ATHLETICS: KIRSTY Young rose above a disappointing turnout by Halton and Frodsham Harriers at the Cheshire Cross-Country League first round to lift a coveted trophy.
A splendid time of nine minutes 51 seconds earned her 14th place in the Under 15s girls race at Castle Park in Frodsham.
Kirsty's performance over 2.4k saw her finish exactly halfway and collect the Syd Pearsall Memorial Trophy awarded by her club for the top-finishing girl.
Team-mate Mark Coman finished 24th in the Under 13s boys event, over the same distance, with a good time of 9:57.
Runcorn's Sarah Murphy came in fourth as a guest in the senior women's race over 4k.
Once a very talented young member of the Harriers, she has moved on to the elite Belgrave Harriers outfit.
Sarah completed a very tough course in 14:44 - just over half a minute behind the clear winner Laura Bestow of West Cheshire (14:10) but only three seconds adrift of runner-up Karen Ellison from Vale Royal.
Helsby Running Club's top performer among the 69 women finishers was Kathryn Roberts (19th, 16:34).
Their other placings were 24th (V9th) Vanessa Griffiths 17:03; 32nd (V15th) Rachel Arnold 17:37; 44th (V21st) Sarah Gooda 18:44; 47th Joan Bartimote 18:50; 54th (V28th) Carol Shaw 19:22; 55th (V29th) Steph Char-man 19:32.
Helsby's senior men were well off the winning pace with Max Taylor (69th, 29:19) their best.
Other finishers were: 73rd (V38th) Andy Smith 29:37; 98th (V54) Manfred Keune 32:06; and 101st Brandon Taylor (32:26).
The next two rounds of the league are at Stockport on Sunday, February 13 and Macclesfield on Sunday, March 13 with both meetings starting at 12.30pm.
