NAOMI Harris led Reading Athletic Club’s Under 17 women to a splendid victory in the Hampshire Cross Country League fixture at Aldershot on Saturday.

On a 4km course made treacherous by heavy rain, Harris ran a superb race to finish second in a time of 17min 02secs, just three seconds behind the winner.

She was followed by Hermione Walker, running well for fifth in 17.14, and a fine run from Renee Whalley in ninth place with 17.57 completed the scoring team.

Reading’s total of 16 points gave them a clear victory over Aldershot and Portsmouth.

The strength of Reading’s squad was emphasised by the number of their non-scoring runners, led by Alannah Chadwick in 10th place with 17.59, and followed by Lara Tolson in 24th (19.03), Oonagh O’Driscoll 26th (19.09) Tessa Weavers 33rd (20.42) and Esmee Harding 35th (21.09).

Reading’s U15 girls did well to finish fourth in their 4km race.

Mia Waldmann had a great run for 14th in 18.00, and she was followed by Talia Painting with a much-improved effort for 22nd in 18.33, while Jemima Crocker ran well to complete the scoring team in 35th with 19.24.

Katie Barnes and Scarlet Taplin came in next in 43rd and 44th places recording 19.36 and 19.37 respectively, with Amy Ricketts finishing 56th (21.28) and Anna Macklin 60th (22.37).

Evie Elson ran a very strong race in the U13 girls 3km race to finish in sixth position in 12.17, closely followed by Holly Haldane with a good run for ninth in a time of 12.20.

Lydia Godfrey did well to finish 24th to complete the scoring three, but Reading’s team total of 39 points was good enough only for fourth.

Lola Batt had a much-improved run in 46th (14.00) and Zoe Rennie was not far behind in 51st with 14.13.

Reading’s squad of boys and young men were weakened by injury and by the Schools Cup regional final, and they did not really challenge in the team competitions.

In the U13s 3km race, Edward Lewis judged his effort well to move through to 10th at the finish in a time of 11.36.

Aidan Marshall made a strong start, but in the end needed all his determination to finish in 27th place in 12.17, just one second ahead of George Urwin-Mann, who ran well for 28th.

Reading’s total of 65 points gave them a respectable fifth place in the team result.

Meanwhile non-scorer Jacob Sheikh had a very promising first cross-country race for Reading, recording 13.14 in 58th place.

Laurie Baker led the U15 boys home in their 4km race, running reliably as ever to finish 21st in a time of 16.19, while Aryan Gupta also ran strongly for 24th place in 16.27.

Completing Reading’s scoring team was Elio Babb, whose persistence earned him 54th position in 18.36, while Ollie Craggs unfortunately had to pull out at around halfway. A team total of 99 gave Reading eighth place.

Reading’s Ben Rollings and Mattie Raynor were undaunted by the worsening conditions in the U17 men’s 6km race, and both competed well, with Rollings moving through for 10th place in a time of 22.17, and a gritty effort from Raynor earning him 16th in 23.36.

Unfortunately, without a third runner, Reading were unplaced in the team race.

In the South-West Regional final of the English Schools Cup in Somerset, Sam Lindsey-Halls and Nicholas Haldane finished 10th and 25th for the Blue Coat team who finished second in the junior boys’ race, with Elliott McCarthy 57th for eighth-placed Ranelagh.

In the intermediate boys’ race Jack Webb and Will Thompson were 17th and 33rd for runners-up Blue Coat.