Gardiner and Yates help Herts to fifth place in Liverpool

THE Herts senior girls team finished in fifth place overall at the English Schools Cross County Championships in Liverpool on Saturday

Rebekah Gardiner produced a fine run to finish 79th in 17.21 over the 4,200m distance and Lucy Yates came in 133rd in 18.02 as the team impressed.

In the inter boys 5,900m race, Niall Fleming was the first Hertfordshire scorer in 20th place with 20.36. Euan Mackenzie powered through the field to take 43rd place in 20.59. Coach George Harrison said: "It was an excellent course but it was tight. Where people like Euan Mackenzie, who is not the fastest starter, came unstuck was at the first bend 250m from the start. It was a sharp left-hand turn and lots of kids were going over there.

"Niall Fleming and Euan Mackenzie did well. Niall was down in the 50s and 60s and so he ran exceptionally well. Euan was down in the 120s and they both weaved their way through."

Elliott Poulain finished 199th in 22.25 as the Herts inter boys team took 17th place overall.

Athletes from Herts Phoenix also competed at the Championships. In the intermediate boys Tom Gough finished 209th. Laura Whitehead finished 162nd in the senior girls with a time of 18.25 and Ella Lloyd came 193rd in the junior girls just ahead of Jade Denham in 211th.

There were excellent performances from Vasudev Zaver and Edward Shepherd in the Junior Boys race over 3,750m, finishing in first and second places in the county team. Vasudev took 47th place overall with a time of 13.47, a fine performance in his first appearance at the English Schools. Edward Shepherd finished 76th in 13.58 and Alex Cloona ran 14.54 to take 262nd.

James McMurray was the fourth scorer for Herts with a time of 14.21 in 148th place ahead of Oliver Poulain in 185th spot with 14.33 and Tom Brooks in 197th with 14.36.

The athletes head to Nottingham on Saturday to represent Hertfordshire in the CAU Inter-counties Cross Country Championships.