There was a mass exodus to Yorkshire for our leading athletes last weekend.

Many headed to the North of England Cross Country Championships in Leeds on Saturday, and others to the English Institute of Sport at Sheffield, which hosted the Northern Indoor Championships for the under 15s and under 17s.

Roundhay Park was fielding its first major cross country meeting for a decade and there were more than 2000 athletes in attendance and, not for the first time, Pauline Powell was East Lancashire's star turn.

The former champion was in the thick of the action in the senior women's race and the Blackburn Harrier was one of the pace setters in the early stages before finishing an eventual seventh.

Katie Ingram, the Horwich RMI Harrier from Chorley, was also well placed with 27th in a field of nearly 300.

There was more success for Blackburn in the Junior (U20) Women's race where Rachel Wood was 15th of 50.

Many of the local contenders will be hoping to catch the Lancashire selector's eye for the Inter Counties, but Rachel has no worries, having previously secured her place.

The latest news is that team selection is being further delayed to give the younger runners at the Lancashire Schools' Championships this coming weekend one last chance.

Emma Flanagan was our leading light in the U17s with 44th, although the Rossendale Harrier was suffering from a cold, and in the U15s three Pendle girls were jockeying for bragging rights.

Emma Spencer was the pick in 46th from Holly Crabtree 56th and Melissa Berry 73rd.

Pendle could also boast the first East Lancashire finisher in the U13 race with Jade Lord in 20th, a single place and a single second ahead of Blackburn's Emily Fletcher.

Only a few seconds back in 36th, Sally Searson of Blackburn was one of the youngest athletes in the field.

Rossendale Harriers took a minibus to Leeds, and their boys repaid the club's commitment with some stirring performances.

Danny Walsh was 32nd U13, Joe Johnson took 48th in the U15s and Joe Kelly and Ashley Kay made 28th and 41st respectively in the U17s.

In fact there were only two full teams from our area in any of the races, one being Rossendale's U15 boys and the other the senior men from Clayton-le-Moors Harriers.

Ian Greenwood was the first Clayton counter with 119th, closely pursued by Gary Shaw 130th and Paul Archer 178th.

In a mammoth field of 665 Dale's Andy Buttery and Steve Duxbury were 125th and 234th, the latter after driving the team bus!

Nevertheless, Ben Fish was a full four minutes clear of the next best local.

Blackburn's Fish was 24th to make full amends for a slightly disappointing fourth in the county championships when he ran with a cold.