Both Zak Colvin and Peter Cook repeated their individual victories in the Berkshire Championships a fortnight earlier.

A string of other athletes in the junior, intermediate and senior races also finished in the top 16 to gain selection for the Berkshire teams in the South-East Schools inter-counties races on January 31.

Reading excelled in the intermediate race (Years 10 and 11) where Cook and Matthew Rawlings (both Blue Coat School), together with Mikey Lennon and Chey Kemp (both Hugh Faringdon) finished in the first four places.

Cook made his move in the final 1,500m of the 5.8km course, quickly opening a gap which his rivals found they could not close as he went on to win by five seconds in a time of 19:08.

Rawlings made it a one-two for Blue Coat with a strong finish, while Lennon finished third, three seconds behind Rawlings and five seconds ahead of Kemp. Isaac Farnworth (Maiden Erlegh) grabbed seventh spot in 19:52, while Sam Rodda (Highdown) was just two places behind in 20:16.

Ben Corless (Piggott) was another to make the Berkshire team, finishing in 15th in 20:47, while Ciaran Marshall (Little Heath) ran determinedly for 22nd in 21:54.

In the Year 7 race over 2.9km, Zak Colvin (Piggott) claimed an 11-second victory in a time of 10:33.

Jack and Ollie Hynes (Willink) and Leon Bradshaw (Piggott) all ran in the following group, with Jack gaining third in 10:50, just three seconds ahead of his brother, and Bradshaw a further eight seconds behind in fifth.

Jensen Bale (Willink) also had a strong race in eighth place with a time of 11:16, while Mattie Raynor’s persistence gained him 38th position in 12:38.

Reading’s leading runner in the junior 3.9km race (Years 8 and 9) was Eddie Steveni (Blue Coat), who came sixth in 13:21.

Ben Rollings (Forest) was eighth in 14:01, with Max Martin and Joseph Mott (both Piggott) finishing 11th and 12th in times of 14:19 and 14:23 respectively.

Ethan Howes (Downs) was another to run well, with a time of 15:14 in 22nd place, and Gino Castagna (Piggott) was a creditable 40th in 16:12.

In the senior (sixth form) 7.3km race, Reading’s runners were unable to match the leaders, but Tommy Trees (Blue Coat) and Michael Anderson (Piggott) finished fifth and sixth, recording 25:09 and 25:14 respectively.

Matthew Rainbow (Blue Coat) returned from injury to claim seventh in 25:51, and Laurence Skidmore (Piggott) was ninth in 26:18.

A typically determined effort from Jack Harlowe (Denefield) earned him 23rd in 30:29.

A good many of the Reading AC runners will compete in the upcoming Southern Championships at Brighton.

l OONAGH O’Driscoll was the best-placed Reading AC athlete in the female races on the day after claiming bronze in the Year 7 race, just ahead of Naomi Harris in fourth.

Lauren Church came fourth in the U19s race and Kirsty Walker finished 10th in the U17/U19 race.