CITY of York Athletic Club trio Robbie Brown, Joshua Schofield and Ben Lewis are back on the National Cross Country Relay podium.

The York runners followed up their gold medal of two years ago with a battling bronze medal this time around.

The trio were City of York's first national gold medallists at under-15s level in 2012 - and they almost repeated the feat at U17s.

Brown led the team off and put the team in tenth place in a very competitive opening leg of the race.

Schofield moved the team up the rankings and past City of York's 'B' team, who were led off by a superb run from Tyler Hutchinson.

After 2.3 kilometres, York 'A' were in the lead as Schofield stretched away from rivals Tonbridge AC, giving Lewis a 12-second lead to defend.

Lewis ran a superb race and stayed calm under pressure. With 600 metres left to run, York were alongside Aldershot and Tonbridge in a three-way battle for the title.

However, with 300m remaining a slight gap emerged and Lewis was unable to close it in time as York claimed third position.

Schofield recorded a time of nine minutes eight seconds for the 3km course, which was the fifth fastest time of the day.

Queen Ethelburga's College student Schofield said: "It was fantastic for us to take home a bronze medal.

"It feels almost as special as the gold two years ago. In comparison with Aldershot and Tonbridge, we are a really small club and to be up there giving them a really tough race is so great for us as a club.

"I'm so glad I was able to put in a good performance and come away with the time I did, but it was for the team more than anything.

"We all ran as best we could on the day and we are so proud of ourselves to win this medal."

St Peter's School pupil Brown added: "I was hopeful that the team could get a medal to add to our gold from two years ago, but knew I would have to put in a solid performance on the first leg.

"I was really happy therefore to finish only 18 seconds behind the leader, which set up a storming run from Josh to take us into first."

Lewis, of Tadcaster Grammar School, said: "We got what we came for and it feels great to be back on the podium. I'm really proud of the team and I think there is a lot more to come from each of us."

The teenagers' national success followed a gold medal-winning display at the Northern Cross Country Relays in Sheffield last month.

In their team first race back after our a summer break, Brown got the team off to a solid start, coming home in eighth place.

Schofield moved through the field to take the lead half way through his leg before handing over to Lewis with a 13-second lead.

Lewis held off Sheffield to take the win, repeating the team's 2012 northern triumph.

Schofield ran the second fastest leg of the day in seven minutes eight seconds, while Lewis was equal fourth fastest in 7-13 for the 2.3 kilometre loop.