On Saturday we saw a handful of our stars attend the Cardiff Cross challenge. For many of them this was their first run in a national XC race. The weather was kind to us today and even though the course was a little slippy, they all did well. I’ve just watched the races on YouTube to find the athletes positions in each race. Up first were the U11 girls which included Roni, Arya and Norah (lower year). Looking at all the stats (yes I’m that guy) it looked to be straight shoot out between Roni and another runner called Madison from Brentwood Beagles AC. Roni came second today, a distance ahead of 3rd which I think is the highest ever position for a Shrewsbury athlete in a cross challenge event (Oscar and Liam have previously come 3rd at Sefton Park) So even through Roni didn’t win, she still ran really well. For a bit of context, the winner in the U11 girls race was the same time as the U11 boys race, so she was flying. Both Norah and Arya ran great races and came home in 13th and 14th. Maybe Norah as a lower year can make this race hers next year as an upper year. In the U11 boys race Ben (lower year) ran a great race against boys much older than him. He worked hard throughout the race and managed to come home in 54th place. He Will still be an U11 next year and will get to have another crack at this race. Next up was Oscar (lower year) in the U13 boys race. For the first time in a while Oscar got out to a good start and managed to stay in the top 10 throughout finishing in 7th and we think 2nd out of the lower year athletes, so a great run. Our final two athletes competed in the U15 girls race and this race was absolutely stacked with talent. Chloe (lower year) ran a blinder and managed to come home 15th. Elsa also ran a great race and had a real strong finish managing to come home in 43rd. I’m super proud of all our athletes who all turned up and served it up to the competition today. Next week will see some of them compete in the Dave Sunderland trophy and the following week we hope to see a some of you(more than a few hopefully ��) at Sefton park for the next round of the British cross challenge. Please enjoy some of the photos taken from the event. Also, there is a stream showing all races on the British athletics YouTube channel. Report compiled by Jamie Adams Pics supplied by Jamie Adams. More pics in the Gallery.