Gold stars for Blue Stars! Horsham athletes take Sussex crown

The muddy course proved a test as the Blue Stars fielded a strong team for the senior men’s race.

The first of five 2k laps saw last year’s winner Jacob Cann and Luke Burgess up with the leading group, with Neil Boniface and Bradley Burke in the second group.

The second lap saw four runners break away, including Cann. Burgess led the second pack with Boniface close behind.

The Blue Stars’ fifth and sixth scorers, Luke Triccas and Josh Barnett, were working their way through the field.

The third and fourth laps saw the leading four runners splitting up, with Ned Potter of Chichester taking a commanding lead, from Finn McNally of Brighton Phoenix with Cann in third.

Cann maintained his position on the final lap for the individual bronze medal, in 34min 49sec.

Burgess came home in sixth (36.06) with Boniface also running well finishing just behind in tenth (36.32).

Burke, despite a shoe falling apart, finished 14th (37.35).

The result depended on the final two finishers and both Triccas and Barnett overtook several runners - finishing 22nd (39.32) and 26th (39.48).

After a nail-biting wait for the results, Blue Star took the gold medals by just one point from Brighton & Hove – they scored 81 to Brighton’s 82, a magnificent result, the first time the Blue Stars had won the senior men’s team title since 1982.

The U13 girls’ race, over 3km, saw Izzy Wheeler finish in a creditable fifth place running 14.11. In the U15 boys’ race Freddy Boniface ran well to finish 7th running 15.12 for the 4k race.

The U13 boys’ team of Mckenzie Klingenberg (38th), Joe Wilkie (41st) and Ryan Duff-Cole (47th) finished 11th.

In the U15 girls’ race Jessica Overton-Smith and Lydia Barnett finished 26th and 27th respectively.

In the U11 boys’ race Jacob Carey ran well to take 12th in 8.34 for the 2k lap. Ed Cox finished 12th in the U20 men’s race, while in the senior women’s race Charlie Kent finished 26th and Justine Tanner 45th.