VALE Royal were a top ten hit at the Cheshire Cross Country Championships at Knight’s Grange on Saturday.

Despite the freezing conditions on the Winsford course, Vale Royal were in hot form and set a club record by taking ten of the titles on offer. Four individual runners took home their respective age group crowns while six of the borough’s squads claimed team prizes.

Nikki Meadows won her under 17 race in 17mins 35secs with Charlotte Mills in third (18.15) while Andy Clewes took the U17 boys race in 18.33.

Megan Huxley was head girl in the U15 girls race (13.08) with Tessa McCormick in third (13.35).

Champion Louise Towers (11.26) was quickly followed in the U13 race by Jade Evans (11.30) to complete a Vale Royal one-two.

Stevie Stockton was runner-up (26.03) in the senior women’s contest while Tom Annable (39.38) was third in the veteran men’s race.

Nathan Tipping (10.46) and Patrick Standerling (10.49) came second and third in the U13 boys event while Hayden Healy took third in the U11 boys.

The senior men’s squad of Annable, Stuart Doyle, Gavin Tomlinson, Tom Heaward, Graham Miles and James Griffiths took the team title.

Not to be outdone the senior ladies (Stockton, Gemma Todd and Kate Spilsbury) were champions along with the U17 girls (Meadows, Mills and Hannah Paver).

The U15 girls (McCormick, Huxley and Amelia Pettitt), the U13 boys (Tipping, Standerling and James Iken) and the U13 girls (Towers, Evans and Cerys Heaher) also claimed team gold.

Cheshire County Athletics Association vice-president John Driscoll said: “It was a superb event that had a good level of competition across the board. You never knew who was going to win a race and that is good news for competition in Cheshire.

“It was a bit cold and for safety reasons the course had to be shortened in places but in cross country, these are things we have to accept.”