IN winning the Greater Manchester senior men’s cross country championship on Saturday, Ben Coop achieved a feat that has not been achieved by a Bury AC athlete in living memory.

Always in contention, Coop surpassed his own expectations by pulling away from the field on the tough Boggart Hole Clough course to win with a convincing 16-second margin.

Speaking after the race he said: “I was really happy to win. It’s been an up-and-down season on the cross country.

"I didn’t feel I’ve been running at my best in the Red Rose League so I was really happy to perform when it mattered.”

The result will see Coop represent Greater Manchester in March’s Inter-Counties Championships in Loughborough.

Patrick Babb (26th), Giles Bennett (52nd) and Alison Dale (99th) were the other Bury finishers.

Hannah Price led the senior women’s team to a bronze medal in her championship debut. Hannah took 11th place, with Katie Geelan just a minute behind in 16th and Lizzi Cheshire completing the scoring trio in 32nd.

Oliver Makinson continued his good form when he finished third in the under-20s men’s race to achieve a county call-up. It was a close affair with just 12 seconds separating the first three finishers.

Stefan Kalambouka produced the race of his life to take fifth place in the under-17s men’s race.

The result also saw him finish ahead of Ben Forrest – making a welcome return to Bury – in seventh and Brandon Quinton in ninth. Just 24 seconds separated the trio and their efforts were rewarded by an excellent team silver medal.

All three could make the county team.

Freya Potts ran strongly to finish an excellent 10th in the under-15s girls' race, with club-mate Grace Gibson the only other Bury competitor in 33rd.

In the under-13s girls' race, Reilly Carson was the club’s first finisher in 25th place, closely followed by Chloe Ardin in 26th, Summer Whitfield in 38th and Lola Potts in 39th. The girls took 10th place in the team event.

Noah Carter led the under-13s boys to sixth team place, running well to take 16th place, followed by Finley Collins in 25th and Jayden Barlow in 30th.