ROUND four of six in the Brooks Westward League Cross Country Series saw outstanding individual and team performances from Tavistock Athletic Club runners.

The results from the meet at Northam Burrows at Westward Ho! in North Devon also put TAC in strong positions in a number of categories with only two fixtures remaining.

Conditions were cold and windy as well as boggy underfoot in many places, which was hardly surprising, as a week previously, the low-lying course had been under three feet of water after the exceptionally high tides.

Racing started with the mixed U11s development race with a strong Tavistock presence rewarded with high finishing positions. Leading the way was Joe Dix in fifth place, closely followed by Tilly McDowell in sixth, Leighton Howe in ninth, Lucy Steven 10th and Tayla James 13th.

In the joint U17s men and senior ladies race, Tavistock's Sam Lane DeCourtin delivered a masterclass in race tactics during the 5.6km distance and an injection of pace created a gap to give him a clear victory and propel him into what should be an unbeatable position in the U17s championship.

Team-mates Josh Blake and Will Dax continued their own personal battle to take seventh and eighth. The Tavistock team are now firmly in second place to runaway leaders Plymouth AC.

In the ladies' contest, it was an excellent day for Tavistock as Rebecca Exley-Deane continued her recent improvement in form by finishing in 11th place and first in her over-40 age-group; only 35 seconds separated her from Caroline Steven in 13th, who took second in the over-45s. Third Tavistock finisher was Ann-Marie Chater, in her first season with the club. The plucky over-45 raced into 38th place to move herself into third overall in her category. Together the three veterans ensured Tavistock occupy second place in both the senior and veteran team championships.

In the U13s girls' race, Natasha Farrington and Jenny Milburn finished 7th and 9th respectively while in the U13s boy Lee Shipton gave his all to complete the race.

The senior men's race witnessed U20s James Best beginning to reap the well deserved rewards of his hard training. James has been competing as a senior man against some of the best runners in Devon and Cornwall, and had a superlative run to take eighth place.

The next Tavistock finisher was over-50 Richard Drage who finished in 34th just pipping Harrison Baker in 36th and fellow over-50 Tony Symons in 42nd. A season's highlight of 59th could see another over-50, Richard Best, attain a top ten category place in the coming weeks. Contributing to the veteran team score was Jason Shipton in 71st, Mike Baker in 78th, who just held off Gary Chater with his best result so far in 79th. With their highest joint score of the season, Tavistock leapfrogged rivals Newquay into third place in the championship.

In another superb performance, U15s girl Sian Temple blew away the rest of the field to record victory by more than 30 seconds from her nearest rival. A high finish in the next race at Bovey Tracey will ensure that Sian seals the title with a race to spare.

It was left to Charlie Shipton to fly the flag in the U15s boys' race as the only club representative. Charlie showed all the determination to be rewarded with his highest finish so far, in ninth and a move to fifth in his age-group .