THE weekend of February 8/9 provided challenging but rewarding cross-country racing for a number of Tavistock Athletic Club athletes.

Bournemouth was the venue for the South West Schools Championships on the Saturday. Unfortunately because of the poor weather Cornwall could not make it and both Tavistock's county champions had to stay at home. The Devon team however, were rewarded for the long journey.

In the minor girls, Natasha Farrington and Jenny Milburn ran to 11th and 17th places respectively. In the junior girls, Kelly College student Sian Temple attacked the race from the front, only to be pipped in the latter stages to come away with a superb silver. In the inter boys, Josh Blake took 36th place for Devon and in the senior boys event, the constantly improving James Best achieved a notable eighth.

Despite recent rain, Sunday's Brooks Westward Cross Country fixture at Park House, Bovey Tracey went ahead, thanks to hosts Teignbridge Trotters and owners, The National Trust. Deep mud, rain, occasional hail showers and a tough circuit through flooded meadow and wood was not enough to dampen the spirit of Tavistock AC's team. As this was round five of the six race series, good performances would be vital to the overall championship positions in many categories.

For the seniors, the best five results of the series would count and for the juniors the best four of six would determine final positions.

Racing began with a non-championship race for U11s. For Tavistock, Joe Dix was first male finisher in ninth, with Lucy Steven first girl in 13th.

The opening championship race combined the senior ladies with the U17 boys and girls over a two lap course of nearly 6k. At the front Sam Lane De Courtin totally dominated the rest of the field. His emphatic victory put him into an unbeatable position and he clinched the championship with one race still remaining.

In the team competition, he was once again backed up by Josh Blake (sixth) and Will Dax (seventh), who combined to put Tavistock in second place and guarantee silver for the season.

In the girls' event, fellow Cornish runner Tess Masselink matched Sam by leaving the rest of her age-group in her wake and only two of the senior ladies who covered the distance were able to finish in front of her. Tess remains in contention for a podium finish and medal for Tavistock if able to maintain her form in the last fixture in Plymouth in early March.

The senior ladies were to provide further good news for the club. First home was Alice Rogers in 11th, with veteran Rebecca Exley-Deane showing her best form so far to clinch 15th. This display was enough for Rebecca to sew up the veteran 40-44 championship, and together with Masselink and Rogers take second in the team. With Caroline Stevens taking 22nd and second over-45, Jess Williams 41st, Kate Rogers 48th and third over-55, and Anne-Marie Chater 50th and third over-45, the Tavistock senior ladies also guaranteed second for the season. The U13s races followed, and Natasha Farrington raced to notch a fine fourth spot. In the boys equivalent,Tom Brew and Charlie Shipton had to endure the worst conditions of the day during a prolonged hailstorm. Despite this, both ran well with Tom looking strong in seventh and Lee battling well for 21st.

The senior men were forced to cover an extended 3 lap course of almost 10k in heavy conditions. James Best is now becoming accustomed to being leading Tavistock finisher ­— on this occasion running to an excellent eighth place. Next to finish was Neil Barkell in 22nd while Harrison Baker's season continued to improve with a solid 33rd; over-50 Tony Symons led the Tavistock Veterans in 39th, also finishing second in his category. Next, in 66th, Richard Best again contributed to the team result with Tim Exley in 67th. Over-40 Jason Shipton ran well in 82nd, narrowly beating over-45 team mates Kurt Masselink (84th), Mike Baker (85th) and, in his best finish of the season, Gary Chater in 89th; Pete Bazely took second over-55 and an overall 93rd, over-60 pair Bob Chapman (98th) and Robin Musgrave (109th) completed a 13-man turn out for Tavistock.

The final race combined both the U15 boys and girls and saw the Tavistock heroine of Saturday's Schools competition, Sian Temple, go one better. Sian left her competition reeling yet again for her third victory of the season. Her run was so strong that only three male runners were able to finish ahead. Combined with a second place in an earlier race, she now finds herself as Tavistock's third, and arguably finest Westward League champion of the season.

In the boys' race, Charlie Shipton continued to show the benefit of his hard work in training to be only just beaten into eighth with the result elevating him to fifth in the championship.