After making a late decision to run Lee Merrien emerged the comfortable winner of the GIAACıs 2.75 Mile Cross Country held at LıAncresse.
Marcel le Clerc and Paul Ingrouille, both selected to join Merrien in Guernseyıs defence of the Burton Trophy against Jersey next week-end, could not match the pace of the young 1500M specialist.
Merrien sat on Le Clercıs shoulder for the opening mile and then steadily drew away to finish nearly 200m clear in a time 13 minutes 51 secnds.
After trying in vain to latch on to the leading pair Ingrouille faded in the middle of the race and had to work hard over the closing stages to hold off a spirited challenge from Mike Doyle to claim third.
Sara Queripel, who placed 12th overall, finished nearly two minutes clear of the second place woman, Debbie Doherty. After some superb performances over the country this summer Queripel will turn her attention to the track this weekend where she is due to run the 3000M in the womenıs inter-insular.
With the event being one of the shorter races in the winter calender the field was bolstered by a number of younger athletes. 13 year old Mark Mercier being the pick of the bunch with an excellent 10th place overall. Matt Loveridge, two years his junior, placed 16th and 12 year old Gemma Mauger was 5th woman across the line.
| Pos | Athlete | Cat | Time |
| 1 | Lee Merrien | 13.51 | |
| 2 | Marcel Le Clerc | 14.23 | |
| 3 | Paul Ingrouille | 14.42 | |
| 4 | Mike Doyle | 14.57 | |
| 5 | Steve Dawes | 15.19 | |
| 6 | Carl Thomson | 15.45 | |
| 7 | Mark Anthony | 15.51 | |
| 8 | Colin Ozanne | 15.55 | |
| 9 | Gordon Mercier | VM | 15.56 |
| 10 | Mark Mercier | U15B | 16.30 |
| 11 | Martin Spratt | VM | 16.35 |
| 12 | Sara Queripel | W | 16.43 |
| 13 | Thomas Oliver | SVM | 17.51 |
| 14 | Phil Touzeau | U17 | 18.00 |
| 15 | Dave Peel | 18.01 | |
| 16 | Matthew Loveridge | U13B | 18.05 |
| 17 | John Dedman | 18.05 | |
| 18 | Phil Guilbert | VM | 18.07 |
| 19 | Deborah Doherty | W | 18.30 |
| 20 | Shanine Wray | W | 18.40 |
| 21 | Ian Garner | 19.01 | |
| 22 | Pete Touzeau | VM | 19.10 |
| 23 | Eric Le Breton | SVM | 19.14 |
| 24 | Andy Carre | U13B | 19.24 |
| 25 | Katrine Sviklane | W | 19.30 |
| 26 | Ian Bloese | SVM | 19.59 |
| 27 | Michael Batiste | U13B | 20.06 |
| 28 | Gemma Mauger | U13G | 20.10 |
| 29 | Chris Tostevin-Hall | 20.17 | |
| 30 | Millie White | VW | 20.25 |
| 31 | Simon Touzeau | U13B | 20.33 |
| 32 | Stephanie Ozanne | U15G | 21.16 |
| 33 | Rob Carre | VM | 22.18 |
| 34 | Teresa Matthews | W | 22.21 |
| 35 | Remi Loveridge | U13G | 22.45 |
| 36 | Clive Loveridge | 22.47 | |
| 37 | Belinda Lanyon | VW | 25.55 |
| 38 | Jill Loveridge | 28.50 |