Despite their depleted ranks Bedford and County's teams were still among the front runners at the second round meet of the Chiltern Cross Country League in Oxford on Saturday.

With the event taking place on the same day as the English Schools Cup, the U13 and U15 teams were forced to field severely weakened line-ups, but still managed to record first-place finishes.

Also hit by the disruption were the U11 team, who were denied a point-scoring chance for not having enough runners. Nevertheless, Toby Doonan and Rob Angell managed to record sixth and 29th place finishes respectively.

The win for the U13s saw them extend their lead at the top of the leaderboard. Kenneth Mason led the way in first place, while Ben Alcock was fourth, George Vince 11th and Martin Danobrega 13th.

Jack Goodwin stormed to victory in the U15 race, with James Burton in fourth, Chris Thornley 14th and George Burkett 17th.

Elsewhere, the U17 team also cemented their place at the top, with Ryan Parker in third Michael Goodwin tenth, Luke Turnbull 14th and Dale Williamson 15th.

Bedford's girls maintained their second overall position in the league, but did not get off to the best of starts as Coral Murphy was the sole U11 athlete to compete, coming home in 23rd.

Rebecca Murray was quickest of the U13s in eighth place. Megan Angell was 14th, Ellie Hemming 21st and Alanah Harri 31st, to leave the team fourth in the championship table.

The U15 team moved to the top of the overall standings, with Abigail Mackinnon-Austin claiming third place. Emily Relton was ninth, while Chelsea McKenzie and Emily Boast were 15th and 16th respectively, to cement the team's second place finish on the day.

Suzi Boast recorded a creditable fourth placed finish to move the U17 team up into third place. Amber Wright 11th, Sarah Caunt 14th, Tarley Barnes 15th and Sam Cutler 21st were also among the finishers.

Phillippa Prescott, meanwhile, had to settle for second best in the ladies race, while Helen Frizzell and Charlotte Moss were 19th and 20th respectively.