Great performances by Chichester's Charlotte Browning and Chris West earned the Sussex pair medals in the South of England Cross Country Championships at Exmouth on Saturday.

Charlotte not only eased to an individual gold, she also led her Aldershot team to a runaway team victory as well.

Last year, when Charlotte's form was rather erratic, she was sixth in this event, just one place ahead of Crawley's Danielle Christmas.

This time Charlotte had to call on all her determination. She was struggling in fourth place but gritted her teeth and fought her way through to take the title.

But with so many tough races coming up in the next few weeks she could have hoped for an easier race.

Danielle also improved on her placing 12 months ago by finishing fifth and although she missed an individual medal she scooped a silver in the team event.

Crawley are particularly strong in this age group and with Hannah Brooks coming 22nd, Emily Goodall 44th and Leanne Best 52nd, they took second place beind Aldershot.

Chris's medal came in the under-13s where he had a splendid battle with Medway's Carl Haines before being squeezed out of the gold by just one second in 9min. 13sec.

There was also a fine run in this age group by Phoenix's Matthew Barrie who, like Chris, had his best cross country run to date, finishing in fifth place in 9min. 32sec.

The only other top ten placing for Sussex came in the Under-17 girls where Brighton & Hove's Katy Moore finished a creditable seventh.

This Saturday Katy will be defending her Sussex Schools Intermediate (Under-17) cross-country title when the championships are held in Stanmer Park.

Katy will not only have to face Hillcrest's Cheryl Heath, who beat her for the Sussex Under-17 title at Bexhill earlier this month, but also Browning who moves into the Intermediate age group for schools events.

In the junior (Under-15) race only one of the Crawley girls who won medals at Exmouth will be competing as Danielle, Hannah and Leanne all go to school in Surrey and contest the Surrey Schools Championships instead.

Emily Goodhall will probably start as favourite and her main challenge is likely to come from Sarah Garrett, from Durrington, who squeezed her into third place in the county event. Another threat is Cardinal Newman's Hannah Curtis who won the Brighton and Hove Schools title ten days ago.

In the junior boys race, Chris West will again clash with Matthew Barrie but both will have to overcome the older Hailsham runners, Matt Southam and Scott Harris, and Tanbridge House's Scott Randle.

The main contenders in the Intermediate age group appear to be Ringmer's Todd Leckie, who was fourth last year, and Weald School's Richard Hoad who missed the County Championships because of illness but who has run well in league races.

Another potential threat is Brighton and Hove Schools champion Andrew Donno from the Cardinal Newman School.

The All England Schools Cross Country Championships will also be held in Stanmer Park on March 8.