Bury Athletic Club concluded a very successful Red Rose Cross-Country League season with another round of great performances in the final race held at the testing Marl Pits course.

The highlight of the day and season was the performance of the senior women's team, which took victory in the team race, even with star performer, Katie Geelan on the sidelines due to illness. Donna Cartwright led the way for Bury, relishing the tough, muddy conditions to take fifth place overall and third vet. Close behind, Caitlin Cole took victory in the under 20 women's race with sixth place overall and a strong run from Amy Cauley for ninth gave the team first place just ahead of Darwen Dashers. Bury's strength in depth was illustrated by a series of impressive runs, with Lizzie Cheshire 24th, Jess Symons 37th, Lucy Hodson 46th, Sophie Sasimowicz 56th and Lisa Carter 76th.

Overall, this victory gave Bury's women the overall Red Rose league title. In the individual standings, Cartwright took fourth place and Geelan fifth. These positions were reversed in the end of season positions for the vets category, with Geelan third and Cartwright fourth. Cole was rewarded with second place overall in the under 20 women's individual standings.

The other team to secure an overall Red Rose League title was the under 17 women. Sophie Whittaker took second place, with Lauren Booth sixth, Eleanor Boyle 12th, Jennifer Smalley 15th, Melanie Howarth 17th and Emily Moran 19th. Although the team was edged into second on the day on countback, performances across the season secured first place in the league. Whittaker's victories in the first three races gave her the overall league individual title, whilst Booth took fifth place overall.

In the senior men's race, a great run from Benn Heywood for 23rd place gave him victory in the under 20 men's event and second in the overall league standings. Ben Coop produced his best run of the season to take tenth place, closely followed by David Cullen in 12th. With Luke Harreld 21st, Paul Thompson 63rd, Byron Edwards 72nd, Les Smalley 76th, Rob Granby 86th and fifth under 20, Duncan Forrest 111th, Giles Bennett 125th and David Flood 155th, the team took third place on the day and fifth place in the overall standings.

Individual league titles went to Ben Forrest in the under 13 boys and Marcus Dey in the under 15 boys event. Both were pipped for second on the day. Behind Forrest in the under 13 race, Francis Woodcock underlined his potential with fourth place and joint second in the overall Red Rose standings for the season. With Jack Knowles 17th and Oliver Donnelly 35th, despite running half the race with one shoe, the team finished second, another to lose only on countback. Overall, this gave Bury second in the league, a position matched by the under 15 boys. This team was also second on the day, with George Yates seventh, Sam Brooks tenth, Patrick Watson 14th, Curtis Johnstone 18th, Joe Whelan 27th, Liam Hanson 29th, Jack Smith 30th and James Coghlan 31st. In the individual league standings, Yates finished fifth and Brooks sixth.

In the under 11 boys' race, Jack Andrews led Bury home in 20th place, with Harry Yates 30th, Jay Cook 34th, Noah Carter 40th, Joshua Frost 49th, Freddie Worthington 61st, Cian Donnelly 67th and Oliver Rostron 70th for eighth place in the team race. Across the season, however, the team took fourth place.

There was a strong start to the day for Bury with Grace Bagguley seizing an excellent third place in the under 11 girls' race in her first competition of the year. Behind her, Scarlett Hamilton made an excellent debut finishing tenth. With Freya Potts 18th, Millie Yates 34th, Erin Garroch 41st, Alice Lawson 42nd, Esme Drysdale 43rd, Emily McSharry 46th, Lucy PIxton 47th, Ella Hall 55th, Abigail Howard 57th, Sophie Gartland 59th, Esther McGrath 63rd, Freya Dover 72nd,

Rachel Alcock 73rd, Nicole Palmer 75th, Leonie Appleby 83rd and Neve Dover 85th, the team finished fourth on the day and fifth in the league for the season.

Although Bury's under 13 girls finished a slightly disappointing sixth in this fixture, they took fifth overall in a very competitive event. Once again Daisy Worthington led the team in 15th place, with her performances across the season securing fifth place overall in the individual standings. Behind her, there was strong packing with Rebecca Froggatt 19th, Ellie Carter 20th, Harriet Vaughan 21st, Charlotte Farnworth 23rd, Heledd Rimmer 24th, Hannah Holland 29th, Layla Hunt 35th and Ella Tyrell 40th.

There was another strong run from Lucy Alcock in the under 15 girls' event, finishing fifth. With Melissa Thompson 15th, Jenna Allen-Cartwright 21st and Rebecca Gartland 22nd, the team took third place, a position replicated in the overall league standings. Harry Stainton led home the under 17 men with a fine effort for sixth, which also gave him sixth place overall in the Red Rose individual event. The team finished second on the day, Harry Anderton finishing 11th and Iestyn Rimmer 15th, and third place in the end of season positions.

After a break over Christmas, the Bury teams will return to action in the Greater Manchester Championships on Saturday 3rd January at Boggart Hole Clough.