CITY of Oxford’s A-team made a strong start to their Milton Keynes & District Junior League Division 1 campaign.

The hosts claimed a dozen wins and 13 runner-up places in the 12 and under competition to finish second with 205 points, just behind Ealing (220).

With only Guildford (225) surpassing the pair across the other two galas in the opening round, Oxford sit third overall in the region.

They made a strong start, with wins in both 12-year-old medley relays.

Lara Mills, Evie McLean, Grettel Goodgame and Libby Gotta finished first in the girls’ race, a result matched by the boys’ team of Ralph Cooke, Morgan Smith, Jamie Conway and Mihalo Petrovic.

McLean went on to win two individual events, in the 50m butterfly and breaststroke.

Cooke and Smith also had success beyond the relays, coming out on top in the 50m backstroke and breaststroke respectively.

One of the closest finishes came in the nine-year-old girls’ freestyle relay, as Pearl Sophastienphong, Zara Porter, Imogen Gorrell and Eleni Loannou pipped Ealing by one second.

Sophastienphong’s impressive gala had not finished, as she returned with victory in the butterfly.

There was another nail-biter in the boys’ 10-year-old freestyle relay.

Lachlan Middleton, Ethan Bird, Mathew Critchley and David Feng held on to beat Reading into second place with a fingertip finish.

The other City victories came via Ella Joyce (10-year-old 50m backstroke), Lily Brabbin (11 and under 50m butterfly) and Rosie Hilton-Dew (11 and under 50m breaststroke).

The club’s B-team were also in action in Division 2, at Leighton Buzzard.

They accumulated 188 points to finish second at their gala behind the hosts (201).

Overall, Oxford sit fifth in the 16-team standings ahead of the second round, held on July 2.