A FINE blend of youth and experience made it a good weekend for the ladies of Denbigh Harriers.

The final fixture of the North Wales and Border Cross Country League was run on the partly thawed fields in Oswestry, with its customary hills and water hazards to contend with.

The ladies’ team was missing some if its usual counters, so the honour of saving the team from dropping to Division Two was dependant on a team based on youth and experience.

They stepped up to the mark splendidly putting in a fantastic performance and showing that they are not above their station in the middle of Division One.

For the first lap, Alaw Medi put in a hard effort and held on to finish as the 21st woman on the 5k course.

Emma Collins closed up to within seven places of her and won her W55 category for the season.

Elen Baugh and Mel Morris allowed Katy to get a 30 metre lead at the start and tried hard to get nearer all the way round.

Mel fell over in the attempt and Elen just failed by a foot or two to catch Katy (approximately 40th and 41st) on the line.

After Mel fell she lost contact with the Baugh sisters and finished in 51st.

She was third in her F45 category for the season.

Menai Baugh had a steady race to pick off those in front of her to come second in the W60 category for the season.

A total of 11 men representing the club provided a great turnout.

Shaun Hughes once again showed how indispensable is with a well-judged run into 14th place on the 9k course.

He was backed up by Joe Welch (45th) and Dan Jones (52nd), both pushing hard on the first lap and slightly paying the price on the second.

Next to finish were the ever reliable Glen Price (58th) and Tony Wood (62nd).

David Baugh moved up from a slowish start and steadily picked off the opposition to finish as the sixth counter in 72nd.

Owen Conry used his experience and tracked David to the finish in 74th, just losing out on the downhill finish.

Huw Williams had a strong start, but the energy-sapping sticky mud took its toll and he dropped back to 79th, just in front of Mat Jones (81st).

Duncan Jones enjoyed the muddy conditions to finish in his highest placing for the season in 103rd, followed by Tony Benton (106th).

This placed the Denbigh men as the fifth team on the day and this was their best performance of the season.

There was only one Denbigh parkrunner over the weekend and the honour went to Ceri Belshaw in Queenstown, New Zealand, finishing 18th in 24.36.