FRESH from her Great Britain international debut, Warrington Athletics club runner Harriet Knowles-Jones again demonstrated her star quality by capturing the Northern Cross Country Championships title.

Competing in the under 17s category despite being only 15, Knowles-Jones battled extremely wet conditions at Knowsley Safari Park to dominate from start to finish.

Taking the lead from the gun, the Lymm athlete gradually wore the field down throughout the first lap and had opened a 30-metre lead by the time she entered lap two.

Knowles-Jones continued to increase her lead, eventually coming home for the gold medal 45 seconds clear in 18mins 43secs.

Behind her, Alysha Goddard had her best run to date when finishing 23rd in 21mins 50secs.

Liam Burthem led the club’s charge in the under 17s boys’ race, taking fifth with a time of 20mins 13secs and chased closely by eighth-placed Daniel Evans in 20mins 26secs.

Leighton Sharman enjoyed a typically reliable performance, finishing 53rd in 22mins 25secs.

The team was completed by Chris Fance in 84th place with 23mins 28secs, placing the team seventh.

Robert Dykes ran well to finish 92nd in 23mins 55secs.

Cameron Field was the only club runner taking part in the under 20s men’s race, but he did not disappoint An excellent performance saw him compete for fifth place for much of the race, though unfortunately he was caught by two runners late on the final lap to eventually finish seventh in 28mins 13secs.