Blackburn Harriers hosted a spectacular day of athletics last Saturday as nearly 2,000 club runners from Darlington to Derby descended on Witton Park for the Northern Cross Country Championships.

In just a fortnight, the six-inch deep snow served up at the Lancashire Championships had completely gone, and so too had the standing water which had replaced it, to leave the course in near perfect condition.

The U17 women set the ball rolling, and with Beckie Taylor and Charlotte Atkinson in the leading pack, a team medal always looked on the cards for Blackburn.

Beckie took eighth and Charlotte 12th over the two laps, and with support from Holly Broughton and Rebecca Shorrock, the bronze was secured.

That early boost seemed to set the tone for the Harriers, who were to add two individual bronze medals to their tally before the day was out.

On paper, neither Elizabeth Greenwood nor Karl Billington should have been contenders, as each were giving away two years to some of their opponents, but their successes in high class fields pick them out as rising stars.

Greenwood has been carrying all before her in the U11 leagues this winter, but tried her luck against the U13s at the Lancashire Championships and beat them all.

Now in the Northern’s, her confident approach again saw her leading briefly, but in the end the extra distance run by the U13s told and the 11-year old had to settle for the bronze.

The Harriers’ team tied for third, but lost the medal on countback as rivals Stockport got their final counter home first. Lucy Davis and Sally Searson in 21st and 26th and Polly Pearse in 112th were Elizabeth’s unlucky team mates.

The U20 men had to wait until late in the day for their run, by which the course was well worn.

It suited the powerfully built James Wilkinson (pictured), from Leeds, who made the decisive break, but the slight Billington was always in the frame for the silver and was only just run down towards the end of the third and final lap.

It is a measure of the 17-year olds progress that just a year ago he was ‘only’ was fourth in the U17 age group. The Lancashire team for the Inter Counties Championships will be chosen soon and selector Phil Leybourne believes that the course at Birmingham will be similar in nature to Witton Park so the Northern’s were a good opportunity for the candidates to impress.

Pendle Athletic Club had their best return in the U13s where Amy Moran was 20th girl and Matthew Dutton 21st boy. Rossendale’s Joe Johnston was back to form with 22nd in the U17 men’s race where Luke Betts gave Chorley AC their highest finish of the day in 38th.

Dale’s Emma Flanagan was 23rd of the U20 women while in the seniors, the Clayton duo Katie Trickett and Anna Kelly were the pick of the locals in 60th and 67th.

One man who won’t have to beg for a place in the team is the Senior Lancashire Champion Ben Fish.

The Darwen-based Blackburn Harrier was vying with Olympian Tom Lancashire for the bronze medal for most of Saturday’s race, but after running a half-marathon the week before, couldn’t make it stick and finished fifth.

There is a wealth of talent available to the county in this section and in a field of 600 seniors, there were superb performances from international fell runners Rob Hope 16th and Blackburn’s Tom Cornthwaite in 18th.

The versatile Chris Matthews who was eighth in the U17 men’s contest, and the middle distance star Alison Leonard, ninth of the U20 women, will be confident of a county call.