Kevin Sheppard retained his Oxfordshire Cross Country Championships senior men's title in impressive fashion at Horspath Road on Sunday, January 4.

The Tipton Harrier, who lives in the county, ran a controlled pace to develop a clear lead of 200m by the time he crossed the line to win in 32mins 45secs.

His performance earned him one of six qualification spots for Oxfordshire in the CAU Inter-Counties Championships at Nottingham in March.

Sheppard was chased home by Sullivan Smith (Swansea Harriers), although Sheppard always had control of the race on the undulating two-lap course that took the athletes over Shotover Hill.

The first runner home from an Oxfordshire club was Ben Hope (Oxford City), who repeated his third place of last year.

Tom Penfold, running for his first-claim club, Birchfield Harriers, was next home, following up his fine victory for White Horse Harriers in last week's Oxford Mail Cross Country League meeting.

The final two men to qualify for the Oxfordshire team were Peter Haarar (Ranelagh Harriers), one of the pre-race favourites, and Tony Lock (Witney Roadrunners).

The Vet 40 title went to Roger Thetford (Headington), who had only a two-second lead over clubmate John Griffiths.

In the Vet 50 category, Richard Grant finished in 26th position overall to take the gold - a win made easier by the absence of Bryan Vaughan (Woodstock).

The absence of Mike Shipway (Woodstock) allowed Kit Villiers (Headington) to clinch the Vet 60 gold.

Unsurprisingly, due to their dominance in the medals, Headington Roadrunners took both the senior and masters team titles.

Hattie Dean (Radley), returning from university and a long injury lay-off, took the senior women's title, qualifying for the Inter-Counties Championships.

Dean had a 50-second lead over Frances Briscoe (White Horse) and Sophie Whitworth (Headington), who will also now represent Oxfordshire in Nottingham.

As usual Vet 35 women were well represented in the top ten .

Alison Hirst (Headington), who finished second overall, took the Vet 35 honours from the Witney Roadrunners duo of Nicola Gomm and Sally Pitts.

Gwyneth Hueter landed the Vet 45 title by taking seventh place in the main race.

Rita-Anne Hollington (Abingdon) clinched the Vet 55 gold.

The senior women's team title went to Oxford City, with Witney clinching the masters team prize.

Oxford City's in-form Darrell Bellinger lifted the under 20 men's title, while Josephine Rhodes (White Horse Harriers) led them home in the under 20 women's race,

Oxford City's juniors once again reigned in the younger age groups.

Hannah England won the under 17 title, while Philip Castle edged out Cherwell's Carl Tucker for the men's equivalent.

City's winning form continued in the under 15 races, with James Bird and Martha Lloyd taking the honours.

Bea Swords and Aaron Simpson won the under 13 races, with Harry Robertson completing a superb haul of medals for City with victory in the under 11 boys' race.

Exel-Gosford's Melissa Hawtin triumphed in the under 11 girls' race. Oxon Cross Country championships resultS

Men

Senior & Masters (top 50): 1 K Sheppard (Tipton H) 32.45, 2 S Smith (Swansea H) 33.23, 3 B Hope (Oxford C) 33.36, 4 T Penfold (Birchfield H) 34.16, 5 P Haarer (Ranelagh H) 35.01, 6 T Lock (Witney RR) 36.19, 7 P Jegou (WHH) 36.26, 8 G Harris (Headington RR) 36.48, 9 S McGuigan (WHH) 36.53, 10 C Dettmar (Headington RR) 36.54, 11 T Hunn (Woodstock H) 36.59, 12 G Osborne (Aldershot) 37.07, 13 T Bradford (Hook Norton) 37.09, 14 M Maxwell (Woodstock H) 37.11, 15 P Egerton (Abingdon) 37.21, 16 J Cooke (WHH) 37.32, 17 M Gainsborough (Headington RR) 37.46, 18 R Fagerheim (Headington RR) 37.57, 19 D Gavaghan (Headington RR) 38.05, 20 R Beaumont (Woodstock H) 38.13, 21 R Thetford (Headington RR, V40) 38.30, 22 J Griffiths (Headington RR, V40) 38.32, 23 M Baillie (Witney RR) 38.39, 24 M Curson (Reading RR) 38.46, 25 R Schofield (Abingdon, V40) 38.58, 26 R Grant (Oxford C, V50) 38.58, 27 N Baker (Headington RR, V50) 39.18, 28 N Ponting (WHH, V40) 39.41, 29 T Dixon (Oxford C, V40) 39.47, 30 S Pritchard (Banbury H) 39.52, 31 R Bradley (SWAC) 39.58, 32 J McKeane (Ox Uni) 40.03, 33 M Creasey (Eynsham RR, V40) 40.05, 34 J Harvey (Abingdon) 40.09, 35 L Boden (Witney RR, V40) 40.31, 36 L Hurman (Headington RR, V40) 40.34, 37 C Bedford (Radley Coll) 40.38, 38 L Creasey (Eynsham RR) 40.44, 39 C Nellins (Headington RR, V50) 40.46, 40 M Townsend (Woodstock H, V40) 41.07, 41 I Robinson (Banbury H) 41.12, 42 D Sheppard (Woodstock H) 41.17, 43 R Briggs (WSEH, V40) 41.21, 44 A Unsworth (Oxford Tri) 41.51, 45 B Hendrie (Banbury H, V50) 41.53, 46 D Murfin (WHH, V40) 41.54, 47 J Ashworth (Woodstock H) 41.59, 48 T Greenland (Abingdon, V50) 42.23, G Pritchard (Banbury H, V50) 42.45, 50 J Moss (Kidlington) 42.48. Teams - Senior men: 1 Headington RR 53pts, 2 White Horse H 65, 3 Woodstock H 75. Masters: 1 Headington RR 18pts, 2 Abingdon 58, 3 White Horse H 84.

Under 20 men: 1 D Bellinger (Oxford C) 34.19, 2 C Gillespie (WHH) 35.32, 3 O Bristow (WHH) 36.31, 4 C Miles (Witney RR) 39.54, 5 J Burke (Banbury H) 40.55, 6 J Mackinnon (Abingdon) 42.02.

Under 17 men: 1 P Castle (Oxford C) 20.42, 2 C Tucker (Cherwell) 20.45, 3 G Petts (Witney RR) 22.26, 4 J Stachowiak (Bicester) 22.52, 5 S Devonish (Banbury H) 23.22.

Under 15 boys: 1 J Bird (Oxford C) 21.00, 2 T Traynor (WHH) 21.11, 3 G Wood (Abingdon) 21.16, 4 I Castle (Oxford C) 22.37, 5 H Penfold (WHH) 23.30, 6 R Hill (Abingdon) 23.47, 7 T Wilkins (Abingdon) 24.06, 8 L Warren (Witney RR) 25.24, 9 G Holding (Woodstock H) 25.58, 10 B Schofield (ABingdon) 26.34, 11 S Bayliss (Witney RR) 31.21. Team: 1 Abingdon 26pts.

Under 13 boys (top 10): 1 A Simpson (Oxford C) 13.22, 2 A Jones (Radley) 13.31, 3 J Charleston (Abingdon) 13.59, 4 S Miller (Radley) 14.19, 5 S LeGood (Witney RR) 15.14, 6 D Mason (Witney RR) 15.17, 7 A Sambrook (Witney RR) 15.45, 8 J Gunn (Banbury) 16.03, 9 C King (Witney RR) 16.44, 10 C Luke (Oxford C) 17.31. Team: 1 Witney RR 27pts.

Under 11 boys: 1 H Robertson (Oxford C) 4.54, 2 R Cadle (Bicester) 5.02, 3 R Simpson (Bicester) 5.06, 4 A Jones (WHH) 5.18, 5 J Rhodes (WHH) 5.55, 6 T Cunliffe (Banbury H) 5.57, 7 W Clinker (WHH) 5.58, 8 K Ancil (Bicester) 6.27, 9 A Jones (Radley) 6.34, 10 A O'Sullivan (Bicester) 6.37, 11 A Rich (WHH) 7.18.

WOMEN

Senior & Masters (top 30): 1 H Dean (Radley) 20.39, 2 A Hirst (Headington RR, LV35) 20.50, 3 F Briscoe (WHH) 21.29, 4 N Gomm (Witney RR, LV35) 22.26, 5 S Whitworth (Headington RR) 22.58, 6 M Buzzard (Banbury H) 24.02, 7 G Hueter (Oxford C, LV45) 24.10, 8 L Gottwald (Abingdon) 24.18, 9 S Pitts (Witney RR, LV35) 24.40, 10 R Bolton (Oxford C) 25.14, 11 R Knopp (WHH, LV35) 25.23, 12 S Davies (Oxford C) 25.30, 13 J Ashton (Witney RR, LV45) 25.32, 14 P Broadfoot (Kidlington) 25.42, 15 Fischer (Headington RR, LV35) 25.46, 16 S Evans (Woodstock H) 25.59, 17 V McDonnell (Exel-Gosford, LV45) 26.16, 18 H Turley (Headington RR, LV45) 26.24, 19 R Duffy (Kidlington, LV35) 26.29, 20 H O'Shea (Abingdon, LV45) 27.46, 21 M Pank (Radley) 27.53, 22 M Richards (Abingdon, LV35) 28.00, 23 E Bedford (Radley College, LV35) 28.02, 24 C Barton (Oxford C) 28.03, 25 J Howard (Woodstock H, LV35) 28.30, 26 S Briggs (Woodstock H, LV45) 28.41, 27 M Wisdom (Headington RR) 29.11, 28 J LeGood (Witney RR, LV45) 29.38, 29 S Turner (Abingdon, LV35) 29.59, 30 L Clark (Abingdon, LV35) 30.24. Teams - Senior: 1 Oxford C 24pts. Masters: 1 Witney RR 12pts, 2 Headington RR 17, 3 Abingdon Amblers 40.

Under 20 women: 1 J Rhodes (WHH) 23.34, 2 S LeGood (Witney RR) 26.27, 3 Z Barber (Radley) 26.53, 4 C Goodwin (Banbury H) 30.28.

Under 17 women: 1 H England (Oxford C) 21.44, 2 C Plateau (Radley) 23.24, 3 C Eadle (Oxford C) 23.50, 4 R Pike (Radley) 25.03, 5 L-J Chisnall (Abingdon) 26.12, 6 P Sprinz (Oxford C) 26.39, 7 H Roberts (Radley) 27.35, 8 V Lord (WHH) 27.56, 9 S Daly (Radley) 30.20, 10 R Chicken (Bicester) 30.37, 11 R Hampson (Abingdon) 30.48, 12 L Sweeney (Bicester) 32.40. Team: 1 Oxford C 10pts, 2 Radley 13.

Under 15 girls (top 10): 1 M Lloyd (Oxford C) 13.45, 2 J Kafke (Radley) 14.11, 3 G Hood (Oxford C) 14.25, 4 Kimberley Daly (Radley) 14.32, 5 C Mitcham (Radley) 14.45, 6 H Luke (Oxford C) 14.57, 7 H Chaundy (Radley) 15.11, 8 A Gunn (Banbury H) 15.27, 9 B Hampson (Abingdon) 15.32, 10 K Allen (Bicester) 15.46. Team: 1 Oxford C 10pts, 2 Radley A 11, 3 Radley B 30.

Under 13 (top 10): 1 B Swords (Oxford C) 14.02, 2 S Tyers (Banbury H) 14.20, 3 D Anderson (Oxford C) 14.39, 4 E Grant (Radley) 15.16, 5 A Lord (WHH) 15.21, 6 E Patrick (Oxford C) 15.22, 7 M Roberts (Radley) 16.22, 8 A Parsons (Witney RR) 16.27, 9 J Hewlett (Witney RR) 16.28, 10 H Mitchell (Exel-Gosford) 16.36. Team: 1 Oxford C 10pts, 2 Witney RR 30.

Under 11 (top 10): 1 M Hawtin (Exel-Gosford) 4.56, 2 B Swords (Oxford C) 5.09, 3 E Sleight (Cherwell) 5.22, 4 L Hawtin (Exel-Gosford) 5.25, 5 C Drummond (Banbury H) 5.26, 6 R Rush (Oxford C) 5.30, 7 E Boyd (Banbury H) 5.40, 8 L Rust (Oxford C) 5.47, 9 B Owen (Bicester) 5.48, 10 J Anstice (Oxford C) 6.02.