A trio of Herne Hill Harriers’ teams finished in the top 10 at the national cross-country relay championships at the weekend, with the U15s team of Lucy Olsen, Zoe Tompkins and Alex Brown claiming a superb silver medal in Mansfield.

The U13 boys team, meanwhile, finished fourth and an U13 girls' squad finished eighth against top class opposition.

However, it was the performance of the U15 girls that proved to be the dramatic highlight for the Tooting-Bec based club.

The race came down to a sprint finish with Basingstoke, Herne Hill and Blackheath & Bromley fighting for the medals.

After Olsen put Harriers in contention, finishing fourth on her leg, and Tompkins lifting the team to third, a last leg charge from Brown was ultimately tracked by ex-Harrier Katy-Ann McDonald, who pulled clear in the final 100 metres to win the title for Blackheath.

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Nonetheless, in the process, Brown had run the fastest lap in the U15 girls' category and Tompkins medalled on the national stage for the first time.

To demonstrate Harriers strength in depth, a U15 girls B team finished 14th and a C team 25th.

The U13 boys had another exciting race after Mohammed Ali ran well on leg one for 10th place.

Jacob Alley kept the team in contention, but Oscar Millard had too much to do going into the final leg after taking over in 15th.

Millard charged through the field, moving into fourth with 600m to go and gave chase for the bronze medal, closing the gap with every stride, but he just failed to catch the third runner by 30 metres.

Fourth place was Herne Hill’s highest placing by an U13 boys team in these championships and Millard was the eighth fastest runner.

The U13 girls team of Clarissa Nicholls, Lulu King and Lily Newton were also top 10 finishers in eighth place, while a B team was 32nd.

An U17 women's team of Daisy Setyabule, Kate Brown and Alice Setyabule ran well in 20th, and a B team was 45th. An U15 boys' squad finished 45th.

At the senior end, Herne Hill’s men finished sixth at the Reigate Priory Relays, with Alan Barnes running the day’s ninth fastest split.

A women’s team was also sixth at the same event, with Karen Ellison was joint fastest leg runner.

Harriers’ women’s squad have also been buoyed by the news of the likely return of Stacey Ward.

The Brunel University student – who has a 10k best of 33 minutes 55 seconds – won the Northala Fields parkrun in 18:15 on Saturday, and should feature in upcoming cross-country races for the club.