HANNAH Cookson and Nathan Shaw were crowned the best young runners in Blackburn and Darwen following the three race cross country series.

Hannah, from Balderstone Primary School was overall girls winner while St Francis pupil Nathan took the boys title after the championship concluded at QEGS playing fields in Lammack.

While Nathan’s success was down to consistency – he won one race and was runner-up in another – Hannah was clearly the head girl, winning all three races.

Points were totalled over the three races – two were held at Lammack and one at Witton Park – and totted up to reveal the overall winner.

While Hannah’s (right) run at Lammack was more of a victory parade, Nathan still had some work to do but making sure he finished in second place behind race three winner Cale Rushton of Redeemer gave him the overall title.

Morgan Almond of Feniscowles was third with Muhammad Suleman of Lammack fourth. Markus Bestwick of Roe Lee completed the top five.

Connor Kelly (eighth) and Matthew Parkinson (ninth) played crucial roles as Longshaw Primary School won the boys team award on the day with a total of 235 points – the lower the points total the better the team performance – with St Gabriels second (240) and The Redeemer third (290).

But there was no doubting who the girls winner was. Hannah hit the front early and stayed there - something you could say she did throughout the series.

Lois McTiffin of Westholme was second with Maddie Elliot of St Pauls RC third. Eve Clarkson of Feniscowles and Kirstie Corkin of Shadsworth were fourth and fifth consecutively. While Hannah was the runaway individual success, the same could be said about Westholme in the team event.

For Westholme were clear winners with four runners in the top 11; Lois McTiffin (2nd), Laura Backhouse (6th), Phoebe Waddicer (10th) and Eloise Littlefair (11th). They finished with 90 points, well ahead of Longshaw (186) and St Francis (290).

In the overall team competitor, which is a combination of both boys and girls team scores, Westholme took the honours with 367 points with Longshaw in second place with 421 points and The Redeemer third with 563 points.

Andrew Mercer, school games organiser, said: “The competitor proved to be a great success with more than 200 youngsters taking part and a consistently high standard was set over the three meetings.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Campbell and Mrs Kitt from Roe Lee and Longshaw Primary for their efforts in organising the races and calculating and distributing results so quickly and efficiently.

“I would also like to thank QEGS for allowing us to use their facilities as well as all the teachers who volunteered their services to act as marshalls at the races.”