PILGRIM Flyers’ Helen Barron claimed a top three finish overall in the HSBC UK National Cross Country Series.

Barron ended the five-race series by taking third in the junior female race at Builth Wells in Wales. That secured her third also overall in the series.

Fiona Barron was fourth in the same race in Brecknockshire and took eighth overall in the series, despite only doing three of the events.

Club colleague’s Rosie Andrews and Oliver Allen also claimed top eight series placings.

Andrews ended up seventh overall in the youth female category after a 10th-placed finish in Builth Wells at the weekend.

Allen concluded with a sixth-placed finish in the final race, which meant he came eighth overall in the youth male section. He was just one point off seventh.

Complete’s Leon Dawes was fifth overall in the national series in the juvenile boys’ category, while Rockin Bikes’ Richard Long was seventh overall, just one point off sixth spot, in the expert male category. Long ended the series with a sixth-placed finish at Builth Wells.

He said afterwards: “Sixth was my best result of the series and placed me seventh in the series rankings.

“I’m pretty happy to have had consistent top 10 results throughout the year but a bit frustrated I couldn’t work my way into the top five which I need to gain promotion into the elite category. However, this season does put me in good shape to mount a serious challenge next year.”

Plymouth Corinthians’ Mark Byrne finished 25th overall in the expert male standings.

Mid-Devon’s Harry Birchill came third in the junior male race at Builth Wells and has also been selected to represent Great Britain at next month’s UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

This Sunday (August 12), the South West Cross Country Series will conclude at Mount Edgcumbe. The under-12 races are due to start at 10am, with the rest of the categories starting at 12noon.