THERE was double promotion success for Bromsgrove and Redditch AC’s men’s and women’s cross country teams.

The women sealed the Midlands League Division Two title in Wolverhampton, while the men secured a promotion place in the Birmingham League.

A hard fought season for the women culminated in Wolverhampton on Saturday, where a strong team performance ensured the title.

Slippy, muddy conditions, meant there was very little to split them, with Katy Anderson in 28th (24:56), Sally Hogan in 36th (25:10) and Laura Kyte in 41st (25:23) making up the scoring trio.

The team has undoubtedly been bolstered in the second half of the season by the addition of Argentina-based Kyte, but Tamara Ball wasn’t far behind in 52nd (26:05), with Mel Hepke in 105th (28:23), Charlotte Ball in 164th (30:41) and Jane Anderson in 206th (33:31).

Credit should be given to all of the girls for turning out each week and delivering consistently strong performances.

Tipton won the fixture, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap at the top of the league and B&R eventually won by over 40 points.

It was a great day all round, with the men’s securing promotion to Division One of the Birmingham Men’s League at the same venue.

They finished third on the day to end the season in second place behind Wolverhampton and Bilston.

Joe Smith continued his good form with a well-judged race working his way through the field to claim fifth spot.

James Bowler also had his best race of the season finishing in 11th place tracked by the ever youthful Richard Malin running his first Birmingham league race of the season in 15th. Mark Appleton was the next scorer on a very busy day for him which saw him nip over to Wolverhampton for the race on break from work. The team scoring was closed out by Rich Lomas (35th) and Simon Lanckham (37th) who yet again both produced solid runs for the club.

A superb turn out for the club helped to bolster the B team with the reliable Darren Hale leading them home in 40th place.