Triple medal haul reward forHigh Peak's young athletes

In cold and snowy conditions at Derby Moorways, Sosseh Badjie was a clear 47 seconds ahead of the second-placed girl to complete her third win out of three in the under-15 girls’ event.

Her success was repeated by Alice Tolley, who also came first in the under-11 girls’ race.

In the under-13 boys’ event, William Stanway was a high finisher, coming home in fourth place.

There were fantastic performances in the under-11 boys’ race.

George Tweedie was placed in fourth, while the fast-improving Josh Edlin came home in seventh.

Xavier Morgan was ninth, despite an injury, and Hamish Tweedie was a very credible 16th.

Both Josh and Hamish have another year at under-11 level so can expect to rise even further up the order next year.

In the under-15 girls there were fine runs from Elspeth Morgan, who has been showing a steady improvement over the cross-country season and came in 12th, and Nell Tolley, who finished a fine fourth in her first race of the season.

Those results meant overall medal success after three races for Sosseh Badjie and Alice Tolley, both securing gold medals in their age groups, and a silver for William Stanway in a challenging under-13 boys competition.

This was a terrific medal return for a small club, competing against athletes from much larger clubs, including Derby AC, Chesterfield and District AC and Amber Valley and Erewash AC.

Of the other HPAC athletes completing all three races, Xavier Morgan finished fifth overall and Josh Edlin sixth.

In the team event, the best overall position by the club was achieved by the under-11 boys’ team with High Peak finishing second behind Derby AC.

A club spokesman said: “Well done to all who have competed in the Derby Mini League this season. A fantastic effort from all!

“However, this is not the end as the cross country season continues after the Christmas break with the Derby Championships on the 6th January, where a large contingent of HPAC athletes will compete for the title and medals.

“The league season will be completed a week later on 13th January in the last of the North Midlands Cross Country meetings at Wollaton Park in Nottingham, where HPAC athletes will be competing for medal and top-10n positions.”