BURY's under-13 girls were again the top performers at the third Red Rose Cross Country League fixture in Todmorden.

The rapidly-improving Emily Purdy ran superbly to take second place, with Chloe Ardin close behind in third, while Lola Potts was the final counter in 11th to give Bury the team win.

There was also great support from Lucy Hill in 18th place.

The u13 boys worked hard and produced a much-improved second place overall. Samuel Howard was the first counter in eighth, followed by Thomas Donnelly (12th) and Finley Collings (19th) and coach Alison Dale was proud of her young athletes.

A depleted senior women’s team had to settle for third place, although only three points separated the top three teams.

Hannah Price produced her usual strong run to take fourth, with Rachel Marshall in eighth, Katie Oakley in 19th and Katie Geelan in 23rd.

Other top-50 finishers included Sarah Thomas, Nicola Ryan and Fran Garroch.

Despite the minor setback, Bury’s women are favourites to win the league title.

The senior men’s team was also missing some members but they performed well to take fourth team place.

Ben Coop was once again the leading athlete for the club, taking sixth in a very competitive race. Joshua Birmingham was 15th with support coming from Paul Johnston (37th), Patrick Babb (44th), Matthew Garside (76th) and Anthony Hallahan (86th).

A full turnout at the final fixture should secure a top-three finish for the team.

The u17 women’s team took third place with Charlotte Speakman-Farnworth in seventh, Kate Lilley 11th and Bolanje Akinnayajo 17th. Amy Garroch and Erin Kenyon also ran well.

The u11 boys' team took a much-improved fourth place. They were led home by Edison Marsden in 16th, with Oliver Cooper hot on his heels in 17th. Owen Lowe in 25th completed the scoring.

The u11 girls were ninth team. Lucy Dent had a fantastic individual run to take seventh place, with Isabel Robinson (41st) and P Kalambouka-Hick (48th) also running.

Bury were unable to field complete teams in the other age categories.

Nathan Ardin and Matthew Lowe were the only Bury finishers in the u15 boys' race, taking 17th and 19th respectively, while Freya Potts had another superb run in the u15 girls' race to take second place.

But with Grace Gibson the only other finisher in 19th, Bury did not capitalise on those two great performances.

Jacob Allen was once again the only u17 man representing Bury, taking 19th place, while Nathan Shepherd was the only u20 man, taking fourth in the category.

The final league fixture will be held at the testing Marl Pitts course in Rossendale on November 30, where the overall individual and team placings will be finalised.