TALENTED Joe Hudson struck gold again in the English Schools Cross-County Championships.

Just a week after helping Yorkshire Clubs top the podium at the Inter Counties Championship at Loughborough, he was part of the winning North Yorkshire senior boys team at Temple Newsam in Leeds.

Hudson, who runs for the Keighley and Craven Athletics Club came 37th of the 350 or so runners, and his lofty placing was key to victory.

Additionally, there were bronze medals for Silsden's Sam Smith and Steeton’s Alex Thompson in the junior boys’ race.

Smith has improved out of sight this year, illustrated by his phenomenal rise in the finishing standings. He was 158th in last year’s event and finished fourth on Saturday, just four seconds off an individual medal.

Thompson, who was 93rd, scored for the team and so gained a bronze medal to wrap up an excellent double performance from the Keighley boys.

North Yorkshire’s Intermediate Boys team had three Keighley and Craven runners who were unlucky not to gain medals.

Harvey Lewis finished 56th, Sebastian Seggar-Staveley placed 85th and Louis Hudson came 112th. They were all in the scoring positions for the county, who were placed fifth of the 44 teams.

However, bearing in mind all the scorers were athletes from year 10 and therefore at the bottom of the age group, surely better things lie ahead.

With a first, third and a fifth team placing, North Yorkshire boys also won the overall trophy for medium-sized counties.

There was a good showing from Skipton Girls High School in the girls’ races. In the junior girls’ event, Lothersdale's Alice Jones came 86th and Keighley's Harisah Ghafoor finished 240th to help North Yorkshire to fourth place.

Another notable performance came from Giggleswick’s Euan Brennan. He was North Yorkshire’s second counter in the senior boys team as he finished 12th, to, along with Hudson, help his squad to victory.

The English Schools’ Cross-Country Championships are the most eagerly-anticipated event of the winter with athletes from each of the 46 counties in England competing for honours.

Athletes are selected by their county and only eight runners are allowed to compete in each age group.

With the first six finishers in each team counting towards the team competition, the finishing positions are added up, and the team with the lowest score wins.

This year’s event was held in very testing conditions. The grounds of Temple Newsam are undulating, and the surface was quickly caked in mud. The snow and Siberian wind added to the difficulty for the runners.