SARAH Willimott demonstrated the form which won her an England call earlier this winter in front of her home supporters.

At a muddy Witton Park on Saturday, the Blackburn Harrier was too strong for her opponents in the senior women's contest at the Lancashire Athletic Association Cross Country Championship.

On the second of two laps, she broke away from the dogged Rachel Jones from Salford to win at a canter.

The result gave Blackburn Harriers their fourth gold medal at the Championships after front running Callum Fitzpatrick had earned a narrow victory in the under 15 boys race, and the under 17 and under 20 men had struck gold.

Team members Matt Wood, Chris Hart and Tom Cornthwaite added individual medals to the haul while the under 17 women's team chipped in with a bronze to bring the medal count to eight.

Clayton Harriers matched that with eight medals of their own, all in the senior races.

Mark Aspinall and Mark Brown were the leading counters in the senior men's team which finished second to Manx Harriers. Placing fifth and tenth respectively, the two Marks finished first and second in the over 40 veteran class.

Vanessa Peacock won the over 50 women's division while Barry Mitchell, Dave Scott, Ted Orrell and Katy Thompson all took age group medals.

Chorley Harriers women had three successes. Sarah Scarrott, Gwen Farnworth and Claire Goulden combined to bring the team home second while Claire was third F35 and Jan Atkins struck gold in the F55s.

Rossendale and Pendle were two clubs to taste success in both the senior and junior races. Dale's Steve Duxbury stormed away to win the over 50 veteran category by two minutes while Pendle's Neil Tattersall emerged from the chasers to take bronze in the senior men's race.

Withnell resident Rob Hope took silver for Yorkshire club Pudsey and Bramley.

The under 20 women's race was small but very select, pitting the skills of fell runner Katie Ingram against track star Laura Finucane of Pendle.

In the heavy conditions, the gold went to Horwich Harrier Katie. In the under 15 girls race, Pendle won the silver while Rossendale's boys won the bronze in the same age group.

Robbie Schofield set Hyndburn's ball rolling becoming the first winner of the day in the under 13 boy's race. The club went on to win four more medals with Sarah Crossley's silver instrumental in earning the under 13 girls team silver.

Curt Pearce took bronze for the under 15 boys while the under 15 girls were third headed by fourth placed Sam Murray. Burnley's Danielle Walker won the silver medal in the same race.

The first six from each race will gain automatic selection for Lancashire to compete in the Inter-Counties at Nottingham on March 6.

A further two or three selections are at Team Manager Brian Craig's discretion. Brian is aiming to announce the team on January 14.

Boys and Men: Under 13: 1 Robbie Schofield (H) 12:02, 5 Phillip Bacon (P) 12:36, 7 Richard Shuttleworth (Preston) 12:42, 9 Sam Tosh (R) 12:43, 10 Matthew Ramsden (PHS) 12:49.

Under 15: 1 Callum Fitzpatrick (BH) 12:34, 3 Curtis Pearce (H) 12:45, 7 Peter Matthews (BH) 13:39 Teams: 3. Rossendale Harriers - 16 Paul Wadsworth, 18 Carl Andrew, 20 Aaron Kelly, 24 Grant Cunliffe Under 17: 1 Richard Newton (Preston) 20:25, 3 Matt Wood (BH) 20:51, 4 Richard Stones (BH) 21:00, 5 Ben Lindsay (P) 21:02, 7 Michael Smith (H) 21:24, 10 Paul Bradshaw (BH) 22:06 Teams: 1 Blackburn Harriers - Wood, Stones, Bradshaw Under 20: 1 Keith Gerrard (Manx) 26:43, 2 Chris Hart (BH) 28:51, 3 Tom Cornthwaite (BH) 29:09, 4 Toby Banfield (BH) 30:31 Teams: 1 Blackburn Harriers - Hart, Cornthwaite, Banfield Seniors: 1 Simon Deakin (Leeds) 36:44, 2 Rob Hope (Pudsey and Bramley) 37:08, 3 Neil Tattersall (P) 37:56, 5 (1st M40) Mark Aspinall (C) 38:17, 8 Brian Cole (Royal Marines) 38:27, 10 (2nd M40) Mark Brown (C) 38:49, 12 Liam Barton (BH) 39:19, 13 Richard Thomas (Eryri) 39:30, 14 Andy Stubbs (C) 39:33, 17 (4th M40) Phil Hall (C) 39:51, 19 Keith Johnson (CH) 40:18, 30 (1st M50) Steve Duxbury (R) 41:39, 77 (2nd M55) Barry Mitchell (C) 47:36, 84 (2nd M60) Dave Scott 48:25, 102 (3rd M60) Ted Orrell 51:16 Teams: 2 Clayton Harriers - Aspinall, Brown, Stubbs, Hall, 39 John Roche, 62 Chris Balderson

Girls and Women: Under 13: 1 Samantha Preddy (Blackpool) 12:43, 2 Sarah Crossley (H) 13:10, 5 Leigh Lennon (H) 13:25, 7 Rachel Searson (BH) 13:56 Teams: 2 Hyndburn - Crossley, Lennon, 15 Maisie Bonney, 18 Sarah Jones Under 15: 1 Kate Hindle (Preston) 14:19, 2 Danielle Walker (B) 14:50, 4 Sam Murray (H) 15:10, 6 Tiffany Boswell (PHS) 15:18, 6 Anna Anderson (P) 15:26, 8 Carla Garnett (PHS) 15:43, Sarah Burns (P) 16:28 Teams: 2 Pendle - Anderson, Burns, 16 Danielle Metcalf, 24 Grace Biddle: 3 Hyndburn - Murray, 12 Ashleigh Williams, 15 Natalie Honey, 25 Jennifer Mitchell Under 17: 1 Danielle McCann (Preston) 23:18, 5 Sophie Croxson (BH) 24:57, 6 Kelly Clegg (BH) 25:00, 7 Katie Morris (BH) 25:17 Teams: 3 Blackburn Harriers - Croxson, Clegg, Morris Under 20: 1 Katie Ingram (Horwich) 21:43, 2 Laura Finucane (P) 22:13, 5 Vicky Snape (CAC) 24:30 Seniors: 1 Sarah Willimott (BH) 22:48, 6 Sarah Scarrott (CH) 24:11, 13 (1st F50) Vanessa Peacock (C) 25:32, 14 (4th F40) Gwen Farnworth (CH) 25:42, 18 (3rd F35) Claire Goulden (CH) 26:20, 33 (3rd F50) Katy Thompson (C) 29:14, 38 (1st F55) Jan Atkins (CH) 29:33 Teams: 2 Chorley Harriers - Scarrott, Farnworth, Goulden