BOURTON Roadrunners’ juniors tackled demanding conditions at the Gloucestershire AAA Cross Country Championships.

The fields and woods were muddy at Five Acres College, Coleford, and proved energy-sapping.

There were also testing hills in damp, cold and foggy weather.

But Bourton youngsters produced fine individual and team performances, showing determination and character.

New to the under 15s category, Niamh Powell dominated when taking the championship with a powerful run.

The group also joined the under 17s and Powell beat all of them apart from an England international.

Fourth-placed Rosanna Mutsaars raced well again and glided over the mud.

She was pushed hard by Koumi Ikeda, who powered through to finish fifth.

The trio won the team gold prize and were backed up by the improving Charlotte Foster (14th) and fit-again Gaby Jones (15th).

The under 13s girls were close with only a few seconds splitting the top seven.

After a fast start, Lucy Griffin settled into a good pace in second and slowly closed the gap on the leader.

She was within touching distance on the finishing straight but just had to settle for a silver medal.

Bethan Powell was locked in her own battle and just lost out to take fourth.

Josephine Mutsaars was just off the lead group after the first lap but pulled herself up the field to end up seventh. The trio won the team silver medal prize.

Emily Field is growing in confidence and finished 13th, while Isabel Kiey-Thomas had a good solid run for 16th.

The under 11s girls were out in force for Bourton.

Helena West has trained hard all winter and reaped the rewards with third place for a bronze medal. She was pushed by back-in-form Isobel Barnett in fourth and Celia Darwent showed potential for 10th. The trio won the team silver medal.

Darcy Thompson was 17th, Isabelle Morriss 18th, Annabella Tallis 20th, Abigail Barnett 21st, Isabel Dennett 22nd, Alice Brown 23rd and Ella Rose Lane-Gregory 24th.

The girls took fifth and sixth place in the team table.

For the under 11s boys, Kan Ikeda was up at the front for the whole race and secured a bronze medal in the end.

Louis Mutsaars was close behind in fifth in a gutsy run and pushed hard by determined Findlay Morriss in sixth. The trio won the team gold prize.

They were backed up by Beau Griffin (8th), Lysander Tarrant (9th) and James Mace (12th), who claimed the bronze team prize.

Finn Watkins was 13th, Arthur Quli 14th, Chris Hunt 15th and Edward Jones 18th in finishing as fifth team.