BOGGART Hole Clough was the scene for this year's Greater Manchester Cross Country Championships and Bolton Harriers' representatives acquitted themselves well on a demandingly wet and muddy course.

In the under-13 girls' race, Alice Tonge (12mins 27secs – 11th) led the team home, ably supported by Ellie-Jo Ramsden (23rd), Molly Philbin (24th) and Francesca Fordham (27th) in a field of 49. The team placed well in fifth overall.

For the under-15s, Rachel Bailey (18:39 – 12th) continued her fine Red Rose form and, while Georgia Greenhalgh and Ellie Forrest were unfortunately forced to retire due to illness, Leah Rushworth (30th) and Luke Entwistle (21:10 – 26th) performed admirably in the face of strong opposition, delighting coach Dave Flitcroft.

Bolton’s only senior runner, Fraser Jardine, clocked 45:05 for an impressive ninth place, while Declan Toomey (20:00 – seventh) and Katie Oakley (27:01 – 11th) competed for the under-17s with selection to represent Greater Manchester in the Inter County Championships at Cofton Park in Birmingham in March up for grabs.

For the Endurance group, Adrian Costello clocked a creditable 1hr 36mins 58secs (96th) in the Central Lancashire Half Marathon near Preston. Also among the 449 field for Harriers were Stewart Brierley (1:39:11) and Hannah Edwards (1:53:35).

Elsewhere, in the second of Sale Harriers’ indoor open meetings at Sportcity, Harriers had competitors at 60m in all age-groups including: U15 – Hannah Kelly (8.13s), U17 – Anna Chadbond (8.05s), U20 – Tom Halliwell (7.97s) and Demi-Lee Scott (8.00s) and senior athlete Sian Pledger (8.03s).

The longer 200m sprint featured U17 Hannah Stephenson (27.82s), U20 duo Jack Dickinson (23.84s) and Danielle Parrott (27.96s) and senior Sian Pledger (25.90s) again, while Martin Reid (1:25:69) raced the 600m.