Karnvir Hayer was once again the top performer for Ealing Southall & Middlesex in the big cross country event of the year - the National Cross Country Championships.

He took bronze in the U15 boys' race, which was run in brilliant sunshine at Parliament Hill on Saturday on a day when the club turned out in force - many of them wearing black ribbons in honour of the recently departed former club President Ron Jewkes.

Hayer left himself a lot to do after making a conservative start but stormed though to almost get on the heels of the leading duo.

It was the first medal the club has won in the championships since before he was born. Hayer's performance helped the team to finish 12th out of 47 teams. Backing him up were Christopher Charles in 131st, Dalton McGuigan in 143rd and Mark Cameron in 173rd. Ben Waterman was close behind in 190th

The senior teams both put in solid performances. The women's team were 20th out of 63 teams. They were led home by Alison Hopkins, who improved on last year's performance to finish 113th. Despite Hopkins falling twice, Fiona Kennedy just failed to catch her and ended up 115th.

Gill Morgan had a good run to end up 196th, with Patricia Thomas completing the team in 252nd. Nikki Baker was 343rd and Carol Jones 369th.

The men were led home by Andy Dodd, who was 362nd in a field of 1,455. This was an improvement of 34 places on last year, despite the bigger field.

There was a close battle behind him between Rob Brown and Richard Tomlinson.

Coming in to the last field, Brown glanced over his shoulder to see Tomlinson closing in, at the end there was just one second in it as they finished 421st and 422nd.

Gavin Boyter was next to score in 602nd with newcomer Peter Turner close behind in 648th. The team was completed by veteran Steve Plested in 767th.

The club had runners in both the junior races. Sam Ashcroft was the first home in the men's race, finishing 93rd. He was followed in by Luke Nicholas in 118th, Chris Hepworth in 153rd, and Martin Shelley in 164th.

In the junior women's race, Mel Newbery and Hannah Pollak both finished in the top half of the field. Newbery was 49th, just nine seconds ahead of Pollack in 52nd.

Kerry Baily was first of the club's U13 girls to finish in 106th place. She was followed in by Shannon Powell in 251st. Evie King was 308th and Tara Morawska and Kate Eastmond came in together in 333rd and 334th. The team were 34th.

Best of the U13 boys was Duncan Pinder in 115th. David Hannah was 320th and Bradley Pinder 351st, but without a fourth runner, they did not have a complete team.

There was a similar story in the U17 age groups, where only three men and two women ran.

For the men, Sebastien Zajaczkowski placed 125th with Alex Leslie 205th and Anthony Shaw 249th. For the women, Emma Davies was 159th and Elizabeth Matthews 183rd.

Rebecca Johnson led home the U15 girls' team in 254th. Ellis Redmond and Genevieve Crean were close behind in 259th and 260th. Rebecca Walford completed the line up in 308th.