West Cumberland Orienteering Club members took part in the British Sprint and Middle Distance Championships and the club returned with two new junior British champions.

The sprint race was in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes, and runners had to compete in qualifying heats to gain entry to the finals.

There were some strong club performances, with Joe Hudd taking silver in the M14A class. Wilf Teasdale had a strong run to take bronze in M12A, as did Isabel Sunley in W12A, and Caitlin Irving just missed out on a podium position finishing fourth in W14A.

The following day the action moved to Wendover Woods, near Aylesbury, for the middle distance championships. Top performers were Rosie Spencer and Daisy Rennie, who took gold on the W16 and W12 classes respectively, and there were silver medals for Isabel Sunley and Wilf Teasdale.

Caitlin Irving took the bronze and there was success in the senior ranks with Susan Skinner taking silver in the W50 class and Mike Pearson taking silver in the M70.

There was an international flavour to this week’s action, with four club juniors, Zac Hudd, Niamh Hunter, Daniel Spencer and Alastair Thomas, running for the Great Britain team in the Junior European Cup in Furstenfield, Austria.

The competition allows each country to enter six runners aged 20 or under and they compete in a relay, long distance and sprint race.

The club juniors had good performances, topped by a top 10 finish from Alastair Thomas in the sprint. The GB team came sixth overall.

Three club members took part in the Australian Long Championships, which sees Charlotte Watson currently lying third in the W21 elite series.

The usual Thursday night event involved fast and furious sprinting around Memorial Gardens in Cocker- mouth with over 90 runners. Matthew Vokes won on the long course in 11:03 minutes; with juniors Charlie Rennie and Joe Sunley only seconds behind. First lady home was Angela Brand-Barker in 13th.

On the short course, Daisy Rennie showed good form to take the win, with Dan Woodbury second and Sol Cooney third. On the novice course Sola Holmes won from Jackson Jane and Sean Liaw.