Wycombe Phoenix Harriers athlete Pippa Woolven stormed to a brilliant victory at the Southern Area Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill on Saturday.

She won by over a minute from her nearest rivals and showed she is well and truly back to her best after a series of problems ruled her out for the best part of the year.

Overall, the Harriers had a hugely successful championships.

The regional championships returned to Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath, regarded in the athletics world as the 'spiritual home of cross country'. The event attracts the best runners throughout all the athletic age groups in the South of England.

Cross country events are as much about the team though as the individual. This winter, Phoenix's ladies team has emerged as one of the strongest in the south of England.

Strong runs from Alex Cook (26th), Lucy Rogers (32nd) and Zoe Doyle (41st), in the 700 plus strong field resulted in third place overall for the club.

The strength of the team is indicated by the fact that a 47th place finish by Jenny Roberts did not make the scoring team.

The other stand out performances from the Club were from Kirsten Stilwell in the u17 ladies and Jacob Sanderson in the U15 boys.

Stilwell has had a difficult year since her win in the English Schools 1500m in the summer of 2017. An eighth place finish on Saturday was very encouraging as she returns to fitness and seeks to return to the top of UK U17 rankings. Bucks U15 cross country county champion, Sanderson, ran another good race to finish 29th as he continues his steady progression.