Croydon Harriers took almost 30 runners to take on the best in the country at Saturday's ECCA English National Cross-Country Championships in Nottingham.

Stevie Lawrence was the club’s highest finisher on the day, placing 49th out of 211 competitors in the U17 women’s race.

In the U15 boys' category, Omar Harhara led the club home to 25th in the team standings with a 131st placing overall.

The scoring quartet was completed by Kieron Connor (160th), Dane Lawrence (253rd) and Joseph Lucas (261st), in a field of 346.

The U13 boys' squad were 42nd overall in their two-mile race, having been led home by Jordan O’Dongo in 229th in a record field of 389 finishers.

Croydon’s other young athlete’s team which closed in were the U15 girls' who were 37th, spearheaded by Sabrina Stoute (336th) and Josie Kavanagh (338th).

Surrey Comet:

Club leader: Stevie Lawrence finished 49th in the U17s race

A trio of U17 men were also in action over their 6km course, with Kartik Iyer (145th), Laurence Johnston (183rd) and Rob Spalding (201st) faring well in a field of 272 finishers.

In the flagship senior men’s race, the team placed 115th with three team stalwarts Neil Aikman (911th), Mark Maginn (912th) and Glenn Barden (929th) all grouping well over 7.25-mile course.

Martin Rowe (1,311th) and Norman Hemming (1,565th) also battled home, while Dave Warren completed his 34th national cross-country event.

Other Results

Naomi Carty, U17 women, 151st
Atlanta Drummond, U17 women, 189th
Connor Dargan, U15 boys, 264th
James Drummond, U15 boys, 340th
Josh Buakare, U15 boys, 341st
Marcus Stoute, U13 boys, 371st
Caleb Drummond, U13 boys, 381st
Aaron Drummond, U13 boys, 382nd
Niamh Yehezkel, U15 girls, 344th
Beth Matlock, U15 girls, 354th.

Surrey Comet:

Seniors: Mark Maginn in in the black and white of Croydon Harriers

Surrey Comet:

Stamina: Kieron Connor in the U15 race

At the British University Indoor Championships in Sheffield, Twinelle Hopeson (representing Loughborough University) narrowly missed out on a place on the podium in the 60m by just one hundredth of a second.

Her time of 7.64secs is her second quickest time this year as the 22-year-old continues her comeback from injury, which kept her out of action for most of 2013.

Also at the championships, Chris Clarke (Brunel University) reached the semi-finals of the 200m with a best of 22.75secs, and in the same event Colm Teeluck (Reading University) was fourth in his heat.

Representing the South of England Masters squad, Mandy Rowley-Jones won the W50 triple jump in a lifetime best and club record distance of 9.29m.

In the pick of the parkrun action, Jake English bagged his fourth win at Crystal Palace clocking 18:10.

This Saturday is the Virgin London Mini-Marathon trials at Lloyd Park.

This free event is open to all runners aged 11-17 that either live or go to a school/college in the Borough of Croydon.

Those who finish highly in the 2.5-mile race will be selected by the Croydon Sports Development team to represent the borough at the Virgin London Mini-Marathon on April 13.

Visit www.croydon.gov.uk/mini-m to register and for more information.