The picturesque backdrop of Malham Cove played host to the 3rd Round of the English Junior Fell championships.  It was a glorious day in the Yorkshire Dales for the Malham Kirkby Fell Race – the full race being a tough 4 miles long with 899 ft of climb.  Buxton AC had an excellent turn out of 16 juniors taking part across the series of races from under 9 to under 17.

First up were the U9 and U11 Fun Races.  In the under 9 race were Jimmy Golden and Hannah Cudahy who finished 59th and 61st.  In the under 11 race Lucy Whelan, Rachel Cudahy and Molly Golden came in 71st. 76th and 86th overall.

In the Under 13 girls race Grace Longden going from strength to strength in this series came in 4th girl improving her previous best of 8th, and Rebecca Cudahy also made progress improving her position from 46th to 31st.

In the under 15 girls race Lucy Bednall came in a brilliant 6th with Lauren Wilshaw chasing her in 8th.  Amy Whelan also had a great race equally her best to come 15th.  Will Longden was in the medals again adding to the Silver he gained last race with a Bronze this race.  Matt Schofield put in his best performance of the series coming in 12th.

In the Under 17 age category Sam Soles improved his position by 2 places to come in 4th just outside the medals, with Ed Diamond coming in 13th in his first race of the series and Stu Diamond doing well to finish 21st after a nasty fall on the descent!  Heather Wilshaw also managed to improve her position moving from 15th to 11th in the under 17 girls.

Team Manager Rachel Dowle said, “The English Junior Fell Championships is a National competition with the best junior fell and mountain runners competing on some of the most challenging courses the mountains can offer.  Buxton Juniors have a lot to prove having been Silver Medal winning team last season but they are up to the challenge and have yet again made outstanding progress across the board with our best points scoring round this series.  We couldn’t be prouder of the grit, determination and team spirit that they are showing in this challenge.  What a team – bring on the next round!”