Athletics: Gold for Ben Dijkstra in English Schools Cross-Country Championships
Ben Dijkstra was the county's leading light as the Leicestershire & Rutland team celebrated their most successful English Schools Cross-Country Championships.
Dijkstra, of Humphrey Perkins School, claimed an impressive victory in the 4.2km junior boys race.
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junior showtime: Ben Dijkstra, left, who took gold, with team-mates Isaac Akers, centre, and Alfie Thompson, who performed with credit to earn top-five places in Derbyshire
His time of 14min 15sec helped him clinch the gold medal 11 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
This latest accolade comes just weeks after he won a silver medal at the national cross-country championships.
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The 2011 Leicester Mercury Junior Sportsman of the Year was closely followed by team-mates Isaac Akers and Alfie Thompson, who both claimed top-five finishes.
Akers, of Welland Park Academy, grabbed fourth spot in 14.38. Thompson, of Humphrey Perkins, finished fifth in 14.43, at the event at Catton Park, in Derbyshire.
As well as leading the county's junior boys team to the silver team medal (alongside Joseph Pollard, Pascal Bouttier-Butler and Thomas Gostelow), the trio will now be part of an eight-strong squad to represent England at this weekend's Schools' International Athletic Board Cross-Country international, in South Wales.
Lucy Jones, of Our Lady's Convent, will also be competing in Cardiff after following up her gold medal at the national cross-country championships with a third-placed finish in the 3.2km junior girls race, in 11.06.
Jordan Waine, of Thomas Estley Community College, finished 10th in 11.21 ahead of Loughborough High School's Laura Mullin in a photo finish to gain a reserve spot for the international race.
The three girls led the junior girls team to bronze medal, just one point behind Berkshire in second, alongside team-mates Caitlin Roper, Francesca Green, Elizabeth Mulvaney, Ellie-May Hathaway and Amber Stevens.
There was more success in the senior girls race as newly-crowned Inter-Counties champion Amy Griffiths claimed bronze in the 4.2km race in 16.29.
In the intermediate age group, two athletes also gained reserve positions for the England team.
Mari Smith, of Loughborough High School, finished 10th in the 3.7km girls race, completing the course in 13.48, while Euan Makepeace of Rawlins College ran home in ninth in the 5.7km boys race, clocking 19.53.
The county's boys' teams also claimed the Coventry Trophy for only the second time in their history.
This takes in the team results across all age groups against the school population size of the county.
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