MARCUS Dey made the best of wet and muddy conditions at Leverhulme Park in Bolton to lead Bury Athletic Club to double gold at the Greater Manchester Cross Country Championships last Saturday.

The teenager shrugged off the effects of a stomach bug and a strong challenge from Keenan Owen, of East Cheshire, to win the individual title in the boys' under-15s race.

Bury's Oliver Makinson took third place and Ben Forrest battled well to take 10th, giving them the team victory by 15 points over Trafford.

Francis Woodcock produced an excellent run to finish runner-up in the very competitive u13s boys' race, where just six seconds separated the first four finishers.

Jack Andrew (20th) and Oliver Donnelly (22nd) were the other Bury competitors in the race.

Sophie Whittaker was Bury’s sole competitor in the u17s women’s race. She ran well to take fourth place and also secure county selection.

Similarly, Lauren Booth was the only Bury athlete in the u20s women’s race, running strongly in the dire conditions to take sixth place.

Katie Geelan produced one of her best cross country performances to date to secure seventh place in the senior women’s race and will wait to see if the performance is enough for county selection.

Christie Cook, who didn’t enjoy the harsh conditions, finished 19th and Alison Dale, making her debut in the county championships, showed her continued improvement by finishing 40th.

In the u20s men’s race, Benn Heywood’s eighth place should be good enough for a county vest, despite being misled by an official about the number of laps. Harry Stainton ran strongly to finish 11th.

Charlotte Farnworth was Bury’s first finisher in the u13s girls' race in 19th, three places ahead of Daisy Worthington.

The other Bury runners in this race were Erin Kenyon (36th), Charlotte Smith (42nd) and Ella Hall (57th).

For the u15s girls, Lucy Alcock ran well to take 17th, followed by Ellie Carter (26th), Melissa Thompson (32nd) and Heledd Rimmer (37th).

The final race of the day was the senior men’s event, in which Giles Bennett was the club’s only competitor.

The course had deteriorated into a quagmire by the time the men set off and Giles ran well to take 75th.

Ex-Bury athlete Scott Evans made the journey home to compete in the event from his adopted club Kingston AC.

He demonstrated his superb talent in taking third place in a strong field and should secure county selection.

Next weekend sees a Sportshall athletics representative fixture at Sportscity.

Bury have had five young athletes – Elliott Savage, Evan Savage, Mikey Carling, Abigail Howard and Matilda Brett – selected to compete for the Greater Manchester u11s team.