DORSET Pentathletes retained their tag as the best in Britain by capturing 13 medals at the 2008 National Biathlon Championships in Macclesfield.

Dorset took a squad of 39 to the competition where they came top of the pile after claiming seven team and six individual medal places, as well as 12 other top ten finishes.

Youth D boys, girls 12-and-under, Youth C girls 14-and-under, and the Masters men all claimed team gold while silvers went to Youth E boys 10-and-under, Youth B girls 16-and-under and Youth A boys 18-and-under.

Africa Mason and Nick Ireland were both individual champions in the Youth C girls and Masters men respectively. And there were silvers for Peter Thornton (Youth D boys) and Melissa Courtney (Youth B girls) and bronzes for Tom Mules (Youth D boys) and Gracie Howie (Youth C girls).

The event is a swim and run competition with competitors getting points for each event depending on times.

The distances are dependent on age with the shortest run being 1,000m up to 3,000m and the swim being 50m up to 200m. Athletes get a break between disciplines.

In the first races of the day, Youth E boys and girls 10-and-under, Hugh Ireland of West Dorset Warriors had the fastest run and finished fourth overall with club-mate Jonathan Greenwood coming home in 13th. James Mules of South Dorset Tornadoes finished 20th to place the team second overall.

The B team in Youth E, all from West Dorset Warriors, comprising Will Taylor 19th, Harrison Yarnold 21st, and Cameron Dabbs 22nd, finished in fourth place.

In the Youth E girls' section the team finished fourth with Imogen Slade 15th, Jorgie Luke of Tornadoes 23rd, Aoife McCarthy 24th, Elisha Webb 28th and Margi Chitty 29th, with all except Luke from West Dorset Warriors.

In the Youth D boys Warrior Thornton came second in the swim and third in the run, and despite being awarded equal points with the overall winner, had to settle for silver with places being decided by the fastest run.

Team colleague Mules, of Tornadoes, captured third and fastest swim while Oliver Cadman of Weymouth SC did very well finishing 29th despite still being only ten years old.

In the girls' race the A team took gold with Danielle Bury (Ferndown Otters) fifth, Laura Chitty (West Dorset Warriors) 12th and Bethan Whittall (Weymouth SC) 24th. Meanwhile, the B team, all Warriors and still a year young, finished in sixth place with Olivia Freeman 23rd, Victoria Halford 26th, and Amie Buttle 39th.

In the Youth C boys and girls 14-and-under the girls' team had an excellent competition with Mason taking gold in her first national biathlon championships. Team-mates Howie and Pheobe Notley finished third and 26th respectively handing the Poole Runners trio team gold.

Meanwhile, in the boys' event the Dorset team finished seventh with Peter Horne (West Dorset Warriors) 15th, James Rafferty (Poole SC) 24th, and Chris Perham (Tornadoes) 36th.

In the Youth B boys and girls 16-and-under, the girls finished second with Courtney of Poole SC taking silver with the fastest run, and just missing out on gold, Katie Allen (Bournemouth) coming seventh and Joanna Puckett (Tornadoes) finishing 20th.

In the boys' event Tom Crew of Tornadoes finished fifth in a very strong field with Warriors Oscar Tweed 30th and Scott Civil 33rd, contributing to a fifth-placed team finish.

In the Youth A boys 18-and-under there was better luck as the county line up captured second. Niall Laming (Tornadoes) came fourth, James Dawson (West Dorset Warriors) 13th and Tom Cain (Tornadoes) 20th.

In the last event of the day the Masters men's team were in fourth place after the run. They then pulled off some excellent swims to take team gold with Ireland of Weyport Masters taking the individual gold, and Weymouth SC duo Andy Whittall and Mick Flaherty coming sixth and 15th respectively.

Flaherty, who is also the team's coach, said: "Once again the kids from the local area have done a great job in their efforts at the nationals to win so much and retain top club status.

"The time and effort of hours of training put in by the athletes each week over the last few months at their running and swimming has paid off.

"The next event on the calendar is the World Cup Biathle at Greenhill Gardens, Weymouth on June 28 starting at 11am and all spectators will be welcome to come along to the event.

"Also, 15 members of Dorset Pentathletes will be representing Great Britain in a World Cup international biathle in Italy on June 15 and I'm hoping to get the team some sponsorship."

Anyone interested in sponsoring one of the best teams in Britain can contact Mick Flaherty at flaherty121@aol.com