This year's highlight of the x-country season (The National) took place in Sedgefield, County Durham. The venue was used for the Northern x-country 2 years ago and will hopefully be a regular venue for big x-country events, as it has rolling countryside as well as being good for spectators. It was great to see Trafford athletes competing in all the events but the highlight was Finn Proffitt finishing 6th in the senior men's race, plus Beth Reid 24th in the senior women's race and the U17 Men’s team finishing 2nd.

In the U13 boys race three friends from the same school all finished within 12 seconds. Stan Barber enjoyed the fast running conditions to show his great progression over the winter, finishing 105th out of the 235 finishers. Close behind this time were Thomas Fotheringham 116th and Emanuele Calisti 129th.

Regulars over the winter in the U13 girls age group and two of the youngest in the field Cora Black finished 118th and Betsy Widdop 179th.

In the U15 age group Logan Grocott (80th) continued his progression this winter piping his teammate Thomas Daly (85th) by 2 seconds. With Sam Ingleby-Castleton (141st) and Joe Bowden (249th) the team finished 24th. Mya Black ended her x-country season in the u15 girls by making the top 200 in 199th place.

The U17 Men’s race saw the top two Northern teams (Trafford and Trafford B) take on the big Southern teams. The team race was very close with 38 points covering the top 3 teams, Blackheath edging Trafford into 2nd place and Trafford’s B team finishing 9th (1st B team) and only 1 point behind the 2nd Northern team, Rotherham. The race saw Pio Aron set off with the lead group and pace himself well to finish 10th. Adrian White moved through to pick up 23rd with Fin Dobson Emmas just behind in 27th. Behind them the team packed well with Tio Austin 44th, Archie Greenwood having a great run in 59th, Ben Gardner 69th, Ben Keeley 81st and Evan Lewis 124th out of the 209 finishers.

The U17 Women's race saw a close finish where Sarah Smith (100th) just overtook Rachel Bowden (103rd) in the sprint finish, with Ava Evans continuing her good winter form in 145th.

Trafford's second best Team Result of the day came in the U20 Men’s 10.1km race where they finished 4th place. Jay Hutchinson led the team, heading for a low 30's finish as he moved through the field he again got a stitch but held on to finish 46th. Luke Carrington has struggled with iron levels over the winter but is showing good signs as he picked up 78th and with Toby Robinson 101st and Dan Partington 122nd, all four runners have another year in this age group.

In the U20 Women's race Rafaelle Ingleby-Castleton continued her improvement this winter picking up 82nd.

In the Women's race Beth Reid made a good start and was always close to the lead pack. 24th place was Beth's best ever National finishing position and only one place behind January's Northern x-country champion. A little further back, but with great runs amongst the 531 finishers was Kate Meeson (125th) and finishing her 40th National x-country in a row Sue Exon (505th).

Having run for England as a junior, Finn Proffitt has made great progress this winter. It was a very fast start in the senior men’s race that saw a group of 5 pull well clear of the lead pack. Finn paced himself well, always staying with the lead group as it whittled down, showing great strength over the 12.4km course he sprinted clear in the later stages to finish 6th. At only 22 years old Finn has established himself as one of the country's best x-country runners. Behind Finn, Durham University student Will Parker was in good form finishing 164th out of the 1,046 finishers, with Laurence Skidmore 342nd, Jeff Prest 430th and Terry Greenwood 679th.

Click here for full results.