A polished performance

RONNIE SPARKE of Woodford Green with Essex Ladies led the Great Britain under-20 team home in the World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It was a tremendous run from Sparke, who finished 41st after being 83rd in 2009, with another year st

RONNIE SPARKE of Woodford Green with Essex Ladies led the Great Britain under-20 team home in the World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

It was a tremendous run from Sparke, who finished 41st after being 83rd in 2009, with another year still left in the age category.

Having finished fifth in the trials and fourth in the National Championships, he was delighted to have beaten his British rivals.

In a race dominated by the African nations, Sparke was only the third European to finish, leading the team into ninth. out of the 19 competing.

n MANY young Woodford athletes competed in the Havering open meeting at Lea Valley, with Sam Watts being the outstanding performer with a win in the under-20s 150m in a time of 16.10 seconds.

There were two other first places on the day, with Tyler Brown winning the under-17 150m in 18.10 and Tom Finch clinching the under-11 150m in 24.50.

There were also six second places for Woodford Green athletes with Claire Leckie making a welcome return to competition with 47.90 in the senior women's 300m hurdles.

Others were Amy Doyle in the under-17s women's 300m hurdles in 51.20, Ben Phillips in the under-20s men's 300m hurdles in 42.40, Holly Pattie-Belilli in the under-17s women's 150m in 20.70, Austin Joseph in the under-20s 150m in 17.40 and Perter Kirabo in the under-20s 300m in 38.50.