DORSET Pentathletes bagged nine gold medals at race three of the British Biathle Series and World Tour Race.

Thirty athletes from the region took part in the event, which was held at Greenhill, Weymouth.

The event consisted of a run/swim/run with distances comprising of 500m to 1,500m runs and 50m to 200m swims followed by the same distance run again, the distances varied with each age group.

The first race was the boys and girls’ 10-and-under where Ryan Symington repeated his result from last year to take gold with Lee Penny in bronze.

In the girls’ race, Emily Jefferies was third with Pheobe Mills finishing fifth.

Jed Skilton took gold in the boys’ 12-and-under event, again to make it three wins in three in the series, with William Baker third.

In the girls’ 12-and-under event, Kizzy Price claimed gold, closely followed by team-mate Olivia Foice in second, Kara Hughes was fourth with Aegean Bramley eighth.

The next races to go were the girls and boys’ 14-and-under race, where competitors ran 500m, swam 100m and ran 500m.

Once again the local athletes showed everyone a clean set of heels.

Harrison Yarnold bagged first place to also claim a hat-trick in the series.

Travis Bramley was second and Jacob Whittall third followed by Hugh Ireland (sixth), Hugo Esposti (ninth) and Tom Boulton (10th).

In the girls’ race, Elisabeth Hood took gold and Zoe Gowers was fifth. Then came Sophie Easterbrooke (sxith), Flora Johnson (seventh), Leanne Symington (eighth) and Sacha Kelly (ninth).

The next events were the Masters’ races, where the competitors ran 1,000m, swam 100m and ran 1,000m.

In the men’s 40-plus, Nick Ireland ran a good race to take gold ahead of Mark Bramley (silver) and Andy Price (bronze).

In the boys’ 16-and-under race, Jordon Symington was second with Oscar Esposti not far behind.

In the girls’ event, Victoria Halford bagged gold to earn a treble in the series.

The last race of the day was the men’s and women’s race and 18-and-under youth race, where athletes ran 1,500m, swam 200m and ran 1,500m.

Chris Perham took gold in the 18-and-under and also beat all the seniors, while in the girls’ 18-and- under event, Dervla Ireland also claimed gold.

Once again the team had an impressive medal tally winning nine golds, four silver, and six bronze, and to win nine age categories out of a possible 16 shows the club’s strength in depth.

Team coach Michael Flaherty was delighted after the event.

He said: “There was an excellent team spirit with the team supporting each other throughout the morning.

“This was also a big team effort with the club running the event with all the parents doing the setting up, marshalling and officiating on the day.

“Also a big thank you goes to Kevin Good and the team at the beach office for all their help on the day and pre-competition support for the event. “The team are looking in good shape for the next race which is the National Championships at Salford Quays, Manchester on July 22.

“As long as the team keep performing as they are we should get a few national biathle champions with a good number of athletes getting into the British team for the world championships.”

* For information on training, and how to get involved in biathle, contact Mick Flaherty at flaherty121@aol.com or go to Dorset Pentathletes’ website at dorsetpentathletes.co.uk