There was a great turn out from Orion Harriers juniors at the Essex county cross country championship at Basildon.

Seven Under-13 boys competed in the first race and Daniel Richards was the club's first finisher in eighth place.

Richards was well supported by George Day (14th), Joe Clarke (20th) and Josh Foot (24th) and the boys' efforts were rewarded with a team bronze medal.

There was a strong field of 52 Under-13 girls in the second event.

Isabella Hoy ran a superb race and had a strong finish but it wasn’t quite enough to claim the title but she was still delighted with her individual silver medal.

Talya Abbott, 11th, and Nancy Callagher, a position further back, also finished strongly and were followed closely by the fourth scorer home for Orion, 18th-placed Katie Inch.

Orion’s fifth representative Emily Sharpe, who has only just turned 11, finished in a very respectable 31st place for the team that was delighted to hear they had achieved group silver.

Although the Under-15 boys didn't achieve any medals, they still put in some fine performances.

Tri-athlete Cheyenne Antoine-Chagar (13th) led the boys in and was followed closely by Ben Pattison (18th), Charlie Weston (23rd) and George Hart (25th).

Five places further back was Matthew Boyce, who has only recently returned to training after a long absence.

With seven of Orion’s Under-15 girls on the start line, there was a strong chance of a team medal. However, with the largest field on the day of 58 competitors, things didn’t quite go to plan for the Orion girls.

Georgia Tuckfield ran a very confident race by staying and leading the front pack for most of the race but had to settle for the silver position. Sydney Taylor (21st), Serena Espeute (31st), Madeline Corr (34th), Sophie Grant (40th) and Joelle Ewen (44th) were Orion's other competitors in the event.

Tri-athlete Armanni Antoine-Chagar finished in eighth place in the Under-17’s women's race, but the Under-17 men were disappointed with their performance. George Hoy lead the boy’s in with a finish of 13th place, followed by Jack Waller (24th) and Alex Chrisostomu (26th).

Under-20 Frankie Conway ran the race of his life and stayed with the leading pack for most of the race.

It wasn’t until the home straight that the Chelmsford and Basildon boys pulled away from Conway but he still maintained his pace and was very pleased to achieve a bronze medal in the event.