THE annual Hereford-shire AA Cross Country Championships were held on Sunday in good conditions at Hereford Racecourse, resulting in some excellent races.

The Veteran and Senior Men's races were run together over 11km and saw Tim Taylor, of Hereford Couriers, repeat his success of the previous year in the Veterans' race, coming home in 39 min 38 sec. Richie Richards, of Severn AC, in his first Veterans' championship, came home second in 40 min 5 sec with Mike Venables (Wolverhamp-ton Harriers) third in 41 min 16 sec.

Two newcomers to the senior ranks, Corin Hughes and Stuart Laycock, of Cheltenham Harriers, ran three laps together in the Senior race before Hughes broke away in the fourth to win in 38 min 2 sec with Laycock 19 sec behind.

Tim Clarke (Hereford Couriers) followed home third in 40 min 8 sec.

There were only three runners in the under-20 Junior Men's race over 8.25km and Matt James, of Hereford Couriers, proved an easy winner in 31 min 40 sec. Chris Ford and Geoff Knight, of Hereford Cathedral School, followed him home.

Minster College's Matt Bailey came in first in the under-17 Men's race over 5.5km with team-mate Jake Babbington second in 24 min 14 sec. James Bent, of Hereford Cathedral School, was third in 25 min 48 sec.

Ewan Short, of Bishop's School, continued his promising progress by winning the 3.8km under-15 Boys' race by 54 sec from Luke Mammett, of Whitecross HS, with M Wardle of Minster College third.

Tim Hanks, of Hereford Cathedral School, improved from 17th in the previous year to carry off the under-13 title in a time of 10 min 11 sec, just ahead of school-mate R Watkins and Weobley's Daniel King.

Alison Cooke (Hereford Couriers) raced home in 22 min 41 sec over 5.5 km to win the Veteran Women's title with Rachel Hatfield (Wye Valley) taking the Senior Women's title in 21 min 38 sec from Frances Wood of Cheltenham Harriers and Nicola Goodwin (Here-ford Triathlon Club).

Hereford and County AC's Sarah Fletcher retained her Junior Women's title in 29 min 40 sec with Tilly Spencer, of Hereford Cathedral School, just five seconds behind.

Clare Conway of Weobley HS achieved an easy win in the under-17 Women's race over 3.8km, racing home in 15 min 28 sec. Kris Head of Haywood HS came in second in 17 min 13 sec with third-placed Vicky Frith of Hereford Cathedral School a further 61 seconds back.

Two Hereford and County AC athletes fought a close battle in the under-15 Girls' race over 3km with Marietta Kirkbride coming home in 13 min 49 sec, five seconds ahead of Olivia Sawyer. J Lindsay, of Hereford Cathedral School, was third.

Championship newcomer Vanessa Brann continued Hereford and County AC's dominance in the under-13 girls' race, coming home in 12 min 10 sec to win by 45 seconds from H Watson (Weobley HS) and H Telling (Hereford Cathedral School) who were separated by just two seconds.

RESULTS

Veteran Men: 1 T Taylor (Hereford Couriers); 2 R Richards (Severn AC); 3 M Venables (Wolverhampton H); 4 D Williams (HC); 5 M Ligema (Ludlow R); 6 N Misselbrook (Croft Ambrey); 7 K Howard (Wye Valley); 8 S Littlewood (HC); 9 A Bodell (WV); 10 D Lambert (WV). Teams: 1 Couriers 13pts; 2 Wye Valley 26pts; 3 Croft Ambrey 37pts.

Senior Men: 1 C Hughes (Cheltenham H); 2 S Laycock (CH); 3 T Clarke (Hereford Couriers); 4 S Bennett (HC); 5 S Morgan (Croft Ambrey); 6 N Lewis (HC); 7 R Worth (WV); 8 M Warley (CH); 9 B Lloyd (HC); 10 S Russell (HC). Teams: 1 CheltenhamH 11pts; 2 Hereford Couriers 13pts; 3 Wye Valley 31pts.

Junior Men: 1 M James (HC); 2 C Ford (Hereford Cathedral School); 3 G Knight (HCS).

Under-17 Men: 1 M Bailey (Minster Coll); 2 J Babbington (Minster); 3 J Bent (HCS).

Under-15 Boys: 1 E Short (Bishop's Sch); 2 L Mammatt (Whitecross HS); 3 M Wardle (Minster); 4 S Harrison (Haywood HS); 5 N Thomas (Bishop's); 6 A Wood (Minster); 7 G Moczulski (Bish); 8 M Fear (Minster) 9 D Bromage (Bish); 10 E Spink (Bish). Teams: 1 Bishop's 13pts; 2 Minster Coll 17pts.

Under-13 Boys: 1 T Hanks (HCS); 2 R Watkins (HCS); 3 D King (Weobley); 4 E Taylor (Aylestone); 5 R Nicholas (Weobley); 6 A McGhee (HCS); 7 A Howden (HCS); 8 D Barker (Weobley); 9 E Coombes (St Mary's); 10 A Phillips (HCS). Teams: 1 Hereford Cathedral School 10pts; 2 Weobley HS 16pts; 3 St Mary's 33pts.

Veteran Women: 1 A Cooke (HC); 2 S Urro (WV); 3 C Mottram (WV).

Senior Women: 1 R Hatfield (WV); 2 F Wood (Cheltenham H); 3 N Goodwin (Hereford Triathlon Club); 4 S Bliss (HC); 5 A Look (WV); 6 L Quinn (Cheltenham); 7 J Suff (HC); 8 A Carwardine (HC); 9 C Mottram (WV); 10 C Hancock (WV). Teams: 1 Wye Valley 13pts; 2 Hereford Couriers 19pts.

Junior Women: 1 S Fletcher (Hfd and County AC); 2 T Spencer (CS).

Under-17 Women: 1 C Conway (Weobley HS); 2 K Head (Haywood HS); 3 V Frith (HCS); 4 J Chambers (HCS); 5 C Tucker (HCS). Team: 1 Hereford Cathedral School 12pts.

Under-15 Girls: 1 M Kirkbride (Hfd and County AC); 2 O Sawyer (H&C); 3 J Lindsay (HCS); 4 G Marlow (HCS); 5 J Arbuthnutt (HCS); 6 L Nahorniak (HCS); 7 R Bradley (HCS); 8 H Pudge (HCS); 9 C Jones (HCS); 10 S Boulton (HCS). Team: 1 Hereford Cathedral School 12pts.

Under-13 Girls: 1 V Brann (H&C); 2 H Watson (Weobley); 3 H Telling (HCS); 4 T Mammatt (H&C); 5 S Lamonby (Weobley); 6 O Smith (HCS) 7 F Hughes (HCS); 8 E Tompkins (HCS); 9 E Lewis (HCS); 10 L Hadley (Weobley). Teams: 1 Hereford Cathedral School 16pts; 2 Weobley HS 17pts.