READING Athletic Club's Under 17 team were the stars of the men's side of the club in finishing third in the Southern Cross Country Championships at London's Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday.

In their 6km race on the traditional mud, Matt Rawlings and Peter Cook were competitive from the start, with both among the leading 20 or so by the top of the first long hill.

As the race developed, they continued to lead the Reading effort running just outside the top dozen, with Sam Rodda not far behind, but with the rest of the team somewhat down the field the chance of medals looked possibly to be slipping away.

However, on the second lap things changed significantly as Mikey Lennon gained a number of places to secure an excellent third place for the team behind Cambridge and Tonbridge, and comfortably ahead of Aldershot.

Rawlings eventually finished in 12th place in a time of 21:11, with Cook's strong run gaining him 15th in 21:30.

Rodda finished 17th (21:38) and the ever-dependable Lennon came 31st in 21:54.

Alex Sutton, who had been ahead of Lennon for half the race, held on for 51st place in 22:33, while a dogged effort from Chey Kemp gave him 57th in 22:43.

Reading's strength in depth in this age group was shown by their four further finishers. Joe Steveni (23:07), Isaac Farnworth (23:10), Ben Corless (24:09) and Shreyas Kanya(24:13).

In the U15s 4.5km race, Nick Wiltshire had probably his best cross country result yet, finishing in fifth place in a time of 16:52 for Reading's highest individual placing of the day. Second home for Reading was Harry Roe with a strong run for 36th position in 17:49, and Max Martin competed well to finish in 92nd in 18:37.

The ever-reliable Joseph Mott was the team's final scorer, securing seventh place for the team out of 29 in finishing 131st with a time of 19:07.

Outside the scoring four, Marcus Cleare recorded a time of 19:17, just ahead of Tom Nike, who finished in 19:19.

Zak Colvin had a fine run in the U13s 3km race, securing 10th place in 12:22. Next home was Tom Rickards with a good effort for 84th in 13:14, followed by Dylan Lowther, who ran well for 113th, recording 13:34.

The scoring team was completed by Jensen Bale, with an improved performance for 121st in 13:38, ensuring 13th place out of 30 for Reading in the team competition.

Alfie McGlennon finished in 13:47, while Leon Bradshaw (14:08), Mattie Raynor (14:10), Olly Moor (14:30) and Gabriel Evans (15:53) completed the Reading runners.