LAURA Wright helped Hampshire to the team gold at under-13 level in the South of England inter-counties cross-country championships at Banbury.

The Basingstoke and Mid-Hants AC runner was the 17th finisher in her age group over a difficult and muddy course.

She is the county champion over 800 metres on the track and is 22nd in the latest UK rankings for that distance.

The 13-year-old Brighton Hill schoolgirl, who was runner-up in the Hampshire championships 1,500m, is ranked 13th at that distance and also third in the UK over 600m and 14th over 1,200m.

She is coached by Diane Bolton, whose daughter Sarah Bolton was 50th overall at Banbury, running in the under-17 race.

Over a senior distance of 6.4km, Amanda Proctor ran an outstanding race to collect the silver medal. A slip a mile from home saw her drop back to fifth before fighting back to finish just six seconds behind the winner.

Her Hampshire team won the team gold medal.

Proctor was selected to run for England at the IAAF cross-country the weekend before Christmas in Brussels but, due to work commitments, she was unable to go. Proctor resumes action in the Hampshire cross-country championships this Saturday.