Young runners get in full stride

Hundreds of talented young athletes from all over the county will race in the annual Shropshire Schools Cross-Country Championships in Oswestry tomorrow.

Harriet Grandfield from Wem's Thomas Adams School will be looking to retain her intermediate girls title and equal what her older sister Georgina did when winning the same age group in 2005 and 2006.

The intermediate girls age group is one of the most competitive with Jess Bailey of Wrockwardine Wood, Holly Climo (Sir John Talbot, Whitchurch), Chloe Murphy (Charlton, Wellington) and Chloe Barton (Marches, Oswestry), plus last year's junior girls winner Evie Bentley (Grove, Market Drayton), some of the contenders.

Ryan Ordidge from Wrekin College will start as one of the favourites in the senior boys race, when last year's intermediate boys winner Alex Russell aims to add another county title to his list of honours.

Russell and his Adams Grammar team-mates Harry Hobson and Tom Buckley will start favourites to retain the team title that the Newport school have won for the last for years, after years of domination by Shrewsbury School.

Ludlow's Megan Turner, the county under-15 champion at Lilleshall, should have an interesting race with the county under-13 champion Isobel Bradley from Charlton as they come together in the schools age groups as junior girls.

The intermediate boys race looks sure to be another close call tomorrow.

Shropshire under-17 league champion Guy Gregory (Lacon Childe, Cleobury Mortimer) faces a battle with Ryan Heath from Wellington's Ercall Wood.

And last year's junior boys champion from Wrekin College, Hayden Gleave, plus Oswestry's Joe Morris and Church Stretton's Russell Adams the main contenders.

The action on the Oswestry School playing fields starts at 10.30am with the Year 7 girls.

Other race times are - Year 7 boys: 10.45am; Inter and senior girls: 11.00am; inter boys: 11.20am.

Senior boys: 11.45am; junior girls: 12.15pm; junior boys: 12.35pm.

l Following these races the county teams for an inter-counties meeting in Leicestershire on Saturday, February 6, will be selected.