Mark Beerling was back to something resembling his best as he finished third in the senior men's race at the Chiltern Cross Country League second round meeting at Oxford's Shotover Park.

The Oxford City athlete was the star of the show for his club as he clocked 34mins 35secs in a strong field.

The news was not so good for Steve Male, who had to withdraw with a twisted ankle, which affected the team's score.

But City were well backed up by Brian Green, who finished tenth overall and third in the Vet 40 category in 35.47.

Richard Grant was first in the Vet 50 section in 37.06, with Dave Wheeler crossing the line in 37.48 and Trevor Dixon, in 38.37, making up the winning Vet 40 team for the second successive meeting.

The overall men's team was completed by John Exley, who finished 76th in 40.09, Pete Gray (79th in 40.23) and Julian Richardson (84th in 41.02).

Oxford's men's team finished a creditable fourth, and are holding their own in mid-table - a great improvement on last year when they struggled near the bottom of the table.

In the junior events, Melissa Hawtin won the Under 13 girls' race in 12.32, while Beth Swords made it two in a row by finishing first in the Under 11 girls' race in 12.04.

Swords and her teammates, Lauren Hawtin (3rd in 12.32) and Jessica Antice (17th in 14.03) gave the girls first place in the Under 11 team event.

OTHER RESULTS

Under 17 men: 11 J Bird 23.04.

Under 15 boys: 23 I Castle 16.40.

Under 13 boys: 8 A Simpson 12.41.

Under 11 boys: 2 H Robertson 11.45, 12 W Handscombe 12.56.

Senior women: 29 R Bolton 26.00.

Under 17 women: 28 P Sprinz 21.28.

Under 13 girls: 10 D Anderson 13.47.

While her clubmates were having a successful day in the Chiltern Cross Country League, Oxford City's promising under 13 runner Bea Swords ran a strong race to finish third in the latest round of the Reebok Cross Challenge at Birmingham's Sennelys Park.

She stayed with the leading pack throughout the race to clock a fine time of 11mins 28secs.

Darrell Bellinger finished 48th in the senior men's race in 39.23, while Hannah England was 24th in the junior women's event, clocking 20.10.

The next round is held at London's Parliament Hill Fields course.

Entries for the Eynsham 10K are no longer being accepted, as the race has reached its capacity.

OTHER CLUB RESULT

Rickmansworth 9 mile

Abingdon Amblers: J Harvey 56.49.