Oxfordshire's Melissa Hawtin just missed out on a top-ten finish in the ESAA Sainsbury's English Schools' Cross Country Championships at Sefton Park, Liverpool.

The 15-year-old, from Gosford Hill, Kidlington, put up a fine effort to finish 11th in her first crack at the intermediate girls' race.

Running over a fairly flat 3,750m course, she recorded 14.00mins, with Cumberland's Laura Park taking gold in 13mins 22secs.

Julia Blackstock (Gillott's, Henley) also produced a solid run to come 57th of the 342 finishers in 14.58.

Oxon finished a highly-creditable eighth of the 44 counties in the junior girls' team race over 3,500m.

Headington's Beth Swords led the way, coming 30th in 13.56.

She was followed by Ellie Clarke-Jacques (Cherwell, Oxford) in 71st in 14.19, Connie McMillan (North Oxon Academy) in 76th in 14.21 and Lauren Hawtin (Gosford Hill) in 88th in 14.24.

Sophie Tyes (Bloxham) was Oxon's top finisher in the senior girls' race over 4,200m, coming 66th in 17.12.

James Bennington (Magdalen College School, Oxford) produced Oxon's best result in the boys' races, finishing 28th in the junior age group in 13.35.

Abingdon School's Alistair Duff was the next Oxon runner home over the 3,750m course in 72nd in 13.56.

Burford's George Miller finished 49th in the intermediate boys' race over 5,900m in 21.03.

The heavens opened during the senior boys' race run over 6,500m, which saw Tim Traynor (King Alfred's, Wantage) lead home the Oxon contingent in 77th place in 23.06.

OXFORDSHIRE RESULTS BOYS Senior: 77 T Traynor (King Alfred's) 23.06, 135 Jack Bibbings (St Edward's) 23.44, 163 F Slemeck (St Edward's) 24.00, 165 Robert Bowles (King Alfred's) 24.00, 205 B McCallum (Oxford & Cherwell Valley College) 24.26, 215 S Miller (Cokethorpe) 24.38, 233 S Smith (St Edward's) 24.48, 251 B Pawson (St Edward's) 25.00. Team: 26 Oxon 960pts.

Intermediate: 49 George Miller (Burford) 21.03, 108 Charlie Bennett (Cherwell) 21.47, 144 J Simmons (Warriner) 22.08, 211 S Ferguson (Chipping Norton) 22.29, 256 P Manning (King Alfred's) 22.51, 269 T Stindt (Bloxham) 22.59, 314 T Foxon (Abingdon) 23.56. Team: 31 Oxon 1,037.

Junior: 28 James Bennington (Magdalen College School) 13.35, 72 Alistair Duff (Abingdon School) 13.56, 194 Theo Bromfield (Radley) 14.35, 200 S Webster (Langtree) 14.37, 212 G Rogers (Radley) 14.39, 275 E O'Hara (Larkmead) 14.58, 283 S Jones (Abingdon School) 15.00, 304 O Simmons (Warriner) 15.10. Team: 33 Oxon 981.

GIRLS Senior: 66 Sophie Tyes (Bloxham) 17.12, 190 Megan Roberts (St Helen & St Katharine's) 18.45, 259 E Patrick (Cheney) 19.58, 279 J Brook (Bloxham) 20.44, 284 N Shipperley (Headington) 20.56, 300 P Cowan (Headington) 21.32, 302 P Canlan-Shaw (St Helen & St Katharine's) 21.49, 305 M Gaze (Headington) 22.07. Team: 36 Oxon 1,378.

Intermediate: 11 Melissa Hawtin (Gosford Hill) 14.00, 57 Julia Blackstock (Gillott's) 14.58, 174 R Rust (Headington) 15.55, 196 J Sutherland (John Mason) 16.03, 232 D Anderson (Matthew Arnold) 16.21, 242 M Thresher (European) 16.26, 248 S Mills (Bloxham) 16.29. DNF: Bea Swords (Headington). Team: 26 Oxon 912.

Junior: 30 Beth Swords (Headington) 13.56, 71 Ellie Clarke-Jacques (Cherwell) 14.19, 76 C McMillan (North Oxon Academy) 14.21, 88 L Hawtin (Gosford Hill) 14.24, 133 J Walker (Cheney) 14.44, 158 I Kempton (Cherwell) 14.51, 252 S Hunt (Tudor Hall) 15.19, 334 B Murphy-Hand (King Alfred's) 17.10. Team: 8 Oxon 556pts.