Oxfordshire's Beth Swords recorded her second top-ten finish in the Aviva ESAA English Schools’ Cross Country Championships with a determined run at Ilton, Somerset.

The 17-year-old Headington School athlete, who was sixth at Manchester in 2010 before missing last year’s championships through injury, came tenth of 307 finishers in the senior girls’ race.

She completed the relatively flat 4.25k course at the MoD airfield NAS Merryfield in 16mins 6secs, with Surrey’s Emelia Gorecka winning her third gold in 14.46.

Chipping Norton’s Megan Humphries was a creditable 52nd in the junior girls’ race over 3.12k in 12.22.

She was closely followed by Abingdon’s St Helen & St Katharine duo Fiona Bunn, who was 62nd in 12.26, and Flora Insley, who came 74th in 12.32.

Beth Hawtin (Gosford Hill, Kidlington) led Oxon’s challenge in the intermediate girls’ race over 3.75k, finishing 62nd in 15.35.

Oxon’s girls finished third in the aggregate points competition for counties with a school population of less than 60,000 behind winners Wiltshire and runners-up Dorset.

Oxfordshire’s boys teams were decimated by Abingdon School’s controversial decision to field their runners in the Southern Counties East public schools event at Harrow on the Hill.

However, Chris Hewitt (St Birinus, Didcot) ran well to finish 58th in the intermediate race over 5.91k in 21.23.

And Henry Macke (Wood Green, Witney) also put up a solid effort to take 65th in the 3.75k junior boys’ race in 14.16.

OXON RESULTS

Boys Senior: 150 S Marshall (King Alfred’s) 26.24, 157 J Bowness (Magdalen College) 26.30, 197 M Lomas (King Alfred’s) 27.06, 206 R Meredith (Lord Williams’s) 27.11, 220 J Humphreys (Chipping Norton) 27.19, 238 O Stepney (Marlborough) 27.41, 247 A Mills (King Alfred’s) 27.52, 261 D Moseley (Marlborough) 28.17. Team: 31 Oxon 1,168pts.

Intermediate: 58 C Hewitt (St Birinus) 21.23, 83 C von Eitzen (European) 21.39, 93 N Meredith (Gillotts) 21.43, 103 B Upjohn (Matthew Arnold) 21.50, 129 M Marshall (Cherwell) 22.05.

Junior: 65 H Macke (Wood Green) 14.16, 193 B Claridge (King Alfred’s) 14.56, 263 W Sweetenham (Magdalen College) 15.17, 279 E Moreton (Abingdon) 15.26, 288 B Grainger (St Edward’s) 15.34, 310 F Lock (Gillotts) 15.54, 325 C Harrison (King Alfred’s) 16.39. Team: 41 Oxon 1,399pts.

Girls Senior: 10 B Swords (Headington) 16.06, 77 L Hawtin (Cherwell) 17.32, 142 C Parker (St Helen & St Katharine) 18.20, 179 B Warne (Oxford High) 18.48, 237 H Papworth (Magdalen College) 19.27, 272 B Murphy-Hand (King Alfred’s) 20.07. Team: 25 Oxon 917pts.

Intermediate: 62 B Hawtin (Gosford Hill) 15.35, 95 S Lloyd (King Alfred’s) 15.52, 103 V Mobley (Tudor Hall) 15.58, 212 B James (Our Lady’s) 16.54, 230 N Harris-White (Gillotts) 17.04, 274 C Hood (Tudor Hall) 17.40, 324 J Scheel (European) 19.15, 327 E Christian (European) 19.44. Team: 28 Oxon 976pts.

Junior: 52 M Humphries (Chipping Norton) 12.22, 62 F Bunn (St Helen & St Katharine) 12.26, 74 F Insley (St Helen & St Katharine) 12.32, 129 E Evans (Cokethorpe) 12.52, 142 A Wright (Lord Williams’s) 12.58, 167 S Sunderland (St Edward’s) 13.04, 267 C Montgomerie (St Edward’s) 13.43, 293 L Meredith (Gillotts) 13.54. Team: 14 Oxon 626pts.

Team aggregate (for counties with a school population of less than 60,000): 3 Oxon 2,519pts.