SWINDON Harriers runners are well represented in the Wiltshire team for the South West Cross Country Championships on Saturday – but it could be two local youngsters in the Gloucestershire squad that stand the greatest chance of claiming long-distance gold.

Kiya Dee of Highworth Running Club will certainly be a strong medal favourite in the inter girls’ race having strung together an unbeaten spell of 12 victories since the autumn.

Dee will be wearing the colours of Gloucestershire, and ironically her biggest threat is likely to be Wiltshire’s Salisbury-based runner Bea Wood, who has the advantage of being top of the age group as she is a year older.

Joining Wood in the Wiltshire team is Commonweal’s Kelly-Marie Marsh, who won a bronze in the county event.

Also in the Gloucestershire team will be Swindon Harriers’ club athlete James Bagot.

The 12-year-old, who lives in Cirencester and attends Cirencester Deer Park School, should be in a confident mood for the junior boys’ race after his superb silver medal at the Midland Cross Country Championships two weeks ago.

“It’s a big field with a lot of good runners so I’m not really sure what to expect,” said Bagot.

“I will do my best in the race for my school but not sure yet about position.”

In the Wiltshire squad, many are wondering how newly-crowned junior boys’ champion Josh Burns will fare at this level.

This will be Burns’ first taste of the South West event, but under the astute guidance of Harriers coach John Dill he looks more than capable of securing a top-10 finish.

Harry Woods (Ridgeway School) and Jack Gunning (Commonweal) finished third and fourth respectively in the inter boys’ race so will be looking to build upon that though this age group is always very competitive.