BLACKBURN Harriers were out in force at the English Cross Country Relay Championships at Mansfield.

And Harriers’ international Alison Leonard led the charge for the Witton Park club, finishing 11th on the first leg – just 10 seconds slower than Louise Small who was part of the winning team.

The second leg saw Rachel Wood, fresh from her win at the Luton half-marathon, coming home in 21st, while on leg three, Sarah Yorkstone, making a return to racing after a lengthy injury lay-off, posted a solid time to secure Harriers’ women’s squad 21st place in the Team Championships.

The senior women’s B squad also enjoyed a productive day, finishing 43rd overall.

Becky Shorrock completed the first leg before handing over to Shelley Tattersall, who was placed 51st at the end of her leg.

Laura Hesketh took over on stage three and ran strongly to bring the team back to finish well inside the top 50.

In the under-13 girls, Maddie Elliott, Hannah Cookson and Natalya Irvine turned in a fine performance, finishing 26th from a strong entry of 83 teams.

All three girls ran consistent legs, with the squad finishing strongly again.

Katie Buckingham, Phoebe Howe and Roxanne Oliver did themselves proud in the under-17 women’s race.

Buckingham kicked off the first leg with an encouraging time, leaving Howe on leg two in 38th place. Howe dropped just a couple of places before handing over to cross country debutant Oliver, who led Harriers home to 45th position.

The under-17 men’s championships saw 69 teams lining up, and Blackburn finished in a creditable 54th position.

Joseph Howe took the first leg, leaving Harriers in 55th place before stage two.

Robert Wong, recovering from illness, hit the comeback trail to post an excellent time, while debutant Chris Richardson-Dulling also performed well.

The men’s A team finished eighth overall, with Andy Buttery running the fastest leg for the Harriers.