WARRINGTON schools' Joe Buckley was an outstanding winner for his town at the weekend.
The under 17s runner secured a gold medal in the Cheshire Schools Cross Country Championships at Knights Grange in Winsford on Saturday.
Buckley, a Barrow Hall College sixth-form student and one of 27 Warrington Athletics Club runners taking part, was first in the under 20s men's race.
He is one of several Warrington athletes who will now go on to represent Cheshire at the English Schools Championships at Temple Newsam in Leeds on March 16.
The first five from the junior, intermediate and senior events are automatically selected, with three discretionary places to be added.
This means Buckley should be joined by Jess Connolly (intermediate girls, fourth), Isaaq Ataullah (intermediate boys, fourth) and Joe Roberts (intermediate boys, fifth), with more likely to be added.
Behind Connolly were Madeleine Anderson, 15th, and Niamh Aldridge, 28th.
Jess Connolly, red vest, attacking the Winsford course on Saturday
Chasing Buckley were Ben Webb, representing Halton & Frodsham, sixth, and Jack Wadsworth, eighth.
Erik Marshall finished eighth in the junior boys' race, with Ben Pucill, 19th, and Marcus Trevithick, 22nd.
At junior level, 10 Warrington AC runners made up the 11-strong town team in the junior girls' race.
First to finish was Orla Gregory, eighth, followed by Lucie Davies, 17th, Maisie Bell, 18th, Emily Entwistle, 19th, Molly Wormald, 22nd, Eva Ferris, 26th, Jasmine Jones, 39th, Bella Robbins, 48th, Grace Edwards, 54th, and Grace Callaghan, 55th.
Olivia Baker was eighth in the senior girls' race.
Harriet Bell ran well to place fourth in the minor girls' run, with Alice Nicholson, sixth, and Evie Owen, 16th, while Zak Chamun was 10th for the boys.
Harriet Bell on the fly
The first 20 in the minor age group are selected to take part in an inter-county match against Merseyside at Ellesmere Port on March 27.
Two Warrington AC runners took part in the Greater Manchester Schools Cross Country Championships in Heaton Park.
Siobhan Gregory was 28th in the intermediate girls' race in 15mins 55secs while in the minor boys' race her brother Rory finished 21st in 7mins 25secs.
In the Alsager Five Miles Road Race at Stoke-on-Trent on Sunday, Steve Watmough, 44th, and Louise Blizzard, 23rd woman, finished first in the over 55s and second in the over 40s respectively.
Watmough clocked 28mins 24secs and Blizzard 32mins 46secs.
Paul Bagan, 39th in 28mins 15secs, was fourth in the over 40s.
Steve Watmough, Paul Bagan and Louise Blizzard
Warrington Athletic Club’s Jack Green continues to run well in Australia.
He made his debut in the New South Wales Championships over 5,000m on the track.
Running in the B race, Green finished in 10th place in 15mins 31.02secs - just six seconds outside of his best time on the road for the distance.
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