Jack Vail earned his first Sussex Schools Cross Country Championship title at his last attempt.

Although one of the best young middle distance runners in the county, Vail had been limited to just one appearance because of illness.

But the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College student, 16th as a junior in 1998, made no mistake when he claimed the senior boys' crown at Crawley.

He moved into the lead after the first 200m, no one stayed with him and he cruised to victory by more the 30 seconds.

He said: "I've been frustrated for several years. Colds and flu have come at just the wrong time in past winters so I was determined to make the most of my last chance.

"I stitched badly on the third of the three laps but I had a good lead so was able to tough it out. At one time I thought I might have to reduce to a walk or even drop out but I knew I would not get another chance and I forced myself to keep going.

"Conditions were softer than I expected but as it was a very flat course it did not make the race much harder.

"Although I have won Sussex Schools titles on the track, I really wanted to win my first in cross country.

"I've got quite a few races in the coming weeks, starting with the Inter-Counties Championships at Nottingham this weekend, but I really have my sights set on a good run in the All England Schools Championships at Chelmsford next month."

There were large gaps between the leading group and it was runners making their senior debuts who followed Vail home.

Mark Barham (Bexhill College) took the silver medal a minute clear of Richard Clayton (Worthing Sixth Form College) in third.

A high-quality senior girls' race Rookie Heather Longland (Chichester High) won a high-quality senior girls' race. She was 30m ahead of Brigit Cooke (Eastbourne), the Sussex under-20 champion, after pulling clear over the final kilometre.

Longland did not run cross country until last autumn and was uninvolved in the Sussex Schools' Track and Field Championships last summer even though she competed for Chichester Runners in their Southern Women League matches.

After only a few races she won a shock silver medal behind Cooke in the county under-20 race at Stanmer Park, Brighton, before this weekend's revenge victory.

She said: "I really enjoyed the race. I started running last summer but was not too serious and it was not really until the autumn that I started getting really interested.

"I was surprised to do so well at Stanmer Park, but I felt good and had plenty in hand at Crawley."

Her victory followed up a sixth place in the South of England Cross-Country Championships.

Cooke was runner-up for the the second year running while last year's champion, Alice Coutinho (Lewes Tertiary), in only her second cross country appearance of the season, took the bronze medal.