THREE girls made history for Vale Royal Athletics Club on Saturday.

The U15s trio, comprising Kathy Stringer, Hannah Paver and Rebecca Craigie, finished third at the English Cross Country Association Saucony Relay Championships on Mansfield's Berry Hill Park.

It was the club's first medal haul at the national meeting.

They crossed the line in 21:59.80, with Craigie running the last leg in 7:06.00 - one of the fastest times of the day.

Leigh Harriers took top spot.

More than 1,000 teams from clubs across the country took part in the 10 races on Saturday, with Vale Royal's U13s girls team also writing their entry into the record books.

Robyn Ellis, Claire Perry and Megan Huxley finished 10th, posting the best result the club have had in that age group.

The second string of Victoria Anderson, Yazmin Rowlands and Jade Evans were 38th, while the third team were 62nd.

Cerys Heaher, Kate Moulds and Hannah Bishop made up that threesome.

Vale Royal AC's U20s girls team, which last year finished fourth in the U17s entry, repeated the trick this time around to take fourth again.

Becky Ellis, Charlotte Roach and Stevie Stockton were the highest placed North of England team in a race won by Aldershot Farnham and District AC.

The senior women's outfit were the only Cheshire entry in their category, with Nikki Archer, Karen Ellison and Kate Spilsbury helping them to 30th.

Their male counterparts, consisting of George Thompson, Tom Carter, Gareth Williams and Gary Weedall, were 61st.

Other results for Vale Royal included U13s boys A (Tom Marsden, Mick Vennard and Andrew Miles) in 26th, which was another best placing in that category for the club.

The U13s boys B team (Lewis Healey, Josh Boyce and Andrew Zimmer) were 49th.

The U13s girls B trio (Nicky Meadows, Emily Furber and Sophie Axford) crossed the line in 34th position.

The U15s boys (Andrew Clews, Andrew Perry and Alex Bailey) were 48th, while the U17s boys (Zach Cross, Chris Perry and Tom Heaward) were 26th.