Crawley athletes made a big impact in the Surrey cross-county championships at Banstead.

Talented Danielle Christmas and Hannah Brooks, who had finished first and second in the Sussex League race at Lancing just before Christmas, stormed well away from their rivals in the under-15 girls 4km.

Danielle broke clear to win in 16min.40sec, with Hannah second in 16min. 58sec. Bronze medalist Sam Holverson (Herne Hill) crossed the finishing line 45 seconds later.

Crawley's Leanne Best ran well to finish eighth in 18min.39sec and had the club been permitted to affiliate to Surrey, as well as Sussex, they would have won the team title.

Although not getting among the medals, Matt Jee had an excellent run to finish fifth in the under-17 boys 6.5km (25min.20sec).

Lewis Denton placed seventh in the under-13 boys 3.25km (13min.4sec) while Jo Rowland just missed a medal in the under-13 girls 3.25km, finishing fourth in 14min. 22sec.

The Brighton, Hove and Portslade Schools cross-county championships will be held in Stanmer Park this Saturday, January 18, with the first race starting at 10am.