BURY Athletic Club had an outstanding day as its runners returned to the cross-country season in the second Red Rose League fixture, held at Astley Park, Chorley, taking individual victory in a third of the races.

The most dominant performance of the day came from Bury’s women. Too young to count in the senior event, Sophie Whittaker was the third woman home, winning the under-17 women’s race by 35 seconds.

Donna Cartwright relished the difficult conditions to finish third overall in senior women’s race and second vet. Close behind, Caitlin Cole’s superb run for fourth gave her victory in the junior women’s race. With Katie Geelan sixth, Bury romped to team victory.

The club is building a very strong women’s section and this was reinforced by strong packing throughout the field, with Amy Cauley 14th, Lucy Hodson 21st, Nicola Harland 30th, Mel Monks 33rd, Alana Grundy 48th, Sophie Sasimowicz 58th, Lisa Carter 106th and Michelle Yates 128th.

With Lauren Booth fifth in the u17 women’s race and Jennifer Smalley 18th, Emily Moran 20th and Melanie Howarth 21st, Bury were narrowly edged out by Rossendale for the team win.

Bury’s other dominant performance of the day came in the u15 boys’ race with three in the top five leading to a resounding team victory.

For the second race in a row, Marcus Dey was untroubled at the front, easing to victory by 15 seconds. Behind him, George Yates and Sam Brooks produced their best runs of the year to take third and fifth respectively. Bury’s strength in depth in this age group was emphasised with Curtis Johnstone finishing 11th, Joe Whelan 22nd, Liam Hanson 26th, James Coghlan 27th and Jack Smith 29th.

Ben Forrest was back to his best in the u13 boys’ race. Forrest went to the front from the start, gradually increasing his lead throughout the race to take victory by 11 seconds. Francis Woodcock continues to show great potential, finishing fourth. With Oliver Donnelly 24th, Mikey Hodgkinson 30th and Patrick Clarke 37th, the team was narrowly edged out for third place overall. Daisy Worthington is another showing great improvement and potential this winter, this time producing a superb run for third place in the u13 girls’ event. She was well supported by Charlotte Farnworth in 16th and Harriet Vaughan in 17th to ensure third place for the team.

There was strong packing from the squad with Rebecca Froggatt 20th, Ellie Carter 21st, Heledd Rimmer 25th, Hannah Holland 32nd, Katherine Townsend 37th, Layla Hunt 42nd, Darcy Tanner 46th, Ella Tyrell 49th and Josie Carroll 54th.

Bury’s u15 girls continue to show improvement and potential for the future with the whole squad having another year of eligibility in this age group. Talullah Cullen produced a strong run for ninth, with Lucy Alcock 14th, Melissa Thompson 21st, Jenna Allen-Cartwright 30th, Rebecca Gartland 31st, Teegan Brady 32nd and Millie Hughes 36th to help the team to fourth place. The u17 men took third place in the team race, with Harry Stainton taking seventh place, Harry Anderton 13th, Patrick Hanson 16th and Iestyn Rimmer 17th.

The u11 boys were led home by Gilbert Vaughan in 19th place. The team took seventh place, with Jay Cook 30th and Harry Yates 34th.

First u11 girl across the line from Bury was Freya Potts in 18th. With Katherine Waters 40th, Erin Garroch 41st, Lucy Pixton 43rd, Abigail Howard 45th, Millie Yates 48th, Sophie Gartland 65th, Ella Hall 72nd, Alice Watson 73rd, Madeleine Weston 74th, Emily McSharry 76th, Holly Crow 86th, Millie Townsend 88th, Nicole Palmer 90th, Rachel Alcock 92nd, Yasmin Ilyas 93rd, Harriet Bower 95th, Ruby Reynalds 100th, Leonie Appleby 101st, Isobelle Berry 107th and Olivia Benjamin 109th, the team finished ninth.

Bury’s senior men were led home by a strong run from Dave Cullen in 20th, with Ben Coop close behind in 23rd, Stuart Hodgkinson in 45th as the team took fifth place overall.

After a break this weekend, Bury return to Red Rose action at Leverhulme Park on Saturday, November 22.