A STRONG performance by Reading Athletic Club’s Under 15 boys gained them third place in the latest Hampshire League fixture at Popham on Saturday, while the U13s continued to progress and Matt Rawlings secured an individual third in the U17 race.

In the U15 4km race, Reading had their best turnout of the season, with eight runners taking part.

They were led home once more by Ben Rollings, who was fifth for much of the race before slipping to eighth in the long fast downhill finish, recording 13:26.

Second home for Reading was the steadily-improving Joseph Mott, who gained a fine 12th place with a time of 13:45, and the scoring team was completed by Leon Bradshaw, who ran with great determination in moving through to 18th place in 14:00.

Reading’s total of 38 points gave them third place behind Southampton and Aldershot, and consolidated their league position of third overall.

Behind the scoring team, Tom Rickards ran a steady race for 27th place in 14:23, while Mattie Raynor and Olly Moor ran with their usual commitment to finish 35th and 39th with times of 14:48 and 14:56 respectively.

Sam Kral-Waters was 46th in 15:53, and Gabriel Evans, returning after injury, kept going well for 51st in 17:14.

Rawlings had an excellent run in the 5km U17 race, and although he had to let the leading pair get away, he pulled well clear of the rest of the field in the final 400m to finish third in 16:56.

Reading’s only other competitor in this race was Tom Nike, who produced a good effort on his return after illness to finish 28th in a time of 19:51.

In the U13 3km race, Laurie Baker claimed 26th place in a time of 11:38, and Elio Babb also improved significantly on his previous league performance in finishing 41st in 11:57.

Dominic Parsons completed the scoring team in 65th place, recording 12:49, just ahead of Harry Moor, whose impressive debut resulted in 66th in 12:54.

Adam Tivey, in his first official race for Reading, also impressed as he finished 74th in 14:08.

The team’s efforts gave them eighth place on the day, and leaves them in sixth position in the league on aggregate after three fixtures.

Also on Saturday, Jack Webb had a good run in finishing in 34th place as part of the Blue Coat junior team that came 12th in the final of the English Schools Cup in Formby, Lancashire.

l AT the previous event at Bournemouth, U15 Rollings took third place in 14:00, while in the U17 6km race, Chey Blatchford-Kemp matched that effort with a time of 20:15, just seven seconds down on the winner.

The U15 team finished fifth, while in the 3km U13 race, Reuben Henry-Daire made a good start to league competition, with a determined effort to gain 12th place in a time of 11:27. The team earned a creditable seventh place overall.

Blatchford-Kemp was the only Reading competitor to take part in the U17 race, but showed signs of returning to top form.