South Essex athletes produced some excellent results when the annual Essex County Schools' Cross Country Championships were staged at Claybury, Woodford Green.

There were some outstanding performances from Southend runners, topped by SEECAT College student Sarah Mullins winning the gold medal.

Her performance led the Southend squad of Ruth Clifton (eighth), Anna Skeats (tenth), Karen Goode (11th) and Vicky Boast (21st) - all from St Bernards, Westcliff - to team glory in the senior girls.

Southend's other team winners were the junior boys. Led by Ashley Humphreys, who took third place despite battling against a niggling thigh strain, the line-up of Adam Hickey (Southend High) fifth, David Bottjer (St Thomas More) sixth, D Reddihough (Southend) 26th, Daniel Schade (Southend) 32nd - he overcame the handicap of losing a spike halfway round - and M Allen (Southend) 42nd, captured gold.

The other medal-winning Southend team were the junior girls, who captured third place for team bronze.

Up against formidable opposition they were led by Kristina Marshall in 11th place with Jo Butterworth 15th, Alice Williamson 22nd, S Brewis 41st, Keeley Pope 43rd, Rosie Williamson 46th and Rebecca Hockley 55th. All but Brewis, a pupil at St Bernards, are Southend High girls.

Success for the Southend team in the intermediate girls was on the individual side with Stacey Ward (St Bernards) third. The squad was completed by N Goode (St Bernards) 26th, Kirsty Darling (Cecil Jones) 38th, Amy Sullivan (Shoebury) 40th, N Groom (Cecil Jones) 52nd and Emma Chapman (Eastwood) 55th.

Intermediate boys were led home by Chris Butterworth (St Thomas More) in 17th place followed by D Keane (Prittlewell) 39th and P Nardone (Southend) 55th. Senior boys top finisher was A Gotch in 11th place followed by Callum Sanderson (26th), Jack Gaswiski (29th) and N Knight (32nd). All are from Southend High.

Five Southend athletes were selected for the All England Schools Championships as a result of their performances - Humphreys, Bottjer and Quinn in the junior boys, Stacey Ward in the intermediate girls and Sarah Mullins for the seniors.

There were no full results issued by either Castle Point and Rochford or Basildon, but from the former, Canvey's Castle View School were delighted with the performances of two pupils who distinguished themselves.

Chris Bourne, who has trained hard since last autumn, came seventh in the junior boys - a performance which delighted his coach, leading former Basildon runner Steve Barr, and school head of PE Alan Taylor.

The run earned Bourne a place in the team for Parliament Hill Fields, the venue for the nationals, on March 11 and Taylor said: "As the only representative selected from Castle Point and Rochford, Chris has notched up a remarkable but well deserved achievement.

"We look forward to his continued success against national competition in March."

Darren Fletcher (15th) - the only Canvey representative in the intermediate boys - contributed to the Castle Point and Rochford squad becoming Essex champions.

King John, Thundersley, sisters Sarah and Carla Raven were third and 13th respectively in the senior and junior girls, while Basildon's 13-year-old Lynsey Clarke, although not a regular athlete, was delighted when she achieved Chalvedon School's best ever position in the Essex championships, 51st, in the junior girls.

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