It was Bury’s junior athletes who shone at the final South East Lancashire Cross Country League fixture of the season at Heaton Park.

With the four league races completed, the organisers could announce the individual and team winners across the different age groups. Individual first places went to Isla Taylor in the Under-11 girls and Lucy Dent in the U15s girls. There were team victories for Bury’s U11 girls, U11 boys and U13 girls.

The U11s was the first race with Isla Taylor and Niamh Murray taking first and second for Bury. Myla Bryan completed the scoring trio in eighth, with Violette Overlunde just behind her in ninth. For the boys, Dexter Mesce had another great run to take third with Max Worsley in fourth. Isaac Cullen made up the scorers in sixth. Both the girls and the boys were top teams.

In the U13 girls’ race, Bury were the team winners again, with Heidi Wilkinson running strongly to take third, supported by Kathryn Wolstenholme, in seventh, and Ella Straffon-Finch, in 10th. Lucy Dent was the runaway winner in the U15 girls’ race, with Coco-Lily Honor in 11th. Daniel Taylor was the club’s sole competitor in the boys’ race, placing seventh.

For the senior women, the trio of Rachel Marshall (third), Bev McAuley (22nd) and Afroditi Kalambouka (38th) secured fifth team place for Bury. Anthony Hallahan (36th) and Giles Bennett (46th) were the only Bury competitors in the men’s race.

On Sunday, six club members competed in the prestigious Brass Monkey half-marathon in York. First home was Ben Coop in an excellent 26th place with a time of 1hr 10mins 49secs. Next, in 41st place, was Christian Peters, recording an excellent 1:13:16, and hot on his heels was James Brown, in 45th place, representing his first claim team of Prestwich AC, and setting a new PB of 1:13:16. New club member Ryan Hallworth also set a new PB of 1:20:21 in 193rd place. Club captain Byron Edwards was pace-making Alia Braithwaite and he finished in 1:23:14 just ahead of her in 1:23:15 - a PB, taking fourth place in the V35 category.

Four members of Bury AC competed at the Sale Indoor meeting at SportCity earlier this month and Oliver Cooper got his 2025 season off to a superb start, winning his U17 60m heat in a new PB of 7.80. He then placed second in the pole vault with another PB of 3.73 and recorded a season’s best of 9.32 in taking second place in the 60m hurdles. Luke Drinnan also had a great day, recording two new best performances in the U20 60m and 600m. In the sprint, he placed third with 7.83 and in the longer distance he also placed third in 1.37.89.

Isabella Robinson set a season’s best of 10.31 in placing fourth in the U15 60m hurdles, while Ethan Statham had a great run in the 600m. The U13 competed in the U15 age category and ran strongly to take sixth place - rewarded with a new PB of 1:44.40, currently placing him fastest in the UK.