BEN West enjoyed his first victory of the season to land the Oxford Mail Cross Country League under 15 title at RAL Harwell.

The Bicester athlete led the way in the combined under 15/17 race at the season finale, crossing the line in 18mins 27secs.

West’s victory capped a successful day for the club, who saw three runners collect awards for finishing in the top three of their respective age groups.

Max Nicolle took second in the under 13 standings, while Amy Gould earned third in the under 15 girls.

In the women’s competition, Alchester’s Sarah Rendell came home fifth as she secured second overall in the vet 35 standings.

Rendell also helped Alchester finish third in Division 1 on the day.

Meanwhile, clubmates John Nelson and Jonathan Burgess came third in the vet 50 and 60 competitions respectively.

In the boys' under 15/17 race, West held a four-second lead from Abingdon’s Jack Shayler as he took the younger age group title by 13 points heading Team Kennet’s James McLaughlin.

Tom Gould ran one of his best races of the season to finish tenth in 20.50 and fifth in the overall under 17 league standings.

Nicolle has enjoyed a fine first cross country campaign and saved his best performance until last as he took second in the under 13 race.

His consistent running helped him earn third place in the overall standings.

And he was well supported by his clubmates, with Samuel Worfolk placing 12th in the race and tenth in the final rankings.

Freddie Taylor was 19th as Bicester finished third on the day and second overall, while James Rendell crossed in 25th place.

In the under 11 race, Michael Cadle came home in eighth, while Timothy Jones was 12th and Ben Groves 32nd.

Gould capped her first season in the under 15 age group by clinching third in the overall standings.

She put in her best performance of the winter to come sixth in the under 15/17 competition in 18.01.

Molly Acton (U15) placed 21st, while Libbie Nicklin (U17) was 31st.

Georgia Usher enjoyed her first podium of the campaign in the under 11 competition as she clinched fifth overall in the standings.

She crossed third over the 1,200m course, clocking 6.44, just 13 seconds behind winner Clover de Jong, of Oxford.

Imogen Cox enjoyed one of her best efforts this winter as she finished 11th, just nine seconds in front of teammate Lottie Doherty, who was 14th. But the roles were reversed in the overall leaderboard, with Doherty one position and 11 points ahead of Cox in 14th.

Other Bicester finishers were Freya Smith, who was 29th in the under 13 race, as well as Holly Keeble, Hollie Offord and Katie Groves, who were 18th, 21st and 24th respectively in the under 9 event.

OXFORD MAIL CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS MEN (senior unless stated)

19 R Gould (Alc, V40) 32.44, 29 J Bagnall (Alc) 33.21. Under 15/17: 1 B West (Bic, U15) 18.27, 10 T Gould (Bic, U17) 20.50. Under 13: 2 M Nicolle (Bic) 9.03, 12 S Worfolk (Bic) 9.39, 19 F Taylor (Bic) 9.59. Under 11: 8 M Cadle (Bic) 6.58, 12 T Jones (Bic) 7.14.

WOMEN (senior unless stated)

5 S Rendell (Alc, LV35) 25.20, 21 S Usher (Alc, LV35) 27.04, 49 O Underhill (Alc) 29.58. Under 15/17: 6 A Gould (Bic, U15) 18.01. Under 11: 3 G Usher (Bic) 6.44, 11 I Cox (Bic) 7.12, 14 L Doherty (Bic) 7.21. Under nine girls & boys: 18 H Keeble (Bic, G).

TEAM RESULTS

MEN

Senior – Div 2: 1 Alchester A 395. Div 3: 11 Alchester B 1156. Under 15/17: 4 Bicester A 33. Under 13: 3 Bicester A 33.

WOMEN

Senior – Div 1: 3 Alchester A 75. Div 3: 11 Alchester B 235, 18 Alchester C 307. Under 15/17: 6 Bicester A 58. Under 13: 14 Bicester A 105.

INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS

MEN

Vet 40: 5 R Gould (Alc) 94. Vet 50: 3 J Nelson (Alc) 261. Vet 60: 3 J Burgess (Alc) 613. Under 17: 5 T Gould (Bic) 60. Under 15: 1 B West (Bic) 7. Under 13: 3 M Nicolle (Bic) 9, 10 S Worfolk (Bic) 44. Under 11: 9 M Cadle (Bic) 43.

WOMEN

Senior: 12 B Fennell (Alc) 177, 14 O Underhill (Alc) 217, 18 G Newel (Alc) 289. Vet 35: 2 S Rendell (Alc) 22, 8 S Usher (Alc) 85. Under 15: 3 A Gould (Bic) 31. Under 11: 5 G Usher (Bic) 17.

TEAM STANDINGS

MEN

Senior – Div 2: 2 Alchester A 2330. Div 3: 5 Alchester B 5218. Under 15/17: 5 Bicester A 250. Under 13: 2 Bicester A 145.

WOMEN

Senior – Div 1: 5 Alchester A 380. Div 3: 5 Alchester B 956, 11 Alchester C 1265. Under 15/17: 9 Bicester A 372. Under 13: 5 Bicester A 305.