Two Swindon Harriers runners came home as winners during the Wiltshire Schools’ Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

Anubis Molina-Zekri and Charissa Griffiths-Clack both finished on the top step of the podium in their categories at the event which took place at Hardenhuish School in Chippenham.

There were more medals to be won from Swindon runners as Finley Byrne, who won his first Oxford League cross-country race last week, finished in third place behind two older rivals from Salisbury.

Griffiths-Clack said after adding this win to her South West under-17s title from the previous weekend: “I think it has been a good start to 2024 and shows the progress I’ve made in the winter.

“It has given me a bit of confidence in the lead-up to the English Schools and I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do for the rest of 2024.

“I got off to a great start and it was just me and two other girls out front for the whole race.

“I felt comfortable with my pace, and I knew coming up to the last 200m I had enough in my legs to sprint and create a gap to finish first.

“I was really proud getting first while representing Swindon and look forward to the next race (the South West Schools) in February.”

There were plenty of strong performances by those who finished just outside the top three places, with Byrne being closely followed across the line by James Mayneord, and Alex Leak also coming home in tenth to secure the team title for the North Wilts squad. Jesse Bryant and Olly Hughes were also in the top ten finishers for Swindon Schools.

Douglas Kirby only ran his first competitive race at the Swindon Schools’ race and followed that up with a very promising fifth in the minor boy’s category.

In the girls’ races, Carley Linton placed fifth in the inter girls’ race and then in the junior category, Else Scrase also came home in fifth and was the third point scorer for the North Wilts team.

The Swindon team finished second, with Ellie Charlesworth, Freya McMeeking, Esha Bhalerao, Crays Prosser, Kaya Trybala-Lugembe, and Izzie Moore all part of that junior team.

In addition to Griffiths-Clack’s great run, Lowri Prosser also had a sterling effort in the same race as she finished in sixth place and was the third scorer for the victorious Swindon minor girls’ team.