THE first Red Rose League cross country meeting saw a 46-strong Bolton United squad across the age-groups travel to Leigh, with some sterling performances that pleased team manager Dean Johnson.

Jonny Kay won the men’s race of around 6.4 miles, just over half a minute ahead of last year’s winner, Blackburn’s Tim Raynes.

Controlling the race from the front and comfortable with the early pace, he was able to break clear on the second lap.

A few Blue Vests were missing due to the Manchester Half Marathon, but the team finished eighth, with second-counter Paul Mills 37th-place finish emphasising his progress in the M50 category.

In the women’s race, Katie Oakley had a breakthrough result, finishing fifth overall and third in the under-20s section, having come 31st in the fixture last year – which showed a tremendous improvement.

It also promises to be a good cross-country season for fellow u20s runner Rachel Bailey as she finished 25th in the 125-strong field.

For the juniors, Harvey Kenny was the top-placed Blue Vest with his sixth in the u11s race, while the u13s boys and u17s girls both finished second in the team standings, with Laurence Britton and Molly Philbin leading the way.

Results: Red Rose League – U11s boys’ team fourth on 57 points: Harvey Kenny 7:44, Sam Hazelwood 8:24, Connor Gettinby 8:29, Samuel Liptrott 8:35, Marcus Valentine 9:19, Charlie Aldred 9:30, Alfie Dodds 9:41, Jamie Greenhalgh 10:00, Joseph Rossington 10:10, Finn Coop 10:58.

U11s girls’ team fifth on 59 points:

Isobel Hall 9:05, Poppy Dunne 9:16, Jessica Swales 9:20, Cloe Bentley-Hughes 9:28, Kirsten Scaife 11:42.

U13s boys’ team second on 33 points:

Laurence Britton 10:49, Jason Scaife 10:59, Harry Aldred 11:22, Oisin Behan 11:36, Matthew Wilkinson 13:12, Bentley 13:27, Christopher Fordham 13:40.

U13s girls’ team ninth on 140 points:

Lily Philbin 12:02, Hannah Swales 13:06, Sofia Aftab 14:38.

U15s boys’ team seventh on 108 points:

Ben Pickford 14:35, Ruairi Behan 15:54, Sam Aldred 16:47.

U15s girls: Roisin Riley-Burke19:14.

U17s boys: Lewis Aldred 20:12, Chris Peacock 22:07.

U17 girls’ team second on 29 points: Molly Philbin 24:46, M Erzan-Essien 25:18, Francesca Fordham 25:48.

Women’s team 10th on 99 points:

Katie Oakley 21:33, Rachel Bailey 24:14, Abigail Johnson 28:38, Jane Lim 40:08.

Men’s team eighth on 280 points:

Jonathon Kay 34:46, Paul Mills 41:36, Chris Povey 42:01, Craig Kenny 43:57, Dean Johnson 44:40, Chris Pickford 44:53, Nicholas Howarth 47:22, Ken Fowler 47:45.

Manchester Half Marathon: Karl Darcy 1:13:16, Thomas Harrison 1:14:47, John Knowles 1:18:07, Dominic Gavin 1:20:50,Mark Wolstencroft 1:22:38, Jack Heggie 1:26:49, Stephen Bonney 1:26:26, John Grimshaw 1:55:42.