ROBBIE Price has done it again, having been crowned British Cross Challenge champion at the weekend.
The Vale Royal Athletics Club under 15s runner's success adds to the English, Northern and Cheshire titles he has already won in an unbeaten 2022 cross country season so far.
And it sets up the Hartford High School student perfectly for a shot at the English Schools Cross Country Championships at the older inter-boys level in Kent this Saturday.
There was further Vale Royal success when the fifth and final round of the British Cross Challenge took place at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough, with Price's achievement being one of the two major highlights.
Price, running in the 300 strong under 15s race, had already won previous fixtures in the series at Cardiff, Milton Keynes and Liverpool and needed another win to guarantee the title.
From the gun, Price, representing Cheshire, stormed away to take the lead over the 4km course, dragging out an ever lengthening tail of chasers as he glided over the claggy surface out into the rolling Leicestershire Wolds.
As he came back into view, he had a 50-metre lead from his nearest series rival, Craig Shennan of Scotland West.
This gap was maintained up the final hill to the finish.
Further down the field but nevertheless performing well to finish in the top half, Vale Royal's Thomas Taylor and Rhys Bowden had a good battle coming home separated by just two seconds.Saturday’s event doubled as the UK Inter County Championships and many Vale Royal AC athletes represented Cheshire.
The highlight was the under 17s women’s bronze medal, with three Vale Royal runners counting in the four-girl team score of 82 points.
Hopes for a medal had been high following the club's own gold medal at the English Championships a fortnight earlier.
Holly Weedall worked her way strongly through the field to come home in 11th place, while clubmate Grace Roberts was second home for Cheshire in 14th place.
Warrington AC's Orla Gregory was third for the county and Vale Royal's Hope Smith made up the counting team that sealed the bronze out of 39 competing teams.
Isobel Ashcroft and Ellie Bushill had good runs to come home fifth and sixth for Cheshire.
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