The cream of the county's secondary school runners met at Witton Park on Saturday morning for the Lancashire Schools' Cross Country Championships.

By the time they appeared in the Blackburn event, everyone had earned selection for their town teams with high places in qualifying meetings across the region.

For some, just reaching this stage was reward enough, while for the elite there were places in the English Schools Championships up for grabs.

Laura Finucane of Hyndburn opened the proceedings on a cold morning with a resounding win in the Senior Girls' race. The World Youth Games 800m finalist showed that, even after recent reversals, the track star could beat the fell champions on this surface.

By the end she headed England fell internationals Vicky Snape and Rachael Thompson by the length of the long finish straight.

Front running Burnley athlete Emma Graham won the intermediate title in style with only Preston's Stephanie Roe, another England fell runner, able to live with her pace. With the first five guaranteed selection for the English Schools Championships at Maidstone on March 13, local interest was high in this race.

Katie Morris of Hyndburn and Pendle's Carla Garnett earn spots with fourth and fifth, while the next three, Anna Anderson, Kelly Clegg and Katie Jones will be hoping for the selector's three discretionary places. Morris headed the winning Hyndburn team.

There were more locals picked for Maidstone in the junior girls' race where Tiffany Boswell held second until the closing stages, before winning the bronze for Pendle. Hyndburn's Sam Murray was fourth, while Alison Leonard from Chorley produced a surge over the second half to place sixth and give girls' selector Jane Hancock a big nudge.

Toby Banfield has every cause to feel delighted with his show in the senior boy's race. He was involved in a three-man breakaway, before settling for bronze behind the accomplished Preston athlete Richard Newton. Toby's Blackburn team-mate Matt Wood ran a solitary race in fourth to help his town to the team prize, but Chris Hart retired and the former English Schools' steeplechase champion will be hoping that selector John Davey will judge his case favourably.

Also in Davey's thoughts will be Burnley's Danny Eckersley who stormed through for sixth, and Hyndburn's Marc Hartley in seventh.

Richard Stones won a tactical victory in the intermediates. He likes running up the notorious saucer, and he surged on the hill during the second lap to break free of his chasers. With his Hyndburn team-mates Michael Smith, Callum Fitzpatrick, Jonathan Pawson and James Smith placing 2-5-6 and 10, Hyndburn were team winners with the best aggregate score in any race. Mixing it with them was Ben Lindsay who took fourth for Pendle.

Blackburn's Curtis Pearce encountered a familiar foe in Preston's Nathan Bibby, but after beating him to become the Reebok Champion last year, he had to give second best this time. With up and coming Peter Matthews fourth and Adam Hurley seventh, Blackburn won team honours.

RESULTS -- Girls -- Senior: 1 Laura Finucane (Hyndburn) 15:16, 2 Vicky Snape (South Ribble) 16:01, 3 Rachael Thompson (Blackburn) 16:16, 7 Laura Livesey (Blackburn) 17:13, 10 Rachel Curran (Hyndburn) 17:51 Intermediate: 1 Emma Graham (Burnley) 15:11, 4 Katie Morris (Hyndburn) 16:17, 5 Carla Garnett (Pendle) 16:21, 6 Anna Anderson (Blackburn 16:35, 7 Kelly Clegg (Blackburn) 16:43, 8 Katie Jones (Chorley) 16:55 Teams: 1 Hyndburn, 3 Chorley Junior: 1 Kate Hindle (Lancaster) 12:58, 3 Tiffany Boswell (Burnley) 13:09, 4 Samantha Murray (Hyndburn) 13:30, 6 Alison Leonard (Chorley) 13:41, 8 Rachel Searson (Blackburn) 13:50, 10 Leigh Lennon (Blackburn) 13:59 Team: 2 Hyndburn Year 7: 1 Kirsty Brookes (Wyre) 10:39, 4 Emma Flanagan (Blackburn) 10:53, 9 Maisie Bonney (Burnley) 11:24

Boys -- Senior: 1 Richard Newton (Preston) 23:09, 3 Toby Banfield (Blackburn) 23:50, 4 Matt Wood (Blackburn) 24:03, 6 Danny Eckersley (Burnley) 24:57, 7 Marc Hartley (Hyndburn) 25:02, 9 James Linley (Blackburn) 25:27 Team: 1 Blackburn, 3 Hyndburn Intermediate: 1 Richard Stones (Hyndburn) 19:55, 2 Michael Smith (Hyndburn) 20:04, 4 Ben Lindsay (Pendle) 20:31, 5 Callum Fitzpatrick (Hyndburn) 20:35, 6 Jonathan Pawson (Hyndburn) 20:50, 8 Paul Bradshaw (South Ribble) 21:01, 10 James Smith (Hyndburn) 21:14 Teams: 1 Hyndburn Junior: 1 Nathan Bibby (Preston) 13:01, 2 Curtis Pearce (Blackburn) 13:10, 4 Peter Matthews (Blackburn) 14:06, 7 Adam Hurley (Blackburn) 14:29, 9 Carl Andrew (Rossendale) 14:32, 10 Duncan Burns (Blackburn) 14:34 Teams: 1 Blackburn Year 7: 1 Andrew Abraham (Lancaster) 9:53, 5 Billy Warren (Pendle) 10:06, 7 Sam Ackup (Blackburn) 10:12, 10 Ryan Seery (Hyndburn) 10:23 Team: 3 Hyndburn