyn (W&SV) 20:52; 6 J Orchard (Dav) 20:58; 7 A Tilt (R&N) 21:01; 8 B Smith (R&N) 21:09; 9 E Sankey (Mans) 21:27; 10 O Bailey (Staffs M) 21:38; 11 G Astbury (Bir) 21:41; 12 J Smith (Notts) 21:45; 13 D Garnett (Cov) 21:45; 14 Z Lambert (Strat) 21:48; 15 L Paddison (W&SV) 21:53; 16 P Mitchell (SSH) 21:54; 17 J Ryan (Mans) 21:56; 18 F Batty (Banb) 22:02; 19 N Lamb (R&N) 22:05; 20 F Friedersdorff (Leic C) 22:07; 21 H Warburton (Charn) 22:15; 22 P Harrison (Bir) 22:18; 23 S Swain (Bir) 22:21; 24 C Smith (Bir) 22:22; 25 D Mander (R&N) 22:23; 26 C Stroud (RSC) 22:26; 27 W Mayes (Strat) 22:34; 28 A Taylor (Hale) 22:37; 29 T Moreton (Stroud) 22:40; 30 D Hilditch (Stoke) 22:49; 31 Z Clarke (Nun) 22:53; 32 R Carver (Mans) 22:54; 33 S McInally (R&N) 23:05; 34 J Hatherley (W&SV) 23:07; 35 T Blythe (Hean) 23:11; 36 T Doy (Cov) 23:12; 37 S Tansey (Charn) 23:14; 38 W Hembry (B&R) 23:15; 39 M Brotherton (W&SV) 23:23; 40 A Werret (BRAT) 23:24

TEAM: 1 R&N 20; 2 Birchfield 57; 3 Wreake 93; 4 Charnwood 143; 5 Tipton 193

U15 (4km): 1 A Lane (Leamington Cycling And AC) 13:32; 2 E Withnall (Burt) 13:48; 3 S Collins (W&SV) 13:52; 4 A Elliott (Stoke) 14:00; 5 G Wagstaff (B&R) 14:01; 6 S Lambert (Strat) 14:04; 7 B Allen (C&S) 14:11; 8 J Delahaye (Cov) 14:18; 9 H Campion (OWLS) 14:21; 10 K Halsey (Leamington Cycling And AC) 14:26; 11 E Orchard (OWLS) 14:26; 12 J Adkin (Charn) 14:27; 13 O Lockton (Charn) 14:32; 14 M Muddle (Charn) 14:34; 15 J Hadley (C&S) 14:44; 16 T Roberts (Banb) 14:48; 17 L Howard (Tel) 14:48; 18 S Thursfield (W&B) 14:51; 19 J Smith (Leam AA) 14:55; 20 J Twining (R&N) 14:56; 21 S Sage (R&N) 14:57; 22 W Griffiths (Corby) 14:59; 23 S Bagshaw (Tel) 15:05; 24 O Ormond (Banb) 15:07; 25 C Pearson (C&S) 15:08; 26 E Dawlatly (BRAT) 15:08; 27 F Harris (R&N) 15:11; 28 E McKittrick (Charn) 15:13; 29 W Hughes (W&B) 15:16; 30 C Allen (OWLS) 15:17; 31 D Cooper (SSH) 15:19; 32 W Irvine (SSH) 15:20; 33 S MacGibbon (Cov) 15:20; 34 K James (W&SV) 15:23; 35 T Fisher (Strat) 15:25; 36 J Fox (SSH) 15:25; 37 S Taylor (Shrews) 15:27; 38 C Yates (Nun) 15:29; 39 W Kelsall (Burt) 15:30; 40 W Reddish (Notts) 15:31

TEAM: 1 Charnwood 67; 2 C&S 112; 3 OWLS 125; 4 R&N 127; 5 Wreake 135; 6 Stratford 140; 7 S&SH 143; 8 Burton 145; 9 Coventry 168

U13 (3km): 1 K James (W&SV) 10:46; 2 F Stanton (C&S) 10:53; 3 J Longworth (Bir) 10:59; 4 Z Wang (Tel) 11:01; 5 C Brown (Newc S) 11:05; 6 O Adams (Shrews) 11:06; 7 J Wagstaff (B&R) 11:07; 8 E MacIntyre (Mans) 11:10; 9 M Randhawa (RSC) 11:13; 10 H Fletcher (Charn) 11:14; 11 L Shaw (Burt) 11:15; 12 O Knight (BRAT) 11:21; 13 O Alsop (RSC) 11:22; 14 J Groves (Notts) 11:22; 15 R Pettifer (Kenil) 11:23; 16 B Smart (C&S) 11:34; 17 J Radnor (RSC) 11:35; 18 Y Kanwal (RSC) 11:38; 19 O Evans (Bir) 11:39; 20 J Bodenham (Stroud) 11:41; 21 G Harradence (RSC) 11:44; 22 M Taylor (R&N) 11:46; 23 A Newton (Kenil) 11:50; 24 A Haywood (Tam) 11:51; 25 Z Rush (SSH) 11:54; 26 D Allen (R&N) 11:56; 27 J Larkin (SSH) 11:58; 28 E Rudkin (W&SV) 11:58; 29 A Elmer (Corby) 12:00; 30 K Stevens (Strat) 12:08; 31 A Kampta (R&N) 12:09; 32 J Boon (Leam AA) 12:10; 33 M Whitehead (Banb) 12:12; 34 R Yarnold (Strat) 12:14; 35 N Carson (Kenil) 12:17; 36 W Norman (Charn) 12:18; 37 D Pile (Tel) 12:18; 38 T Clarke (RSC) 12:21; 39 O Charlwood (Stroud) 12:23; 40 D Burman (RSC) 12:26

TEAM: 1 RSC 57; 2 R&N 128; 3 Birchfield 138; 4 Charnwood 145; 5 Mansfield 156; 6 S&SH 159; 7 Stroud 175

U20 women (6km): 1 B Homer (W&SV) 22:55; 2 H Blundy (Wells) 23:07; 3 S Duval (RSC) 23:29; 4 K Parker (Charn) 24:24; 5 O Bailey (Nun) 24:41; 6 M Jacks (R&N) 24:56; 7 I Wrightam (W&SV) 25:02; 8 G Manson (Mans) 25:07; 9 S Banks (Tip) 25:21; 10 G Darcy (R&N) 25:23; 11 R Challender (Der) 25:37; 12 T Lainchbury (Banb) 25:42; 13 L McLoughlin (Charn) 25:52; 14 C Marshall (Strat) 26:02; 15 E Tromans (Tip) 26:08; 16 J Mawdsley (B&R) 26:15; 17 O Robinson (Strat) 26:28; 18 H Mehager (Bir) 26:41; 19 L Sykes (B&R) 26:46; 20 L Bryan (W&SV) 26:52; 21 E Wynn-Jones (Newk) 26:55; 22 E Ranger (B&R) 27:06; 23 S Toyn (Mans) 27:10; 24 G Walters (Charn) 27:30; 25 A Corke (Mans) 27:45; 26 J Lambert (R&N) 28:13; 27 M Woodward (Tip) 28:20; 28 C Dodge (W&SV) 28:24; 29 E Wood (SSH) 28:34; 30 S Baig (Bir) 28:37

TEAM: 1 Wreake 28:2 Charnwood 41; 3 R&N 42; 4 Tipton 51; 5 Mansfield 56; 6 B&R %7; 7 Strafford 65

U17 (5km): 1 S King (W&SV) 19:16; 2 B Trow (Shrews) 19:47; 3 P Lamb (W&SV) 20:22; 4 R Brook (Glouc) 20:56; 5 M Taylor (Notts) 20:57; 6 R West (W&SV) 21:25; 7 J Wright (Bir) 21:32; 8 I Saunders (W&SV) 21:46; 9 K Nee (Bir) 22:00; 10 E Brooker (Dav) 22:06; 11 A Hamilton (SSH) 22:09; 12 S Bowley (Burt) 22:10; 13 L Donaghey (W&SV) 22:16; 14 J Salt (Tam) 22:18; 15 M Spriggs (Strat) 22:22; 16 C Smith (Banb) 22:29; 17 C Lunt (Stoke) 22:39; 18 C Hall (Banb) 22:41; 19 H Saunders (Bir) 22:49; 20 I Standell (Tel) 22:56; 21 C Pearson (Bir) 23:09; 22 J Braithwaite (Newk) 23:15; 23 C McCarney (Burt) 23:16; 24 H Garnett (Cov) 23:32; 25 A Rogerson (R&N) 23:39; 26 A Bond (Stroud) 23:42; 27 Z Asquith (Tel) 23:49; 28 A Cooper (Strat) 24:06; 29 B Algate (Strat) 24:18; 30 L Hevey (BRAT) 24:24

TEAM: 1 Wreake 10; 2 Birchfield 35; 3 Stratford 72; 4 Telford 79; 5 Stroud 93

U15 (4km): 1 O McGhee (R&N) 15:08; 2 T Thursfield (Stoke) 15:32; 3 C Stuart (Shrews) 15:39; 4 L Hellingsworth (Hale) 15:42; 5 G Griffiths (C&S) 15:58; 6 M Davis (Banb) 16:00; 7 L Power (W&SV) 16:05; 8 F Collins (Hale) 16:11; 9 O Avery (Glouc) 16:15; 10 A Towlson (W&SV) 16:18; 11 G Burge (Stoke) 16:18; 12 O Bull (Leam AA) 16:26; 13 H Turner (Stoke) 16:33; 14 E Avery (Glouc) 16:38; 15 Z Mzuku (Tip) 16:40; 16 L Dundas (Stoke) 16:41; 17 S Evans (W&SV) 16:42; 18 K Welborn (B&R) 16:44; 19 L Barker (SSH) 16:46; 20 M Slack (Mans) 16:51; 21 M Cossins (Stroud) 16:53; 22 L Mason (Mans) 16:56; 23 M Hearson (Stoke) 16:56; 24 L Smith (Stoke) 17:08; 25 R West (W&SV) 17:14; 26 C Nettleton (Burt) 17:15; 27 M Tear-Verweij (Strat) 17:17; 28 O Thomas (Hale) 17:19; 29 E Sheffield (Stroud) 17:20; 30 E Morley (Charn) 17:25; 31 L Crofts (Kenil) 17:32; 32 A Nettleton (Burt) 17:36; 33 A Silvers (Strat) 17:37; 34 H Limmer (Ret) 17:41; 35 C Terrell (R&N) 17:44; 36 E Lovelock (Shrews) 17:49; 37 A Harsant (Stroud) 17:55; 38 D Golding (Leam AA) 18:02; 39 E Hutchins-Morant (R&N) 18:03; 40 L Tomkins (Stroud) 18:05

TEAM: 1 Stoke 42; 2 Wreake 59; 3 R&N 119; 4 Stroud 127; 5 Stratford 174; 6 Charnwood 185; 7 S&SH 206

U13 (3km): 1 M Mullett (W&SV) 11:06; 2 M Don (Charn) 11:40; 3 T Conway (Bir) 11:53; 4 C Rendell (Stroud) 11:56; 5 L Williams (Tip) 12:00; 6 E Clifton (Mans) 12:08; 7 E Griffiths (Corby) 12:13; 8 I Millns (Mans) 12:16; 9 A Kemp (W&SV) 12:24; 10 A Wood (Tel) 12:26; 11 G Deavy (Cov) 12:27; 12 E Marsh (Stoke) 12:27; 13 E Spencer (SSH) 12:31; 14 S Longworth (Bir) 12:33; 15 L Crompton (C&S) 12:41; 16 F Brady (Bir) 12:44; 17 Z Bratt (Stoke) 12:46; 18 S Hamilton (Stoke) 12:47; 19 M Forrester (Stoke) 12:52; 20 F Brotherton (W&SV) 12:53; 21 F Mustin (SSH) 12:55; 22 Z McNamara (Stoke) 12:57; 23 A Heron (R&N) 13:01; 24 A Eyre (Banb) 13:01; 25 S Potocka (RSC) 13:01; 26 F Rudkin (W&SV) 13:05; 27 F Ives (Corby) 13:08; 28 C Newby (RSC) 13:13; 29 R Edwards (Tam) 13:13; 30 R Bransby (Stroud) 13:15; 31 D Green (Charn) 13:20; 32 I Holt (Bir) 13:21; 33 A Saunders (Stroud) 13:29; 34 H Jenkins (Nun) 13:32; 35 L Oury (Bir) 13:34; 36 S Carr (Stroud) 13:37; 37 E Huxtable (SSH) 13:40; 38 C Reitel (R&N) 13:41; 39 E Curley (Bir) 13:44; 40 A Cattell (W&B) 13:45

TEAM: 1 Wreake 56; 2 Birchfield 65; 3 Stoke 66; 4 Stroud 103; 5 S&SH 119; 6 Charnwood 133; 7 RSC 143; R&N 180

MIDLAND MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS, held within Midland Athletics Champs, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

Overall men: 1 A Watson (Notts, M45) 40:26; 2 L Gratton (Rugeley, M35) 40:35; 3 J Smith (B&R, M35) 43:17

Age group winners:
M35: L Gratton (Rugeley) 40:35. M40: B Gamble (Tip) 43:35. M45: A Watson (Notts) 40:26. M50: G Palmer (W&B) 50:52. M55: T Hartley (Notts) 44:36. M60: A Marshall (Mid M) 49:15. M65: M Whitmore (Charn) 56:56

Overall women: 1 G Steel (Charn, W35) 28:52; 2 Juliet Potter (Charn, W40) 30:34; 3 E Smith (Charn, W35) 31:12

Age group winners:
W35: G Steel (Charn) 28:52. W40: Juliet Potter (Charn) 30:34. W45: J Sanzo (B&W) 32:18. W50: M Clarke (Telf) 37:11. W55: K Ramsey (Charn) 35:54. W60: J Glynn 41:31 (Bville). W65: L New (Wigston) 40:55. W70: C Kilkenny (C&S) 43:18. W75: A Copson (R&N) 46:54

NORTHERN CHAMPIONSHIPS, Sedgefield, County Durham, January 27

Hardwick East Parks twisty course with its sharp turns saw Calum Johnson take the mens title while Lauren McNeil won the womens race, Martin Duff reports.

It was the first time Sedgefield had hosted the event since 1955 as the event saw almost 2000 runners from the North East, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Humberside, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and the Isle of Man participate.

Runners from nine different clubs took individual honours, with only Gateshead having two. In the team stakes, there were fewer clubs than are historically the case, closing in a scoring team, as City of Leeds scored three victories and Trafford two.

Senior men
Calum Johnson, the 2020 English National winner, has been having a good winter with a string of fastest relay times, a fifth spot in the Euro Trials at Sefton Park and a 23rd placing in the Euros themselves.

Here, the Gateshead Harrier won by around 150m from Angus McMillan, the Yorkshire champion who was eighth at Parliament Hill seven days earlier with Matthew Ramsden, junior champion last year, third.

Carl Avery was second in this senior event in 2023 year but dropped to fourth here after a solid win in the classic Brampton to Carlisle ten in November.

Leeds retained their senior mens team title from Salford and Hallamshire, as seventh placed Graham Rush led them home as their six runners were all inside the top 22 placings.

Men (12.1km): 1 C Johnson (Gate) 37:55; 2 A McMillan (York) 38:25; 3 M Ramsden (Bburn) 38:53; 4 C Avery (Morp) 39:16; 5 A Heyes (Hallam) 39:31; 6 J Steward (Salf) 39:33; 7 G Rush (Leeds C) 39:53; 8 T Power (Hallam) 39:58; 9 G Cunliffe (Ross) 40:00; 10 A Doyle (Vale R) 40:01; 11 D Barratt (Salf) 40:05; 12 L Taylor (Leeds C) 40:07; 13 J Sagar (Leeds C) 40:08; 14 B Houghton (Hallam) 40:10; 15 P Winkler (Morp) 40:23; 16 T Humphries (Bord H) 40:29; 17 C Rowlinson (Salf) 40:29; 18 S Flanagan (Leeds C) 40:33; 19 R Allen (Leeds C) 40:40; 20 M Brown (Salf) 40:42; 21 T Raynes (Bburn) 40:50; 22 N Marsh (Leeds C) 40:56; 23 A Bailes (Birt) 41:00; 24 A Corlett (Salf) 41:10; 25 J McCrae (Hallam) 41:14; 26 E Hetherington (Blyth) 41:17; 27 S Jackson (Sun) 41:18; 28 L Betts (Bburn) 41:19; 29 J Dutton (Salf) 41:21; 30 J Woodcock-Shaw (Leeds C) 41:22; 31 D Kashi (Sale) 41:23; 32 P Robertson (Sale) 41:24; 33 B Sharrock (Hallam) 41:24; 34 J Crickmore (Hallam) 41:25; 35 G Jayasuriya (Middlesbrough & Cleveland Harr) 41:26; 36 R Worland (Salf) 41:32; 37 R Harrison (Liv PS) 41:34; 38 J Hall (Hallam) 41:42; 39 A Brown (Morp) 41:47; 40 J Bartlett (Hallam) 41:48; 41 J Niven (Liv PS) 41:48; 42 C Marshall (Morp) 41:49; 43 E Wheelwright (Salf) 41:55; 44 K Darcy (Salf) 41:57; 45 S Whitehead (Vale R) 42:07; 46 J Roberts (Liv H) 42:11; 47 L Taylor (Sun) 42:17; 48 O Cook (Salf) 42:20; 49 M Kendall (Dur) 42:30; 50 M Harris (Ross) 42:33; 51 T Cornthwaite (Salf) 42:39; 52 H Butler (Bord H) 42:48; 53 L Liddle (Gate) 42:52; 54 J Scott-Farrington (Horw) 42:54; 55 B Burton (Roth) 43:03; 56 L McCourt (Morp) 43:06; 57 A Russell (Kend) 43:06; 58 A Bradford (Sale) 43:10; 59 J Anderson (NSP) 43:15; 60 J Birmingham (Salf) 43:18; 61 P MacKrell (Clay) 43:21; 62 J Ridding (Sun) 43:22; 63 G Browne (East Cheshire Harriers & Tames) 43:23; 64 J Stephenson (R&Z) 43:25; 65 R Campbell (Lev V) 43:26; 66 M Ryan (Liv H) 43:32; 67 M Burrett (Leeds C) 43:33; 68 M Marshall (Dur) 43:33; 69 A Lawrence (Morp) 43:35; 70 T Saville (Hallam) 43:51; 71 L Towers (Liv H) 43:52; 72 R Burney (Liv H) 43:57; 73 T Charlton (Tyne Br) 43:58; 74 R Balmbra (Morp) 44:00; 75 G Raven (East Cheshire Harriers & Tames) 44:01; 76 A Cunningham (Morp) 44:02; 77 J Cleaver (Ross) 44:03; 78 R Anderson (Holm) 44:09; 79 E Dunn (Liv H) 44:11; 80 D Richardson (Gate) 44:14; 81 K Hunt (Sale) 44:24; 82 L Siemaszko (Liv H) 44:27; 83 H Care (Liv H) 44:29; 84 J Mellor (Roth) 44:30; 85 A Grenfell (Ross) 44:31; 86 T Sursham (Walls) 44:41; 87 T Edwards (Leeds C) 44:41; 88 S Doyle (Vale R) 44:45; 89 J Douglas (Gate) 44:46; 90 D Boyer (Darl) 44:47; 91 L Skidmore (Traff) 44:50; 92 A Taylor (Salf) 44:51; 93 D Brown (L&M) 44:53; 94 P Peters (Sale) 44:55; 95 M Mannings (O&R) 44:57; 96 A Pratt (Morp) 45:03; 97 D Fleming (Clay) 45:07; 98 S Rankin (Sun) 45:08; 99 A Black (NSP) 45:11; 100 M Hornsby (Dur) 45:14; 101 D Jones (Liv PS) 45:14; 102 C Battersby (Hallam) 45:16; 103 L Walshaw (Sun) 45:19; 104 A Wilding (Wesh) 45:19; 105 S Bruton (Horw) 45:20; 106 M Moran (NSP) 45:26; 107 M Harcourt (Darl) 45:33; 108 R Landon (Bord H) 45:34; 109 P OMara (Tyne Br) 45:35; 110 D Jenkin (Dur) 45:38; 111 A Mitchell (Darl) 45:40; 112 J Firby (Crook) 45:45; 113 G Wallace (Black B) 45:48; 114 S Walker (Hart) 45:50; 115 J Twigg (Salf) 45:54; 116 K Day (Crook) 45:55; 117 R Dunn (Sale) 45:58; 118 A Rashud (Warr) 45:59; 119 M Barker (Sun) 46:02; 120 C Webb (Salf) 46:05; 121 M Latham (Salf) 46:06; 122 C Donnelly (Sale) 46:07; 123 A Curvis (Sale) 46:15; 124 B Alainzay (Bburn) 46:16; 125 N Reed (Sun) 46:16; 126 A Love (Billingham RC) 46:21; 127 J Atkinson-Collins (Sun) 46:22; 128 A Beevers (Birt) 46:25; 129 L Foster (Leeds C) 46:25; 130 A Francis (Sheff RC) 46:26; 131 G Clarkson (KuH) 46:30; 132 A Francis (Stock H) 46:31; 133 J Godwood (Sale) 46:32; 134 I Dunn (NSP) 46:32; 135 R Bowry (Knaves) 46:38; 136 S Corbishley (Ross) 46:39; 137 B Moorcroft (Liv H) 46:44; 138 S Clegg (Roth) 46:50; 139 D Norcup (Leeds C) 46:52; 140 N Gaskell (Bburn) 46:53; 141 J Prest (Traff) 46:55; 142 W Bowers (Tyne Br) 47:05; 143 B Thompson (York) 47:06; 144 G Priestley (Salf) 47:12; 145 T Richards (Leeds C) 47:20; 146 T Mitchell (Hgate) 47:21; 147 R Hughes (Salf) 47:22; 148 J Addison (Crook) 47:28; 149 A Veevers (Sport W) 47:31; 150 A Roach (Liv H) 47:33; 151 D Bolton (Wesh) 47:33; 152 M Felczerek (Donc) 47:35; 153 E Lamb (Darl) 47:42; 154 L Dover (H&P) 47:45; 155 J Bailey (Salf) 47:46; 156 D Spoor (Els) 47:51; 157 P Needham (Holm) 47:54; 158 J Malley (NSP) 47:56; 159 W Tarn (Darl) 47:59; 160 C Scott (NSP) 48:00; 161 N Biggers (Aln) 48:00; 162 M Adams (CleS) 48:01; 163 C Walsh (O&R) 48:01; 164 D Bennett (Roch H) 48:01; 165 M Ilott (Tyne Br) 48:02; 166 G Duke (NSP) 48:06; 167 B Farrelly (Salf M) 48:08; 168 D McKeown (Ilkley) 48:13; 169 S Greenwood (Ross) 48:14; 170 I Robinson (Birt) 48:16; 171 T Stephenson (Sale) 48:18; 172 D Smith (Leigh) 48:22; 173 S Etherington (Crook) 48:32; 174 J Delamere (Sport W) 48:34; 175 D Smith (Billingham RC) 48:34; 176 C Donaghy (Sale) 48:36; 177 M Spragg (Sale) 48:44; 178 W Lloyd (Tyne) 48:49; 179 P Ray (Elv) 48:50; 180 J Atkin (Dur) 48:52; 181 B Kirkman (Ross) 48:52; 182 J Green (Tyne) 48:56; 183 D Rich (Bord H) 49:00; 184 P MacDonald (Liv PS) 49:08; 185 L Daglish (Heat) 49:11; 186 G Watt (Elv) 49:13; 187 B Ward (Hart) 49:16; 188 M Hulmston (Wirr) 49:19; 189 J Bruton (Horw) 49:20; 190 A Johnson (Roth) 49:21; 191 J Todd (Kend) 49:21; 192 J Gilroy (J&H) 49:22; 193 A Middleton (H&P) 49:25; 194 J Houghton (Wesh) 49:26; 195 M Beacock (Alt) 49:28; 196 J Smalley (Sale) 49:32; 197 L Cuthbertson (Morp) 49:33; 198 J Dias (Blay) 49:34; 199 A Squire (Stock H) 49:36; 200 P Hewitt (Holm) 49:37

TEAM: 1 Leeds 91; 2 Salford 107; 3 Hallamshire 119; 4 Morpeth 223; 5 Sale 409; 6 Liverpool 410; 7 Sunderland 451; 8 Rossendale 521; 9 Blackburn 538; 10 Gateshead 702; 11 N Shields Poly 710; 12 Durham 717; 13 Darlington 878; 14 Liverpool Pembroke Sefton 938; 15 Crook 970; 16 Tyne Br 978; 17 Holmfirth 1191; 18 Birtley 1226; 19 Elvet 1328; 20 Billingham 1433
29 teams closed in

Senior women
Lauren McNeil enjoyed a comfortable victory in the senior womens event over Hallamshire team-mate Lauren Heyes but their club had to wait until the 30s before closing in their four-woman team, so lost out to Leeds.

Both Hallamshire women have been going well with McNeil placing second to Abbie Donnelly at Parliament Hill the previous week, following on from a fourth spot in the 2023 English National.

A 70:03 PB in the Manchester Half-Marathon, then came ahead of Heyes own PB of 71:22 there before a 2:31:33 outing in Decembers Valencia Marathon.

When making it a senior team double Leeds were led home by Jenny Walsh and Eleanor Curran, who were behind third and fourth-placed Sophie Tarver and Philippa Stone.

Women (8.1km): 1 L McNeil (Hallam) 28:35; 2 L Heyes (Hallam) 29:00; 3 S Tarver (Wirr) 29:35; 4 P Stone (Middlesbrough AC) 29:44; 5 J Walsh (Leeds C) 29:52; 6 E Curran (Leeds C) 29:59; 7 N Gmuer (Leeds C) 30:12; 8 K Maltby (Bord H) 30:36; 9 K Wood (York) 30:39; 10 G Malir (Leeds C) 30:48; 11 B Donnelly (Salf) 30:54; 12 A Pearse (Steel) 30:57; 13 E McColm (Prest) 30:58; 14 N Jackson (Kesw) 31:09; 15 A Wright (Sale) 31:15; 16 C Penfold (NSP) 31:21; 17 B Bergstrand (P&B) 31:23; 18 H Warburton (Sale) 31:25; 19 L Mitchell (Dur) 31:36; 20 C Mason (York) 31:38; 21 A Howarth (Vale R) 31:40; 22 R Jones (Leeds C) 31:44; 23 S Mason (Salf) 31:46; 24 C MacDonald (Morp) 31:46; 25 A Kelland (Bord H) 31:49; 26 R Harrison (Linc W) 32:01; 27 E Luker (Leeds C) 32:15; 28 E McLeod (Roth) 32:20; 29 E Clayton (Bing) 32:24; 30 C Slack (Hallam) 32:50; 31 S Haston (Gate) 32:54; 32 J Heslop (Els) 32:56; 33 A OBrien (Liv H) 33:00; 34 L Robertson (Hallam) 33:02; 35 J Morgan (Liv H) 33:05; 36 L Lombard (Salf) 33:10; 37 J Berry (Walls) 33:11; 38 C Brock (Steel) 33:12; 39 N Burlinson (Dur) 33:22; 40 J Jagger (Holm) 33:32; 41 L Foley (BWF) 33:35; 42 A Leigh (Birt) 33:38; 43 N Donnelly (Liv H) 33:42; 44 H Buswell (Sale) 34:02; 45 A Pigford (H&P) 34:07; 46 M France (Leeds C) 34:11; 47 H Stewart (Tyne Br) 34:14; 48 S Reid (Bing) 34:19; 49 K Meeson (Traff) 34:22; 50 J Buckley (Bing) 34:32; 51 E Reed (Heat) 34:34; 52 S Thorne (Steel) 34:38; 53 E Bradbury (Blay) 34:41; 54 C Dover (York) 34:45; 55 A Atkinson (Holm) 34:48; 56 E Brailsford (Hallam) 34:55; 57 L Chapman (Jes J) 34:59; 58 S Ryan (Liv H) 35:01; 59 R Douglas (Bord H) 35:02; 60 H Stroud (Leeds C) 35:03; 61 D Coulson (H&P) 35:10; 62 H Linton (Birt) 35:12; 63 A Williams (Traff) 35:19; 64 S Young-Alls (Steel) 35:27; 65 C Leaver-Hewitt (Holm) 35:30; 66 K Storey (Crook) 35:34; 67 E Finney (Sale) 35:40; 68 J Nutt (Els) 35:45; 69 S Platton (Gosf) 35:46; 70 L MacDonald (Morp) 35:51; 71 K Neesam (New M) 35:58; 72 S Abel (Sedge) 36:05; 73 S Chin (Dur) 36:05; 74 K Davis (NSP) 36:06; 75 C Sinclair (Jes J) 36:07; 76 H Bough (Els) 36:10; 77 K Watson (Blyth) 36:15; 78 C Ryan (Dur) 36:17; 79 F Smith (Els) 36:21; 80 E Thompson (Elv) 36:26; 81 H Smith (Vale R) 36:31; 82 C Rodgers (Leeds C) 36:38; 83 H Tumia (Els) 36:42; 84 R Naylor (Tyne Br) 36:45; 85 J Raine (Crook) 36:47; 86 J Yorke (Warr) 36:53; 87 J Ede (NSP) 36:58; 88 R Ward (Bburn) 37:01; 89 A Basu (Elv) 37:05; 90 S Phelan (Warr) 37:11; 91 A Ball (Sale) 37:13; 92 G Beeden (Hgate) 37:14; 93 J Spink (Sedge) 37:18; 94 J Killock (J&H) 37:27; 95 R Carter (Ilkley) 37:29; 96 N Simpson (R&Z) 37:35; 97 H Simpson (East Cheshire Harriers & Tames) 37:41; 98 T Jansson (York) 37:46; 99 A Etherington (Crook) 37:49; 100 E Davis (Jes J) 37:50; 101 L Donaldson (Crook) 37:55; 102 C Stidolph (Sun) 38:01; 103 H Heaney (NSP) 38:18; 104 L Short (Tyne) 38:20; 105 S Pickering (Bing) 38:25; 106 A Lee (Bing) 38:32; 107 J Cleaver (Ross) 38:33; 108 E James (Walls) 38:35; 109 T Imber (Elv) 38:38; 110 A Johnson (Tyne Br) 38:46; 111 E Wood (Sheff RC) 38:50; 112 L Herron (Blyth) 38:57; 113 P Speedie (New M) 38:58; 114 L Procter (Liv PS) 39:09; 115 I Vickery (Dur) 39:12; 116 V Haswell (Sun) 39:22; 117 N Steel (Sun) 39:25; 118 H Robinson (J&H) 39:41; 119 E McCabe (Elv) 39:47; 120 A Wilkin (Kend) 39:48; 121 S Gill (Hgate) 39:52; 122 E Curtis (Jes J) 40:06; 123 H Strange (Knaves) 40:20; 124 J Turner (Birt) 40:23; 125 D Spoor (Els) 40:24; 126 S Foreman (Sedge) 40:31; 127 K Davies (Kend) 40:32; 128 N Mortimer (NSP) 40:36; 129 A Pearman (Kend) 40:40; 130 J Felczerek (Donc) 40:47; 131 E Crownshaw (Hallam) 40:52; 132 M Hall (Els) 40:54; 133 L Quinn (Morp) 40:57; 134 L Flaxen (Sun) 41:01; 135 N Clegg (Roth) 41:04; 136 S Birkett (SHS) 41:04; 137 D Sulley (New M) 41:07; 138 M Lewis (East Cheshire Harriers & Tames) 41:16; 139 S Reynolds (Jes J) 41:24; 140 L Murphy (Walls) 41:27; 141 D Weightman (Aln) 41:39; 142 L Allen (Els) 41:42; 143 L Lupton (Dur) 41:45; 144 N Courtney (Blyth) 41:45; 145 A Lewis (Blay) 42:02; 146 H Austin (Holm) 42:11; 147 K Scott (Steel) 42:15; 148 G Barlow (NSP) 42:22; 149 A Bennett (Ilkley) 42:25; 150 S Watson (Blyth) 42:31

TEAM: 1 Leeds 28; 2 Hallamshire 67; 3 Sale 144; 4 Steel 66; 5 Liverpool 169; 6 York 181; 7 Durham 209; 8 Bingley 232; 9 Elswick 255; 10 NSP 280; 11 Holmfirth 306; 12 Crook 351; 13 Jesmond 354; 14 Birtley 387; 15 Tyne Br 392; 16 Elvet 397; 17 Sedgefield 446; 18 Sunderland 469; 19 Blyth 483; 20 N Marske 501
26 teams closed in

Younger age groups
Gatesheads second individual win came in the junior mens race where Josh Blevins took his first area cross-country title ahead of Finlay Grant who moved up from third last year. However, it was fourth placed William Owen De Vere who led Morpeth to their only team win of the championships.

The closest race of the day came in the under-20 womens event where just four-seconds covered the first three, who were led home by Amelie Lane, the 2023 under-17 champion.

Isabel Holt was just a second down with fourth ranked junior over 5km Libby Huxley close. Sale, with three in 11 took the team from the smallest field of the day.

The winner was seventh in the junior race at Parliament Hill seven days earlier after placing third in the under-18 World Cup Mountain Championships.

Yorkshire champion Jonson Hughes, fourth last year, took the under-17 mens race by 30 metres from Freddie Meredith, fifth then, who led Trafford to the team title. Jack Marwood was a similar distance further back in third.

Another Yorkshire champion took the under-17 womens title which went to Lottie Langan, third last year, as Georgia Bell just squeezed home in second from Sophia Roiditis, whose Salford just edged the team trophy from Rotherham.

Evan Grime, who just missed out on a third Cross Challenge victory of the winter at Parliament Hill the previous week, won the under-15 boys race by about 70 metres. This was from Pio Aron, the English Schools third placer, who led Trafford to a big team win.

Under-15 girls winner Holly Cross moved up from third last year after a fifth spot in the Sefton Park leg of the Cross Challenge, to lead Liverpool to a narrow team win. Behind, Ellarose Whitworth who was third at Parliament Hill, headed Maya Schofield, second last year, for silver.

The under-13 girls event narrowly went to Yorkshire champion Ruth Friend, who led Leeds to team golds, with Warriors Pentathlon runners Eve Beddow and Isla York close at the line.

Under-13 boys winner Thomas McCartie, the North Eastern Counties champion, who again headed Ewan Line, third in that December race. Hallamshire took the team here from new outfit Warriors Pentathlon.

U20 (8.1km): 1 J Blevins (Gate) 26:19; 2 F Grant (Cfield) 26:41; 3 L McCay (Liv H) 26:53; 4 W De Vere (Morp) 27:06; 5 T Smales (Bart D) 27:20; 6 A Poulston (Wirr) 27:27; 7 J Dixon (Morp) 27:31; 8 W Walker (Clay) 27:38; 9 S Hughes (Roth) 27:40; 10 S Hopkins (Salf) 27:42; 11 D Hughes (Black B) 27:45; 12 C Tzelis (Ilkley) 27:47; 13 J Hopley (Ross) 27:50; 14 G Mastrolonardo (York) 27:56; 15 J Wragg (Roth) 28:15; 16 J Walker (Vall) 28:26; 17 F Mayoh (Traff) 28:27; 18 M Creasey (Middlesbrough AC) 28:28; 19 J Ormrod (Ross) 28:31; 20 B Marr (Morp) 28:44; 21 W Parker (Traff) 28:48; 22 W Curry (Ross) 28:55; 23 Z Kettle (Tyne Br) 29:03; 24 A Seed (Sun) 29:07; 25 T Murphy (Chorley Athletic And Triathlon) 29:10; 26 T Bowman (L&M) 29:17; 27 G Noble (Sale) 29:18; 28 A Kelly (Liv H) 29:23; 29 M Holden (Prest) 29:23; 30 B Brunton (Tyne) 29:23; 31 T McKie (Middlesbrough AC) 29:24; 32 J Deighton (Traff) 29:38; 33 E Nation (Salf) 29:47; 34 J Tilley (Morp) 29:49; 35 T Barry (Stock H) 29:53; 36 J Warren (Prest) 30:07; 37 M Hughes (Roth) 30:24; 38 B Cooper (Bing) 30:35; 39 H Samkin (Linc W) 30:36; 40 T Webster (Liv H) 30:38

TEAM: 1 Morpeth 31; 2 Rossendale 54; 3 Rotherham 61; 4 Trafford 70; 5 Liverpool 71; 6 Gateshead 94; 7 Durham 146

U17 (5.7km): 1 J Hughes (Roth) 18:08; 2 F Meredith (Traff) 18:15; 3 J Marwood (Warr) 18:21; 4 J Sanderson (Sett) 18:26; 5 B Sproats (NSP) 18:32; 6 A Budding (Ilkley) 18:33; 7 E Busfield (Der) 18:34; 8 L Johnson (SHS) 18:35; 9 T Gilliver (Hi Peak AC) 18:42; 10 D Smith (Bburn) 18:43; 11 E Kelso (Morp) 18:44; 12 J Hutchinson (Traff) 18:49; 13 F Day (Sale) 18:50; 14 O Gill (Bburn) 18:57; 15 S Bentham (Ilkley) 19:10; 16 F Goddard (Sale) 19:11; 17 W McNally (Lev V) 19:14; 18 A Peaker (Keigh) 19:22; 19 O Kearney (Warr) 19:25; 20 R Hart (Crook) 19:28; 21 A Boyer (Darl) 19:29; 22 J Brown (Middlesbrough AC) 19:32; 23 E Wilkinson (Keigh) 19:32; 24 B Burton (Salf) 19:33; 25 C Fielding (York) 19:34; 26 A Varey (Bord H) 19:34; 27 L Powell (Der) 19:39; 28 J Heap (Wirr) 19:39; 29 O Ashdown (Keigh) 19:41; 30 G Mullen (SHS) 19:42; 31 A Simons (Salf) 19:42; 32 C Gately (Hal) 19:46; 33 W Platts (Roth) 19:50; 34 J Barber (Salf) 19:56; 35 J Watson (Traff) 20:00; 36 J Walton (Traff) 20:05; 37 D Muskos (Der) 20:08; 38 M Wood (Macc) 20:10; 39 A Colmer (Darl) 20:12; 40 N Ford (Warr) 20:15; 41 J Close (Morp) 20:16; 42 F Edwards (Chorley Athletic And Triathlon) 20:20; 43 J Hendry (Gate) 20:22; 44 E Moore (NSP) 20:22; 45 J Willis (Sun) 20:23; 46 J OBrien (Sale) 20:27; 47 N Gallagher-Thompson (Keigh) 20:29; 48 D Cope (Der) 20:37; 49 W Hardy (York) 20:38; 50 O Ovens (Darl) 20:41

TEAM: 1 Trafford 85; 2 Keighley & Craven 117; 3 Derby 119; 4 Sale 142; 5 Salford 147; 6 Blackburn 150; 7 Ilkley 151; 8 NSP 176; 9 Rotherham 188; 10 York 206

U15 (3.8km): 1 E Grime (Salf) 11:33; 2 P Aron (Traff) 11:53; 3 Y Alem (Leeds C) 11:56; 4 A Bedford (Roth) 11:58; 5 E Dobson (Traff) 12:01; 6 M Taylor (Liv H) 12:01; 7 T Thake (Hallam) 12:02; 8 S Aspey (Bburn) 12:03; 9 W Delamere (Sport W) 12:04; 10 A White (Traff) 12:10; 11 D Asmelash (TS Harriers) 12:13; 12 A Cook (Gate) 12:17; 13 M Bacon (Roth) 12:19; 14 C Parikh (Manc H) 12:25; 15 J Norris (Bing) 12:27; 16 T Ye (Traff) 12:30; 17 Z Gribbon (New M) 12:31; 18 D Davies (Eden) 12:33; 19 J Ireland (Macc) 12:34; 20 L OBrien (Sale) 12:34; 21 M Fleet (East Cheshire Harriers & Tames) 12:35; 22 A Greenwood (Traff) 12:40; 23 A Di Lullo (Tyne) 12:41; 24 N Williamson (NE Project) 12:42; 25 W Brayshaw (Kend) 12:43; 26 F Palmer (Tyne Br) 12:44; 27 R Steel (Darl) 12:45; 28 C Jones (Middlesbrough AC) 12:46; 29 M Phelan (Warr) 12:48; 30 J Wood (Bburn) 12:51; 31 E Lewis (Traff) 12:53; 32 W Jardine (Dur) 12:55; 33 E Shkul (Hallam) 12:56; 34 J Sturman (NSP) 12:59; 35 B Keeley (Traff) 13:03; 36 N Hudson (Leeds C) 13:05; 37 S Parry (Rwell) 13:06; 38 T Matthews (Hgate) 13:06; 39 B Gardner (Traff) 13:06; 40 A Cavanagh (Traff) 13:07; 41 E Hannay (Hallam) 13:08; 42 A Smith (Heat) 13:09; 43 H Ward (Bburn) 13:10; 44 H Kirkman (Hallam) 13:11; 45 B Moll (Morp) 13:12; 46 E Cattermole (Hal) 13:14; 47 C Robinson (Bing) 13:15; 48 C Furness (NSP) 13:18; 49 H Tatham (Der) 13:19; 50 S Tedd (Vall) 13:19

TEAM: 1 Trafford 33; 2 Hallamshire 123; 3 Blackburn 146; 4 Rotherham 159; 5 Darlington 223; 6 Eden 270; 7 Warriors Pent 2778 Tyne Br 315; 9 Sunderland 341

U13 (2.9km): 1 T McCartie (Middlesbrough AC) 10:10; 2 E Line (Morp) 10:26; 3 O Davenport (Warr) 10:28; 4 N Glascott-Tull (Warr) 10:29; 5 E Rose (Roth) 10:30; 6 C Porteous (Bing) 10:32; 7 J Dawe (Hallam) 10:36; 8 P Herring (Liv H) 10:38; 9 B Pronesti (Hallam) 10:39; 10 W Pugh (Tyne) 10:39; 11 B McEvoy (Liv H) 10:39; 12 O Curran (Darl) 10:40; 13 B Birkett (SHS) 10:42; 14 O Oswick (Warr) 10:43; 15 G Hackney (Leeds C) 10:46; 16 H Engelhart (Phoenix Flyers) 10:47; 17 R Carter (Ilkley) 10:49; 18 D Kelso (Els) 10:51; 19 J Turner (Prest) 10:51; 20 S Bates (Prest) 10:53; 21 M Taylor (Hallam) 10:53; 22 J Bastow (York) 10:53; 23 A Yates (Prest) 10:53; 24 T Smout (Wirr) 10:54; 25 H Redhead (Warr) 10:55; 26 C Johnson (Linc W) 11:00; 27 H Hopkinson (Ross) 11:02; 28 F Reese (Wirr) 11:04; 29 T McCann (Walls) 11:06; 30 L Heslop (Darl) 11:06; 31 J Mawdsley (Prest) 11:06; 32 A Johnston (Aln) 11:10; 33 S Abbey (Eden) 11:10; 34 G Horsfall (Sale) 11:12; 35 T Hastings (Wake) 11:12; 36 A Parkin (Heat) 11:12; 37 O Howson (Hallam) 11:13; 38 C Dobson (Ross) 11:16; 39 H Evens (Wirr) 11:16; 40 M Myles (Liv H) 11:16; 41 N Surtees-Brown (Els) 11:16; 42 E Reid (Vall) 11:17; 43 F Marsden (Wirr) 11:17; 44 J Hendry (Blay) 11:18; 45 C Bibby (Warr) 11:19; 46 M Unthank (Bburn) 11:21; 47 N Phillips (Sale) 11:25; 48 S Hughes (Sun) 11:27; 49 D Callaghan (Darl) 11:27; 50 T Daly (Traff) 11:28

TEAM: 1 Hallamshire 74; 2 Warriors P 88; 3 Preston 93; 4 Liverpool 115; 5 Wirral 134; 6 Darlington 145; 7 Sale 215; 8 Tynedale 224; 9 Elswick 234; 10 Trafford 306

U20 women (5.7km): 1 A Lane (Wharf) 20:09; 2 I Holt (Bburn) 20:10; 3 L Huxley (Prest) 20:13; 4 F OHare (Liv H) 20:40; 5 E Platt (East Cheshire Harriers & Tames) 21:00; 6 B Rogers (Ilkley) 21:28; 7 L Armitage (Sale) 21:33; 8 S Bourne (Der) 21:37; 9 I Burke (Sale) 21:52; 10 E Jones (Der) 21:54; 11 O Brown (Sale) 22:10; 12 J Robertson-Dover (York) 22:31; 13 H Waugh (NSP) 22:35; 14 G Phelan (Warr) 22:41; 15 E Bushill (Vale R) 22:41; 16 N Mason (Salf) 22:46; 17 A Ita (Der) 22:51; 18 K Francis (Birt) 22:56; 19 I Bungay (Els) 23:02; 20 I Stutchfield (Stock H) 23:18; 21 E Russell (Salf) 23:21; 22 M Walsh (Roth) 23:24; 23 K Sutcliffe (Liv PS) 23:25; 24 L Gaskin (York) 23:43; 25 J Reed (Sale) 23:46; 26 E Richardson (Bury) 24:04; 27 M Byrnes (Salf) 24:14; 28 K Joslyn (NSP) 24:21; 29 A Bratt (Salf) 24:26; 30 L Jeffries-Williams (Der) 24:38

TEAM: 1 Sale 27; 2 Derby 35; 3 Salford 64; 4 NSP 73

U17 (4.7km): 1 L Langan (York) 16:56; 2 G Bell (Lev V) 17:05; 3 S Roiditis (Salf) 17:05; 4 C Dillon (H&P) 17:18; 5 Z Jones (Darl) 17:35; 6 L Harris (Roth) 17:45; 7 I Waugh (Roth) 17:53; 8 C McCloy (Roth) 17:54; 9 I Wharton (Warr) 17:57; 10 D Slattery (Salf) 17:58; 11 F Murdoch (Stock H) 18:04; 12 J Wright (Salf) 18:08; 13 R Gilldaley (Eden) 18:12; 14 I Clarke (Der) 18:13; 15 K Gardner (Der) 18:19; 16 E Fellows (Blay) 18:21; 17 N Robinson (Hgate) 18:26; 18 E Sinclair (Traff) 18:28; 19 M Caldwell (Salf) 18:30; 20 I Johnstone (Gate) 18:30; 21 H Forrest (Hgate) 18:42; 22 H Stead (Black B) 18:43; 23 R Davies (Der) 18:47; 24 A Sibley (Roth) 18:50; 25 S Smith (Warr) 18:58; 26 N Harrison-Sargent (Hal) 18:58; 27 P Old (NSP) 19:03; 28 C Wearden (W Ches) 19:03; 29 M Bellwood (Keigh) 19:04; 30 E Ashman (Gosf) 19:06; 31 A Rose (Eden) 19:11; 32 C Wilkinson (Horw) 19:12; 33 C Robertshaw (Bburn) 19:12; 34 K Leese (Hallam) 19:13; 35 A Stobbart (Tyne) 19:16; 36 A Sillence (NSP) 19:19; 37 J Guy (Linc W) 19:23; 38 E Bartalotta (Salf) 19:27; 39 C Phillips (Clee) 19:32; 40 P Watson (Bburn) 19:34; 41 R Bradshaw (Stock H) 19:36; 42 E Blight (Els) 19:36; 43 C Johnson (Dur) 19:38; 44 E Nicholson (Traff) 19:39; 45 I Appleby (Salf) 19:40; 46 O Aldham (Wharf) 19:43; 47 D Tullis (NSP) 19:44; 48 H Hull (Warr) 19:47; 49 H Brearton (Warr) 19:47; 50 D Graham (Birt) 20:09

TEAM: 1 Salford 44; 2 Rotherham 45; 3 NSP 167; 4 Warriors P 198; 5 Elswick 247; 6 Horwich 253

U15 (3.8km): 1 H Cross (Liv H) 13:07; 2 E Whitworth (Linc W) 13:16; 3 M Schofield (Roth) 13:20; 4 G Turner (Roth) 13:33; 5 O McManus (Sale) 13:35; 6 I Porter (Linc W) 13:44; 7 I Pastor (Warr) 13:47; 8 E Fay (Liv H) 13:52; 9 D Woodcock (Bord H) 13:53; 10 R Murphy (Liv H) 13:55; 11 P Boyle (Lev V) 13:59; 12 G Igoe (Roth) 13:59; 13 B Hughes (Liv H) 14:01; 14 S Harrison (Hal) 14:06; 15 A Johnson (NSP) 14:06; 16 H Robison (H&P) 14:08; 17 R Thistlewood (Wake) 14:09; 18 I Wright (Keigh) 14:12; 19 I Madden (York) 14:14; 20 G Carter (Dur) 14:14; 21 K Pye (H&P) 14:16; 22 E Pyper (W Ches) 14:17; 23 I Hall (Sale) 14:18; 24 M Holmes (Roth) 14:19; 25 M Owens (Darl) 14:27; 26 M Grant (Linc W) 14:29; 27 I Wilson (Hallam) 14:30; 28 P Radbourne (Der) 14:35; 29 C Owens (Darl) 14:38; 30 M Carvell (Liv H) 14:39; 31 E Hall (Dur) 14:41; 32 K Setchell (York) 14:43; 33 L Scott (York) 14:44; 34 H Coates (Warr) 14:49; 35 A Nicholson (L&M) 14:50; 36 L Davey (York) 14:51; 37 Z Brannon (Kesw) 14:53; 38 R Bowden (Traff) 14:53; 39 E Lusty (Ross) 14:55; 40 F OBrien (Liv H) 14:59; 41 M Jebb (Kend) 15:00; 42 M Taylor (Prest) 15:02; 43 M Ball (Hallam) 15:04; 44 S Nation (Salf) 15:05; 45 L Hesketh (Bburn) 15:07; 46 F Elliott (Gosf) 15:11; 47 S Bartalotta (Salf) 15:13; 48 R Cleaver (Ross) 15:18; 49 S Hidayat (Leeds C) 15:26; 50 C Bradley (Kend) 15:28

TEAM: 1 Liverpool 32; 2 Rotherham 43; 3 York 120; 4 Sale 167; 5 Kendal 200; 6 Wakefield 202; 7 Warriors P 241; 8 Rossendale 247; 9 Hallamshire 253; 10 Durham 254

U13 (2.9km): 1 R Friend (Leeds C) 10:45; 2 E Beddow (Warr) 10:47; 3 I Yorke (Warr) 10:49; 4 G Pinder (New M) 10:50; 5 B Soper (Sale) 10:51; 6 M Owen (Cfield) 10:57; 7 J Thake (Hallam) 11:03; 8 I Hall (Leeds C) 11:04; 9 E Keeler (Leeds C) 11:07; 10 H Bacon (Roth) 11:10; 11 E Worrall (Liv H) 11:11; 12 E Blackhurst (Prest) 11:11; 13 R Heywood-Young (Sale) 11:12; 14 E Waugh (Aln) 11:14; 15 G Veevers (Sport W) 11:16; 16 M Jordan (Bburn) 11:17; 17 M McGoldrick (Sett) 11:20; 18 I Hall (Birt) 11:26; 19 A Blight (Els) 11:27; 20 A Kamau (Leeds C) 11:33; 21 H Nicholls (Ross) 11:34; 22 M Boyer (Sale) 11:34; 23 K Graham (Birt) 11:35; 24 G Hill (Sale) 11:36; 25 I Anderson (Sale) 11:36; 26 F Lilly (Linc W) 11:40; 27 M McGuirk (Liv H) 11:43; 28 L Delamere (Sport W) 11:49; 29 E Goulsbra (Linc W) 11:54; 30 I Brown (York) 11:55; 31 F Hill (Hallam) 11:55; 32 E Blackburn (Gate) 11:56; 33 E Ranner (Kend) 11:57; 34 C Hart (Sett) 11:57; 35 N Watkinson (Hallam) 11:58; 36 S Patterson (Darl) 11:59; 37 M Appleby (Sale) 11:59; 38 A Carr (Ross) 12:01; 39 F Goulsbra (Linc W) 12:01; 40 E Cameron (Liv H) 12:01; 41 F Heatley (Morp) 12:06; 42 D Glover (Leeds C) 12:07; 43 H Lovett (York) 12:09; 44 E Kleiser (Phoenix Flyers) 12:10; 45 H Smith (Clee) 12:12; 46 E McKeever (Prest) 12:13; 47 H Beattie (W Ches) 12:14; 48 E Stobbart (Tyne) 12:14; 49 E Hodgkinson (Leeds C) 12:15; 50 B Smith (New M) 12:16

TEAM: 1 Leeds 38: 2 Sale 64; 3 Liverpool 129; 4 Hallamshire 141; 5 Warriors P 145; 6 Preston 181; 7 Lincoln W 197; 8 Morpeth 251; 9 Elswick 266; 10 Bingley 327

SCOTTISH EAST DISTRICT LEAGUE, Balbardie Park, January 28

Men (8.8km): 1 J Crowe (Centr) 25:40; 2 C Phillip (Centr) 26:31; 3 M Pryde (Loth) 26:51; 4 M Ferguson (Adeen) 26:58; 5 C Milne (Centr) 27:18; 6 L Rodgers (Fife) 27:29; 7 L Fanotolli (Centr) 27:42; 8 A Marshall (Centr) 27:46; 9 D Hastie (Gala, M40) 27:47; 10 J Marshall (Stir U, U20) 28:11; 11 H Pagett (Strathe, U20) 28:17; 12 A Brown (Adeen) 28:25; 13 C MacKenzie (Cors) 28:25; 14 L Petty (Dund H, U20) 28:30; 15 P Cameron (Edin) 28:42; 16 J Lange (Centr) 28:48; 17 A Odentz (Adeen) 28:50; 18 M Sutherland (Centr) 28:52; 19 D Wright (Loth) 28:54; 20 G Malcolm (Ochil) 28:58; 21 R Houston (Centr, M40) 29:10; 22 S Melville (Metro) 29:20; 23 R Welsh (Gala, U20) 29:20; 24 I Whitaker (Edin, M40) 29:26; 25 D Sutherland (Living, U20) 29:28; 26 M DAgrosa (Gala) 29:33; 27 L Hutson (Fife) 29:42; 28 J Donald (Dund H, U20) 29:44; 29 S Murray (Adeen) 29:49; 30 A Luetchford (HBT) 29:52

TEAM: 1 Centr 39; 2 Cors 205; 3 Fife 208; 4 Edin 264; 5 HBT 288; 6 Gala 307

VETS TEAM: 1 Cors 18; 2 PHRC 37; 3 Gala 41

U17 (5.8km): 1 A McWilliam (Lass) 18:29; 2 K Fulton (Team Borders) 18:37; 3 I Jordan (Perth) 18:50; 4 T Reynolds (Adeen) 18:57; 5 D McGuire (Harmeny AAC) 19:01; 6 J Wotherspoon (Harmeny AAC) 19:05; 7 I Wright (Lass) 19:05; 8 K Hardie (Harmeny AAC) 19:14; 9 C Caves (Harmeny AAC) 19:30; 10 A Grant (Strathe) 19:50; 11 C Hendry (Falk) 19:57; 12 O Chirnside (Adeen) 20:01; 13 D Alexander (Harmeny AAC) 20:10; 14 I Welsh (Team Borders) 20:22; 15 G Vickers (Cors) 20:24

TEAM: 1 Harm 19; 2 Lass 33; 3 Tm Bord 36; 4 Cors 74

U15 (4.6km): 1 R Taylor (Falk) 14:32; 2 R MacMillan (Centr) 14:55; 3 H MacMillan (Centr) 14:55; 4 H Hunter (Falk) 15:19; 5 N Lawson (Adeen) 15:27; 6 D McIntyre (Harmeny AAC) 15:38; 7 A Dalgliesh (Team Borders) 15:57; 8 C McAtarsney (Falk) 16:03; 9 J Daunt (Edin) 16:13; 10 R Lees (Edin) 16:19; 11 G Adamson (Team Borders) 16:25; 12 F Lees (Pit) 16:33; 13 J Gillan (Centr) 16:41; 14 O Hastie (Team Borders) 16:47; 15 T Gornall (Tm E Loth) 16:52

TEAM: 1 Falk V 13; 2 Centr 18; 3 Tm Bord 32; 4 Edin 36

U13 (2.9km): 1 H Robinson (Dund H) 10:33; 2 C McNab (Edin) 10:35; 3 R Beattie (Harmeny AAC) 10:35; 4 L Anderson (Anst) 10:43; 5 J Shinnie (Adeen) 10:51; 6 H Cook (Adeen) 10:55; 7 B Upfold (Falk) 10:55; 8 T Comer (Edin) 10:58; 9 H Melrose (Loth) 11:05; 10 F Bell (Perth) 11:06; 11 T Hilton (Perth) 11:09; 12 J Foley (Team Borders) 11:11; 13 S McKay (Adeen) 11:12; 14 S Oliver (Harmeny AAC) 11:13; 15 T Mitchell (Falk) 11:19

TEAM: 1 Adeen 24; 2 Harm 35; 3 Falk V 43; 4 Edin 51

U11 (1.7km): 1 A Whyte (Dunfermline Track & Field AC) 6:30; 2 H Turnbull (Strathe) 6:30; 3 A Hilton (Perth) 6:33

TEAM: 1 Searn 15; 2 Dund H 39; 3 Tm Bord 41

Women (5.8km): 1 I Paterson (Gala, U20) 21:33; 2 M Oller (Edin) 21:49; 3 K MacKenzie (Cors) 21:52; 4 R Penfold (Edin) 22:02; 5 B Ansell (Edin) 22:08; 6 S Collins (Cors) 22:18; 7 D Hughes (Edin) 22:51; 8 F Davies (Edin) 22:58; 9 J Heeps (Loth, U20) 23:07; 10 J Brown (HBT, W35) 23:10; 11 M Littleson (Dund RR) 23:16; 12 O Meikle (Lass, U20) 23:18; 13 N Jackson (Cgie) 23:25; 14 J Dunbar (Edin, W35) 23:28; 15 J Menzies (PH Racing, W35) 23:34; 16 F Matheson (Falk, W35) 23:39; 17 T Myles (Strathe, U20) 23:42; 18 I Scott-Pearce (Edin) 23:45; 19 K Milne (Centr) 23:58; 20 M Mowbray (HBT, W35) 24:00; 21 J MacLean (Edin, W35) 24:18; 22 C McClung (Loth) 24:26; 23 K Newell (Edin) 24:28; 24 P Brown (Perth RR) 24:32; 25 E McCallum (Falk) 24:34; 26 K McBirnie (Harmeny AAC, W35) 24:38; 27 L Traill (Cors) 24:48; 28 S Ridley (Edin, W35) 24:55; 29 L Hay (Lgow) 24:59; 30 C Houston (Lass, W35) 25:02

U20: 5 K Higgins (Living) 25:26; 6 S Ferguson (Strathe) 26:23; 7 A Strath (Loth) 27:13

TEAM: 1 Edin 18; 2 Cors 71; 3 Loth 121; 4 Centr 143; 5 Lass 148; 6 Harm 166

VETS TEAM: 1 Edin 16; 2 Harm 40; 3 Lass 56

U17 (4.6km): 1 C Wright (Lass, U15) 16:27; 2 E McGregor (Edin) 16:36; 3 F Brown (Lass, U15) 16:42; 4 J Taylor (Edin) 16:49; 5 E Dallas (Strathe, U15) 17:05; 6 R Caves (Harmeny AAC, U15) 17:10; 7 I Marshall (Living) 17:12; 8 I Ogg (Falk) 17:13; 9 N Luxford (Fife) 17:33; 10 K Rankine (Team Borders, U15) 17:38; 11 M Meade (Pit, U15) 17:48; 12 A Mourao (Cors) 17:48; 13 E Christie (Falk, U15) 17:49; 14 C MacPhie (Cors) 17:50; 15 A Richardson (Team Borders, U15) 18:04; 16 L Gibson (Falk) 18:06; 17 E Konig (Fife) 18:06; 18 C Edgar (Edin) 18:07; 19 K Hedges (Falk) 18:07; 20 M Meade (Pit, U15) 18:07

TEAM: 1 Edin 24; 2 Lass 28; 3 Falk V 37; 4 Tm Bord 53

U13 (2.9km): 1 E Murdoch (Banc) 11:32; 2 H Reid (Dund H) 11:43; 3 I Mahdra (Lass) 11:45; 4 K Paterson (Adeen) 11:45; 5 S Robertson (Falk) 11:49; 6 E Squires (Perth) 12:02; 7 A Curtis (Tm E Loth) 12:11; 8 A McFarlane (Harmeny AAC) 12:17; 9 E Daunt (Edin) 12:19; 10 G Conroy (Dund H) 12:24; 11 P Warner (Dunfermline Track & Field AC) 12:26; 12 E McGuire (Harmeny AAC) 12:28; 13 E Hodgson (Dund H) 12:28; 14 E Hunter (Pit) 12:36; 15 E Sweetman (Harmeny AAC) 12:41

TEAM: 1 Dund H 25; 2 Harm 35; 3 Falk V 38; 4 Adeen 48

U11 (1.7km): 1 G Whyte (Perth) 6:31; 2 M Brown (Edin) 6:47; 3 K Paterson (Adeen) 6:57

TEAM: 1 Edin 16; 2 Tm Bord 31; 3 Pit 34

Overall males

TEAM: 1 Edin 630; 2 Falk V 742; 3 Centr 750

Overall females

TEAM: 1 Edin 108; 2 Lass 351; 3 Falk V 430

Final standings

Men: 1 Centr 133; 2 Fife 465; 3 Cors 596

Vets: 1 Cors 92; 2 PHRC 96; 3 Gala 100

U17: 1 Harm 65; 2 Lass 67; 3 Adeen 161

U15: 1 Centr 55; 2 Edin 89; 3 Tm Bord 146

U13: 1 Adeen 67; 2 Harm 88; 3 Edin 156

U11: 1 Searn 62; 2 Harm 85; 3 Dund H 133

Women: 1 Edin 96; 2 Cors 338; 3 Falk V 446

Vets: 1 Edin 108; 2 Harm 125; 3 PHRC 154

U17/U15: 1 Edin 66; 2 Falk V 112; 3 Lass 126

U13: 1 Harm 94; 2 Adeen 104; 3 Falk V 120

U11: 1 Edin 58; 2 Tm Bord 119; 3 Falk 152

An independent tribunal decided contaminated meat was the source of the prohibited substances detected - and that the player "bore no fault or negligence".

However, the ITIA is appealing against the independent tribunal's decision about the nandrolone ingested, with that appeal to take place at the Court of Arbitration for Sport at a future date.

In response to the independent tribunal's ruling in December, Moore said she had suffered "19 months of lost time and emotional distress" with her reputation damaged as a result of the case.

"It's going to take more than 19 months to rebuild, repair and recuperate what we've been through," she wrote on X., external

"But we will come back stronger than ever."

British number two Jodie Burrage overcame a shaky start to reach the second round of the Linz Open.

The world number 102, who came through qualifying in Austria, lost her opening service game of the match.

But she regrouped superbly to beat French seventh seed and world number 46 Varvara Gracheva 6-4 6-0.

The 24-year-old, who is in the main draw in Linz for the first time, joins British number one Katie Boulter in the next round.

It was a fifth career victory over a top-50 opponent for Burrage who will face either Jaqueline Cristian of Romania or Argentina's Nadia Podoroska in the next round.

After being 3-2 behind in the first set, she rattled off 10 of the next 11 games as Gracheva committed a string of unforced errors.

"Qualifying really helped me to get a feel for the court and I tried to use that to my advantage," said Burrage.

"I played a really good match. She is a great player and I had to hit her off the court.

"I've not been feeling amazing so I am pleased to get through and I am taking it one match at a time."

Navratilova, 67, and Evert, 69, each won 18 Grand Slam singles titles between 1974 and 1991.

Their opinion column in The Washington Post last week was headlined: 'We did not help build women's tennis for it to be exploited by Saudi Arabia'.

In it they said moving the "crown jewel" women's event to Saudi Arabia was "incompatible with the spirit and purpose of women's tennis and the WTA itself" and was a "significant regression".

"Not only is this a country where women are not seen as equal, it is a country where the current landscape includes a male guardianship law that essentially makes women the property of men. A country which criminalises the LGBTQ community to the point of possible death sentences. A country whose long-term record on human rights and basic freedoms has been a matter of international concern for decades," they wrote.

But in a statement issued on Tuesday, Princess Reema - who is also a member of Saudi Arabia's Olympic Committee and an International Olympic Committee board member - said they had "turned their back on the very same women they have inspired and it is beyond disappointing".

She did not address the pair's criticism of laws which criminalise the LGBTQ community.

Al-Saud aid the pair should "get your facts straight" on matters of Saudi law affecting women and said their arguments were "based on outdated stereotypes and western-centric views of our culture".

She added: "Failing to acknowledge the great progress women have made in Saudi Arabia denigrates our remarkable journey. This not only undermines the progress of women in sports, it sadly undermines women, progress as a whole.

"Sports should not be used as a weapon to advance personal bias or agendas or punish a society that is eager to embrace tennis and help celebrate and grow the sport."

Critics of Saudi Arabia have accused the oil-rich kingdom of using its wealth to invest in sports in a bid to improve its image - known as 'sportswashing'.

It follows recent heavy investment in golf, Formula 1, football and boxing in particular.

Campaigning organisations remain critical of Saudi Arabia's record on human rights and equality.