KEIGHLEY & Craven Athletics Club made full use of home advantage in the final West Yorkshire Cross Country League fixture of the year at Cliffe Castle.

Harisah Ghafoor led the way with victory in the under-13 girls race on the snow-covered course.

But it was the performances of the Keighley & Craven teams that really caught the eye.

Ghafoor’s triumph helped the under-13 girls to victory while the under-11 girls, under-13 boys and under-17 boys teams also won their respective age groups.

Victory for the under-13 boys was their third in the four-race series and gave them the overall title. The under-11 girls were joint champions with Harrogate after recording their second victory.

Sam Headley led the way in third place for the under-13 boys while Donabhan Rudden and Sam Conroy were fifth and sixth respectively to give their team an emphatic win. Their 14-point total saw them finish 31 ahead of Harrogate, Ilkley and Skyrac, who were joint second.

Joe Hudson (fourth), Tom Barrett (sixth) and Sam Jackson (ninth) helped the under-17 boys to victory with strong performances.

The under-13 girls were second overall. Saturday’s win was their second of the series and they also had two third-place finishes. With one result to be discarded, they had five points – putting them one point behind winners Holmfirth.

Emma Peel took fourth place while Beth Roberts was sixth as they gave good support to winner Ghafoor as a winning total of 11 points was posted.

The under-11 girls bettered that total. Maisey Bellwood, Phoebe Midgley and Katie Buckley filled second, third and fourth places respectively with just 15 seconds covering the three of them as the team recorded a score of just nine points.

Bellwood returned a time of 4min 53sec which saw her finish seven seconds down on winner Martha Jackson of Bingley Harriers.

Both the under-15 boys and girls teams took second place in their respective events.

Harvey Lewis produced a strong run to take second place behind York’s Finnian Hutchinson. Louis Hudson in eighth place and Arthur Peel (12th) ran well for the hosts.

Wharfedale Harriers’ Sam Smith, from Silsden, took fifth place and his team-mate Alex Thompson, of Steeton, was ninth.

The under-15 girls were second to overall winners Harrogate for the third time in the series. Lilli Carr led the home challenge in fifth place with Niamh Conroy (13th) and Eve Crossley (15th).

James Sadler-Townsend was the best Keighley & Craven finisher in the under-11 boys’ race where the team were fourth overall. Zak Dimitrijevic (16th) and Final Petrucci (23rd) completed the scoring team.

The senior women were also fourth thanks to the efforts of Sarah O’Sullivan (26th), Elisa Woffenden (32nd) and Lorna Hubbard (37th).