Luke Dunham and Brett Rushman win gold at Hertfordshire Cross Country Championships at Trent Park

Luke Dunham and Brett Rushman struck gold at a muddy Hertfordshire Cross Country Championships.

The former, who attends The Bishop’s Stortford High School, came first in the under-17 men’s race and the latter, who went to Hockerill Anglo-European College, triumphed in the senior men’s event at Trent Park.

Both athletes represent Herts Phoenix and Dunham also landed the team prize in his category alongside colleagues Ben Murphy and Mati Benveniste, who came second and third respectively in the individual rankings.

The under-17 men’s race took place on the 6km course and Dunham crossed the line first in 18min 44sec, a full 33 seconds ahead of runner-up Murphy.

It was the qualifying race for the Mini London Marathon and for selecting the county team for the English Championships.

Rushman, who recently claimed team gold on his Great Britain debut at the European Cross Country Championships, won the senior men’s 10k race in 33.25 as he finished 21 seconds ahead of second-placed club colleague Oscar Bell.

Other Herts Phoenix runners included 19th-placed Steve Prosser (40.50) and 35th-placed Martin O’Neill (42.18).

Sam Pedley and Stephen Wilkes, who were representing Bishop’s Stortford Running Club, came fifth (37.47) and 44th (43.06) respectively in a field of 79.

Herts Phoenix members Caleb O’Neill and Grace Mason came fourth and seventh in the under-20 men’s and women’s races respectively. They will join Dunham and Pedley in the Herts team for the English Championships.

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