TWENTY mile per hour biting winds, endless mud and deep water-filled ditches welcomed Tavistock athletes to the second half of the Brooks Westward League Cross Country Championships last Sunday.

The Northam Burrows venue behind the beach at Westward Ho! near Bideford offered little or no protection from the raging elements in round four of this season's six match programme.

The U11s began with two laps over 1,600m with Joe Dix racing into an early lead and he battled all the way for a season's best third place. Close behind was Dan Luckham, taking a creditable fifth while Ewan Dix finished in 28th. The U17s' and ladies' race boasted almost 100 competitors. With a large number of Tavistock U17s competing at a major indoor track championships, it was left to Chris Turner to fly the flag in this age-group. A gutsy performance gave him his best finish of the season in a strong 13th place. First female finisher went to U17 lady Jodie Stacey, with a fine performance to take 26th. Leading senior lady went to team captain and over-40 Rebecca Exley-Deane in 34th, ahead of team mates Lisa Mabey in 47th, Tracy-Ann Cole in 52nd, Donna Stacey 59th, U17 Jennifer Sabine 65th, Judy Turner 82nd, Lisa Base 85th and super-veteran Ann Woodhouse who showed boundless determination to finish 92nd.

In the U13s girls Jenny Milburn battled at the front throughout the long 3,200m course, ending with a sprint finish to seal fifth. This turned the tables for the first time on team-mate Natasha Farrington who finished seventh. The team was completed in fine style by Tilly McDowell in 11th with another fine run,

A depleted Tavistock senior men's team was unable to take much advantage of the smaller turnout in their race, but nonetheless there were some outstanding individual per-formances. Leading the way for Tavistock was Neil Barkell who, after running for the winning Devon team in last week's South West Cross Country and gaining selection for the Inter County event in March, showed fine form to achieve his first milestone top-10 finish in eighth.

Martin Exley-Deane's continued rise was again evident in the over-50 age-group, heading, surely, towards a top three finish for the season. In a blistering display he came 23rd overall.

Despite his efforts, South West Over-55 champion, team-mate Richard Drage could not respond, despite running well in 30th.

Fellow Over-50 Tony Symons came home in 45th place, followed by Dave Rickwood in 71st, Devon over-65 champion Bob Chapman in 83rd and Dave Harris braving injury to grab 90th.