Cross country: Golden glory for Chester athletes at Cheshire Schools Cross Country Championships

THE county’s leading young cross country runners were going for gold in Ellesmere Port on Saturday.

Whitby High School hosted this year’s Cheshire Schools Cross Country Championships, which saw runners compete for team and individual honours across four age groups.

The top 14 finishers in each race earned selection for the Cheshire team and their Inter Counties match against the West Midlands next month.

There was a gold medal win for the Chester team in the junior girls section as Amy Hinchly raced to victory.

The Tarporley High School student will be joined on the Cheshire team next month by Hannah Willis (The King’s School), who finished 12th.

Chester’s Rebecca Hurst (Upton High) and Ellesmere Port’s Emily McCubbing finished eighth and 14th respectively in the intermediate girls event.

Neston High’s Olivia Waring, also representing the Ellesmere Port team, finished seventh in the minor girls event, ahead of Chester trio Martha Owen (King’s School) in ninth, Sophie Hemingbrough (Tarporley High) in 11th and Jessica Thomas (Abbey Gate) in 12th.

Tessa McCormick, of Upton High, finished third in the senior girls race, ahead of Rachel Hardy (Queen’s School) in fourth, Charlotte Fraser-Cox (King’s School) in sixth, Lucy Simmons (King’s School) in ninth and Hannah Bickerton (Upton High) in 10th.

Christy Mageean (Christleton High) finished third in the minor boys event ahead of Chester duo Evan Roberts (Tarporley High) in sixth and Matthew Willis (KIng’s School) in eighth.

The Chester trio of Will Parsons (Abbey Gate) in third, Cameron Weaver (Bishops’ High) in fifth and Zac Holland (Bishop Heber) in 10th qualified for the Cheshire junior boys team, while Matt Sheen (Tarporley High) in fourth and Ben Paxton (King’s School) in 12th will join forces with Ellesmere Port’s Dominic Roberts, who finished 14th.

Runners from Helsby High were incorporated into the Halton team. There was a gold medal for Jess Parsons and a bronze for Kate Merrill in the intermediate girls race.

Helsby’s Georgia Aston-Massey bagged a bronze medal in the junior girls race while Matthew Hulse struck gold in the intermediate boys section and Liam Renton did likewise in the senior boys event.

Event organiser Sandy Littler, of The Queen’s School, thanked the West Cheshire AC members who volunteered to help out at the event.