ALEX Thompson produced a storming run to be crowned national junior boys champion in the English Schools Cross Country Championships at Formby.

He produced the top individual performance by a Craven athlete on a day when Ermysted's and Skipton Girls High School each had their junior and intermediate teams competing.

Thompson, who recently won the club’s West Yorkshire League title and a prestigious Power of Ten race at Liverpool, found himself up against Will Hugill from Harrogate’s St John Fisher School who had beaten him twice this year in the first round of this competition and again in the area championships.

Thompson led the field out of the school grounds onto the sand dunes where most of the race was run.

His nearest company at this point was team-mate Will Atkinson who was in second place just five yards adrift, with Hugill on his shoulder.

They ran one large lap of relatively flat terrain and when they came back into view the race was still well and truly on with just a second or two between the leaders.

Thompson still held a slender lead but in the remaining half mile he drove on relentlessly pulling away for a relatively comfortable victory and an awesome end to the calendar year.

Atkinson ran on well for a tremendous sixth place but they had to wait a bit for the rest of their team. Jath Lee was next in with 52nd place and Hamish Wills was 82nd for a team total of 141 points and seventh place. Their non-scorers were Ben Rees and Andrew Robinson who were 93rd and 117th respectively.

The junior girls race saw Alice Jones going for individual glory. She had won the county and North East rounds and showed why as she took third place in a quality field.

She was part of a leading group of five on the way out to the sand dunes but as they returned one runner had broken clear. Jones entered the school grounds in second place but had to settle for third as she lost out in a sprint finish.

Jones had great support from Lilli Carr who was just behind in seventh place but like Ermysted’s they had to wait a while before Mia Petrucci 92nd and her team-mates Emma Peel 100th, Freya Mitchell 102nd & Hannah Jackson 104th finished in procession. Their total put them 12th of the 24 final teams.

Ermysted’s intermediate team had Harvey Lewis spearheading their challenge and he had a good run as he came through the field to finish just outside the top ten.

Lewis is at the bottom of his age group like the rest of his scoring team, Louis Hudson 43rd, Sebastian Seggar-Staveley 47th and Charlie Wood 64th. Their total of 165 points put them ninth in the team standings.

The non-scorers were Matthew Kenneth 78th and Will Atkinson 98th join a select group of athletes who have run in all four national finals in their time at Ermysted's.

Talking of fond memories the same applies to Skipton Girls’ Intermediate team. Most of their team were competing for the fourth successive year and will remember forever Katie Atkinson’s individual triumph which led them to team victory two years ago at Newquay.

They have a great group of runners but were not right at the front of the race, instead their challenge was a real team effort as their first three home entered the finish straight almost as one.

In the long sprint finish Katie Atkinson produced a strong finish to be 30th, Ruby Firth was next in 34th with a below par Emily Jones in 44th.

Their team was completed by Teegan Elson in 49th for a total of 157 points and seventh place. Non-scorers Lucy Fryers 54th and Eleanor Root 117th can be pleased with their efforts on a day when the runners from the Skipton grammar schools did themselves proud.