RACHEL Pounds continued her run of good form by finishing second in the Reebok Cross Country Challenge at Cardiff's Bute Park.
Running in the under-15 girls' event for the first time, Rachel chased Ipswich's Laura Dowsing all the way, and was closing in fast on the race winner by the finish.
Rachel, the reigning under-13 Northern Cross-Country Champion, had already shown that she could compete with the country's best young athletes at national races, finishing ninth in Birmingham and fifth in Liverpool.
The Reebok series ends with the Inter Counties Championships in Nottingham in March, where Rachel, who is the Greater Manchester champion for her age group, will be aiming for a top six finish.
She was also aiming to retain her Northern title in St Helens today.
Tim Ellis found the flat course in Cardiff was not to his liking, and he finished 18th in the under-20 men's race -- but remains in the series top ten.
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