BASILDON AC’s youngsters produced a clean sweep of wins in the boys section at the latest round of the Essex Cross-Country League at Chinford.

Max Jones won the under-17 men’s race, Mason Webb triumphed in the under-15 boys competition and Oliver Lill was the first across the line in the under-13 boys contest.

The fields in all of the races were a little bit down on usual with this round, the fourth of the five-fixture league, being sandwiched in between the Essex Cross-Country Championships and tomorrow’s Essex Schools Cross-Country Championships.

And those who did make the trip to west Essex were faced with boggy, energy-sapping conditions.

Jones led the Basildon AC team to a comfortable win in the under-17 men’s race, with his team-mate Christian Gray finishing second and Brandon Thorpe (sixth) and Joe Kidd (14th) making up the scoring team.

Southend AC’s Adam Jordan ran well for third.

Webb backed up his impressive win at the county championships seven days earlier with victory in the under-15 boys race.

Southend AC’s Toby Wright was second and led his team to first place overall.

Sam and Matthew Norris were seventh and 13th respectively and Craig Wheeler 15th to complete the team.

Benfleet RC’s Rushwan Lewis continued his good season with a fifth place.

Lill won his second Essex League match of the winter and helped his Basildon team to an easy team win in the under-13 boys race, with the three other scorers – Daniel Houchell (eighth), George Hill (10th) and Sam Wheatley (12th) all finishing well up the order.

Thurrock Harriers’ Leon Wheeler was fifth.

On the girls side, there was an encouraging run from Sarah Imbush of Southend AC in the under-17/20 women’s race as she finished in second place while Basildon were the team victors with Emma Houchell (third), Emily Bullis (fourth) and Gemma Archer-Haley (10th) all running well.

Sinead Clark (Benfleet RC) was third in the under-15 girls race, two places ahead of Basildon’s Niamh Smith, while East Essex Tri’s Charlotte Brooks was ninth.

In the under-13 girls race, Felicity Galbally (Southend AC) was the highest-placed south Essex athlete in seventh.

In the senior races, Basildon AC’s Grant Webb kept up his own strong form this winter with seventh place in the men’s race.