RAYLEIGH’S Millie Smith won a gold medal with the Essex under-15 girls team at the Intercounties Championships.

The 14-year-old FitzWimarc School pupil ran superbly to finish in 28th position overall and the fourth Essex scorer.

The run was particularly impressive as Smith, who competes for Chelmsford AC, is in the bottom year of the under-15 age group.

Basildon AC’s Maisie Jones (103rd) and Emma Jarvis (149th) were also part of the Essex team in the under-15s.

But it was a bad day for Grays’ Gemma Holloway, the Essex champion, who was forced to pull out mid-race and was taken for medical treatment. She was found to have water on the lungs which has brought an end to her own breakthrough season.

Another FitzWimarc School youngster who pulled out a superb run and returned from Birmingham with a medal was Basildon AC’s Max Jones.

The 13-year-old finished 10th in the under-13 boys race and helped Essex to a team bronze medal.

He was joined in the medal-winning team by Basildon team-mate Ben Haynes, who pipped his club-mate Ollie Cantwell by one place to make the top four Essex scorers. Southend AC’s Brandon Thorpe was 114th and Basildon AC’s Mason Webb 157th.

In the senior men’s race, Paul Whittaker showed more evidence of his growth in stature, finishing in an impressive 13th place.

The Southend-based athlete led the Essex team home with Southend AC’s Adam Hickey the next to finish in 36th place.

Sophie Riches, another FitzWimarc School pupil, was in good form in the under-17 women’s race, finishing in 15th place and second Essex scorer behind Jessica Judd.

Riches, a bottom year athlete in the age category, was joined in the scoring Essex team, which just missed out on a bronze medal, by Basildon AC’s Jade Peel who came home in 57th place.

Peel’s Basildon AC team-mate Kaylee Dodd was not far behind in 66th place, while Eleanor Johnson was 91st.

Jack Fitsall (Basildon AC) worked his way through the field in the under-20 men’s race to finish Essex’s first man home in 25th place, followed by Alex Short (56th), Andy Law (100th) and Rhys Gillard (125th).

In the under-17 men’s race, Thurrock Harriers’ Tom Richardson ran well for a 36th-placed finish, ahead of Southend AC duo Ashley Capel (103rd) and Ben Franklin (109th).

George Elliott led the Essex team home in the under-15 boys race, finishing in 23rd place – a fine run for someone in the bottom year of the age group.

Basildon AC’s Adam Houchell ran well to finish in 62nd, while a couple of other younger athletes in the age group – Lawrence Willmore (77th) and Daniel Ashley (161st) – both ran strongly.

Southend AC’s James Nadin was 169th.

In the senior women’s race, Benfleet RC pair Dominique Ballard and Charlotte Peppiatt can both be pleased with their 78th and 112th places respectively. Sandwiched in between them was Basildon AC’s Anna Whitfield (94th), with her club mate Karen Whitmarsh finishing in 157th.

Emily Ballard (Basildon AC) and Holly Gillard (Southend AC) both cracked the top 100 in the under-20 women’s race, finishing in 73rd and 85th places.

While, in the under-13 girls, Benfleet’s Kiera Tippett finished an agonising one place outside the silver medal-winning Essex team, coming home in 66th place despite suffering with an asthma attack in the closing stages.

Basildon AC youngsters Niamh Smith (121st) and Jemima Walker (132nd) both ran well on their intercounties debuts.