Three Sussex athletes making their debuts helped England win the Home Countries Schools Cross Country International.

Danielle Christmas (Crawley) was fourth in the girls' junior race and All England Championship silver medallist Charlotte Browning (Chichester) was fifth at Alfreton, Derbyshire.

Craig Ivemy (Ringmer) was fifth in the boys' intermediate race.

Ivemy said: "I was pleased with the team medal but should have got an individual medal.

"I walked the course before the race but it was much shorter than scheduled and I misjudged the finish. We were still all together as we rounded the final corner for the sprint to the line and I still had plenty left, but there was only 20m to the finish.

"I finished just three seconds down on Anthony Moran, from Manchester, who won and was only one second away from a medal.

"It was a bit frustrating. I am determined to get into the English Schools' track team in the summer."

The Sussex Schools Year Eight teams faced high-class competition in the Inter-County cross-country match at Portsdown, Portsmouth.

Conditions were good on a notoriously tough course as the boys finished fourth and the girls fifth against strong teams from Surrey, Hampshire, Kent and Essex.

Individually, county champion Emily Goodall (Oathall) was third and the only Sussex runner to achieve a top ten place.

Alex Ambridge (Filsham Valley) was 12th in the boys' race and Mark Burchett (Worthing High) 17th. Burchett had pipped Ambridge for the gold medal at the sussex Championships. Sam Rigby (Dorothy Stringer, Brighton) was 18th.