There were senior titles for the pair in the 117^th Welsh Cross Country Championships at Pembrey near Llanelli on Saturday

The event returned to Pembrey Country Park for the final time in its three edition cycle with underfoot conditions remaining firm at the sand-based course where strong winds not able to deter from a day of quality racing in the heart of Carmarthenshire.

Lauren Cooper of Parc Bryn Bach Runners was delighted with her senior women's win which came in 27:37 ahead of Caryl Jones of Swansea Harriers and Chloe Dooley of Pontypridd Roadents who was third in the race outright and Kate Roberts who took the bronze medal in the Championships.

Swansea took top club honours with Lliswerry Runners second and Bridgend AC in third.

Cooper said: "I had no idea how well the race was going to go until today. There’s always some big names here and I wanted to make sure that I was in the mix.

"My race plan went out of the window pretty early on, but I felt really strong throughout so I just went for it. It’s always such a great event and I’m over the moon to be at the top of the podium today. Hopefully this is an indicator of my fitness going forward. It was definitely a much-needed confidence boost."

James Hunt successfully retained his senior men's title from 2020 with victory here all the more special as he was returning from injury and was able to hold off a strong challenge from clubmate Dan Nash who had probably looked the race favourite ahead of the senior men’s contest over 10.3km.

Triathlon specialist Adam Bowden of Bridgend AC cleared out the podium positions with seven-time champion Dewi Griffiths doing his bit for his Swansea team, finishing in ninth.

Both Hunt and Nash helped to steer their club to an emphatic defence of the club title with Matt Edwards, Mike Kallenberg, Alex Jackson and Larry Ryan also finishing in the top 10.

Hunt said: "I was thrilled to take my third senior Welsh cross-country title and had a great battle all the way around with Dan Nash. I’m over the moon to take the win today."

He added: "Coming back from injury and Covid to be able to train pain-free is just amazing. I’m really grateful to be back racing and nearly back to full fitness," he added.

Ellen Mary Kearney of Wirral AC made her victory in the under-20 women’s race look easy. Moli Lyons of Cardiff Athletics and Eden O’Dea of Deeside AAC claimed silver and bronze medals.

Carmarthen Harrier Dafydd Jones overcame Cardiff duo Ben Miles and Lloyd Sheppard-Brown to claim under-20 men's honours in the last race of the day’s 11-race programme. This was true to the form book following Jones’ performance as the first scorer at the Celtic International at Belfast recently.

Ceri Griffiths of Newport Harriers sailed to under-17 women’s victory with Artie Savage-Swaine taking the title in the men’s equivalent age group.

Beca Haf Bown of Menai Track & Field was a clear winner in the U15 girls' race.

Iwan Thomas and Finley Bruce led home a dominant Carmarthen Harriers team who easily took team honours in the under-15 boys race.

Libby Hale of Swansea Harriers overcame Bryony Boyce of Cardiff Athletics in the U13 girls' race. The pair had both claimed Welsh indoor records recently and had both had claimed Welsh Schools titles two weeks ago, competing in different age groups.

William Coles of Carmarthen Harriers took his victory in the under-13 boys race on what was a very good day for the West Wales based club.

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