White Horse Harriers dominated the third round of the Oxford Mail Cross Country League as their big guns returned from university to sweep the board at Banbury.

Harriers, whose men's and women's teams are in Division 2, were strengthened by the return of Tom Penfold and Owain Bristow.

They posted a 1-2-3 in the senior men's race, with Penfold easily outpacing clubmate Bristow.

Such was Penfold's dominance, he finished the course almost a full minute clear of the field as he crossed the line in 31mins 13 secs.

Bristow himself was a clear second in 32.06, with young Tim Traynor finishing third in 32.55.

Harriers romped to team victory in men's Division 2, with six of their seven points-scorers inside the top 50.

In fact, had they been a Division 1 side, they would have posted victory in that section.

Series leader Steve Kimber had to settle for fourth place, a massive 2mins 15secs adrift of Penfold.

But he will know that this will most likely be Penfold and Bristow's only appearance of the season, and his fourth position helped him strengthen his lead in the men's standings.

In the women's race, Division 2 side White Horse Harriers also romped to team victory and look a decent bet for a return to Division 1 for next season.

Frances Briscoe was way out on her own to win the race by a huge margin of a minute and a quarter.

She clocked 19.07 to see off Headington's Rachael Stokes, who posted 20.22 for second.

Cirencester's Jane Wassell was third, with Josephine Rhodes fourth in 20.55.

And there will be a new winner of the vet 35 and overall women's trophy this year, after Cirencester's Wendy Nicholls did not compete at Banbury - her second successive absence.

With runners having to compete in a minimum of four races to be considered for honours, Nicholls's absence rules her out of the reckoning.

The women's Division 1 team prize went as usual to Headington, with Stoakes, Sophie Whitworth (11th in 21.49) and Helen Barnes (12th in 22.20) making up the winning trio.

A special mention must go to Melissa Hawtin, who made a guest appearance in the senior race for the first time.

The Oxford City youngster impressed as she crossed the line in 19.49 - a time which would have given her second place had she been competing as a senior lady.

In the junior races, Oxford City, even without Hawtin, dominated the combined under 13/15 girls' event, with five runners finishing in the top six.

Beth Swords led the way, clocking 10.42.

Beth Hawtin won the under 11 girls' mini-minors race in 5.37, while the boys' prize went to Abingdon Amblers' James Wiltshire, who won the race ahead of teammate Jasper Webb by just five seconds, crossing the line in 5.47.

TOM Penfold also triumphed in the Serpentine RC's Last Friday 5k in Hyde Park, London, in a time of 15mins 9secs.

Other result: 31 (2nd V40) I Meadowcroft (Headington RR) 17.44. OXFORD MAIL CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE RESULTS Men (top 20, senior men unless stated): 1 T Penfold (WHH) 31.13, 2 O Bristow (WHH) 32.06, 3 T Traynor (WHH, U20) 32.55, 4 S Kimber (Headington RR) 33.28, 5 D Fry (Newbury) 33.36, 6 M Fallows (Cirencester) 33.47, 7 M Coffey (Oxford C, U20) 33.56, 9 R Bowles (WHH, U20) 34.10, 10 A McLeod (Newbury) 34.30, 11 P Hails (Witney RR) 34.31, 12 D Bellinger (Oxford C) 34.34, 13 M Norris (Cirencester) 34.35, 14 T Bradford (Hook Norton) 34.37, 15 M Shepherd (Team Kennet) 34.48, 16 B Leggate (Cirencester) 34.51, 17 P Fernandez (Abingdon) 34.56, 18 L Newell (Abingdon) 35.05, 19 A Vey (Abingdon, U20) 35.08, 20 A Tilsley (Hook Norton, V40) 35.12.

Women: 1 F Briscoe (WHH) 19.07, 2 R Stoakes (Headington RR) 20.22, 3 J Wassell (Cirencester, LV35) 20.23, 4 J Rhodes (WHH) 20.55, 5 R Kelling (Banbury H, LV35) 21.12, 6 E Connolly (Swindon H, U17) 21.17, 7 N Gomm (Witney RR, LV45) 21.19, 8 C Conway (Cirencester, U20) 21.20, 9 R Elliott (Team Kennet) 21.38, 10 B Swords (Oxford C, U17) 21.42, 11 S Whitworth (Headington RR, LV35) 21.49, 12 H Barnes (Headington RR) 22.20, 13 C Abesser (Headington RR) 22.26, 14 S Francis (Team Kennet, LV35) 22.26, 15 F Walker (Newbury) 22.28, 16 M Bartlett (Banbury H, LV35) 22.33, 17 S Sheppard (Woodstock H) 22.36, 18 S Tyers (Radley, U17) 23.03, 19 L Davies (Headington RR) 23.14, 20 K Balmer (Witney RR) 23.15.

Men's Div 1 (top six): 1 Cirencester 172pts, 2 Newbury A 231, 3 Headington RR A 292, 4 Abingdon 353, 5 Woodstock H A 386, 6 Witney RR A 390.

Div 2 (top six): 1 White Horse H 159pts, 2 Oxford C 328, 3 Swindon H A 545, 4 Team Kennet A 571, 5 Banbury A 727, 6 Alchester A 887.

Div 3 (top six): 1 Cherwell A 408pts, 2 Swindon Str A 746, 3 White Horse H B 818, 4 Kidlington A 954, 5 Woodstock H B 955, 6 Eynsham RR A 991.

Women's Div 1 (top six): 1 Headington RR A 25pts, 2 Cirencester A 42, 3 Team Kennet A 45, 4 Banbury H A 58, 5 Newbury A 60, 6 Headington RR B 65.

Div 2: 1 White Horse H A 46pts, 2 Radley A 75, 3 Woodstock A 99, 4 Newbury B 104, 5 Alchester A 105, 6 Swindon Str A 113.

LATEST INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (after three rounds) Senior men: 1 S Kimber (Headington RR) 5pts, 2 M Fallows (Cirencester) 9, 3 N Marley (Alchester) 11, 4 P Hails (Witney RR) 14, 5 D Fry (Newbury) 16, 6= T Bradford (Hook Norton), P Fernandez (Abingdon) 20.

Senior women: 1 F Briscoe (WHH) 3pts, 2 R Stoakes (Headington RR) 5, 3 R Elliot (Team Kennet) 6, 4 J Rhodes (WHH) 7, 5 K Jacobs (Swindon H) 13, 6 H Preedy (Team Kennet) 22.

LATEST TEAM STANDINGS (after three rounds) Men's Div 1 (top six): 1 Cirencester 540pts, 2 Abingdon A 789, 3 Headington RR A 868, 4 Woodstock H A 1125, 5 Newbury A 1317, 6 Hook Norton A 1342.

Div 2 (top six): 1 White Horse H A 1084pts, 2 Swindon H A 1194, 3 Oxford C A 1683, 4 Team Kennet 1854, 5 Alchester A 2208, 6 Banbury H A 2960.

Div 3 (top six): 1 Cherwell A 1874pts, 2 Swindon Str A 2147, 3 Eynsham RR A 2453, 4 Abingdon B 2745, 5 Woodstock H B 2955, 6 White Horse H B 3075.

Women's Div 1 (top six): 1 Headington RR A 96pts, 2 Team Kennet A 97, 3 Cirencester A 157, 4 Newbury A 180, 5 Witney RR A 195, 6 Banbury H A 203.

Div 2 (top six): 1 White Horse H A 191pts, 2 Swindon H A 258, 3 Woodstock H A 275, 4 Newbury B 326, 5 Abingdon A 387, 6 Swindon Str A 399.

Due to New Year deadlines, full results and standings are unavailable. For details of latest standings and full results from round three, visit www.oxonxc.org