Hundreds of young runners took to Casterton, Sedbergh Preparatory School on Thursday for an invitational cross country event.

461 entrants from different schools in boys and girls races at under 9, under 11 and under 13 level.

On a muddy but firm course all the runners had to dig deep. It was a successful day for the prep school as it achieved five individual medals and four team awards on home soil.

First up was the Under 9 girls. Daniela Brighetti paced her race superbly to come home 2nd behind Hunter Hall's Lucy Hetherington. She was closely followed by the Fielding sisters of Daisy (6th) and Julia (8th). Lily Brearley (11th) and Betsy Harrison (12th) also ran well to make sure the girls won the team award ahead of St.Mary's, Kirkby Lonsdale and Giggleswick.

Hamish Holden carried on his winning ways in the Under 9 boys race, running in the leading pack for the first half of the race, before pulling away in style. Charlie Hodgson (18th), Oliver South (20th), Leo Kelsall (21st) and Toby Burns (40th) all put in sterling performances to give the boys 4th in the team placings, behind a strong Cundall Manor team.

The Under 11 girls race saw two Year 5 girls from Sedbergh dominate the race. Sophia Longworth and Elsie Barker were impressive from start to finish. Scarlett Harrison (6th) and Harriette Smith (10th) also made the top ten, and along with Lileah Gregory (20th), Ella Holland (23rd), Pippa Radford (29th) and Hattie Newman (31st) the girls were comfortable winners of the team prize.

Jack Barker had looked in good form when winning at the Mowden Hall cross-country a couple of weeks ago, but this was a step up. However, this did not seem to faze Jack as he ran a mature race, pulling away on the second lap, to claim the gold medal.T he Under 11 boys won the team award by just 2 points from Cundall Manor.

Sedbergh's Under 13 girls team has been strong for a number of years now, so it was great to see another group of girls carrying on the tradition. Even with Millie Gunning (12th), falling when leading, the girls beat a strong Skipton Girls High School team.

The final race of the day saw the Under 13 boys take to stage. They were up against one of the strongest running schools in the north, Ermysted's Grammar School. Sam Gunning (5th) mixed it at the front for the whole race, and a returning Ben Redshaw (7th) showed there is plenty left in his tank. It was wonderful to see Tom Mullins (10th) towards the front of the field again, and Tom Newman (18th) would have been higher up if he had not lost a shoe. James Corrigan (20th) and Douglas Bolger (21st) had a good battle all race, and with a pleasing performance from Perry Palmer (26th) the boys finished a more than creditable 2nd behind Ermysted's.