SIX junior Jersey Spartans have competed with 8,000 of the nation’s best athletes at the National Cross Country Championships on London’s Hampstead Heath.

Thirteen-year-old Danielle Leerson placed an unbelievable 11th out of 315 competitors in her first year racing at U15 level – ‘testament to just how well she is running right now, and to her great future potential,’ said coach Paul Raimbault.

Leerson impressed amid intense competition, with athletes from 200 clubs battling for coveted national titles and for the attentions of selectors for international competitions later in the season.

In the same age group, team mate Chloe Turmel was disappointed with her 88th place, having finished tenth at the recent South of England Championships. There were impressive results for Elliot Dorey and Daniel Robinson – Dorey finished 21st of 398 competitors in the boys’ U15 event, and Robinson, in his first season of club cross country, put in a fantastic run to finish 28th in the boys’ U13 event.

Aaron Turmel finished 336th in the U15 boys and in the U13 girls, Lauren Lowe, who has just returned after an injury and is still a year young for the age group, finished 70th of 354.

• Picture: Danielle Leerson leads the group up the hill soon after the start of the U15 race