A GROUP of five Bury AC athletes travelled to Pontefract on Saturday to compete in the North of England Cross Country Championships.

Held on a challenging course on the racecourse, the competition represents a formidable challenge as athletes are pitted against the very best in the region.

The best local performance of the day came in the under-17 men’s race where Brandon Quinton, racing in his first year in the age category, took 28th place in the high-quality field.

In the senior men’s race, Ben Coop took 76th place. As current county champion, his position underlines the quality of the field.

Bury’s other competitor in the race was Patrick Babb in 200th.

Freya Potts ran strongly in the u15 girls' race to take 79th, while Charlotte Speakman-Farnworth took 86th in the u17 women’s race.

The following day, Luke Harreld competed in the St Anne’s 10-mile road race and took an excellent second place. The gale-like conditions played havoc with the times with only the winner breaking the hour and Harreld completed the course in 1hr 3mins.

Bury’s younger athletes produced some excellent performances in the Greater Manchester Sportshall athletics championships at SportCity.

Connie Potts (shot putt) and Finley Collins (six-lap) were both silver medal winners.

There were good performances from Millie Uprichard, Amy Garroch, Grace Gibson and Jay Cook and coach Alison Dale was pleased with the numbers who competed.