The revamped Kingston Open in Hull was treated to a plethora of superb hammer performances as UK bests fell with each and every hour. With the lure of top cash prizes, competition style call-up areas and electronic timing and field measurement – the competitors flocked from far and wide to sample an athletics meeting – “Hull style”. And with the top ranked male and female in each category, the gauntlet was set for a mouthwatering day of throwing.

Pendle AC starlet Sophie Hitchon produced the throw of the day as she smashed the under-17 British female record with her best throw of 49.61m, while new UK leads were set in all the age groups.

In the seniors, Andy Frost was in imperious form and his best of 70.11m was a 2007 lead, while his fellow Great Britain team-mate Zoe Derham proved a cut above her rivals in the women’s with a distance of 64.97m, although Rachel Gair’s 55.98m throw was a personal best.

Competing alongside Frost, in the under-20 event, was Great Britain junior Alex Smith and the Sale Harriers ace, who is based in Hull, surpassed the 70-metre mark (70.08m) to gain the qualifying mark for the World Junior Championships.

Peter Smith finished in silver, behind his brother Alex, with a best of 62.70m and also threw 67.74m as a guest in the under-17 event.

In the youngest of the age group’s competing in the hammer circle, under-15 girl Abbi Carter also went to the top of the rankings with 43.05m as did fellow Hull Achilles athlete Sam Barnes with his best of 47.69m.

Windy conditions hampered any chances of quick times on the track – although Kingston youngster Emma Jackson was a standout performer to storm away with a 100m and 200m double in the under-15s – setting the English Schools standard on the way in the shorter sprint with a clocking of 12.60sec.

Elsewhere, top decathlete Lee Blaymire looked impressive in the long jump (6.65m); Phillip Norfolk’s 22.59sec for 200m into a strong headwind was a good showing, while talented Warrington runner Luke Miller-Briggs also took a 100-200 brace of golds with clockings of 11.64sec and 24.06sec respectively in the under17s.

Results

Clare McPhee looks set for another impressive season after out-running her rivals at the Sheffield Festival of Athletics at the Don Valley Stadium. Kingston Upon Hull AC ace McPhee made a permanent switch to sprinting last year, having doubled up over 200m and 800m for many years, and enjoyed a good first season.

The teenage starlet, coached by Bob Hadfield, took bronze in the 300m at the Northern Championships in 2006 and scooped a double over 200 and 300m at the Humberside Championships. And at Sheffield she did not disappoint in one of her first outings of the summer as she finished the day the fastest under-17 athlete over both 100m and 400m. McPhee clocked a time of 12.7sec over the shorter sprint before ending the day with a 61.3sec time over one lap.

Chris Stevenson was also getting some sprint work in before the first Junior League match of the new term and he left South Yorkshire with an 11.8sec clocking over 100m as well as a 24.1sec time in the 200m.

After a fine showing in the mile at the Kingston Open at the start of April, under-15 athlete Tom Smith excelled over two laps as he clocked a superb time of 2min 03.2sec, while fellow club colleague Jack Cutsworth also shone to be the fastest under-20 athlete on show (2:01.6).

Hannah Jacobsen (2:27.0) once again narrowly pipped training partner Sami Sajkovic (2:27.9) over 800m, while there were decent showings in the 3,000m from both Laura-Jane Day (10:51.4) and John Gilchrist (9:30.8).

James Bedford started the season in spectacular fashion by producing the longest hammer throw in the history of the National Junior League in the UK. The teenage starlet gave Kingston upon Hull AC a fine start in their first under-20 match of the season as he sent the hammer 69.09m for a massive personal best.

Bedford's efforts saw him scoop the athlete of the match award and helped his club to a joint second finish in their first match of the season. Pete Smith ensured maximum points in the first event of the day at Rotherham with a fine throw of 56.60m in the B string.

The club also saw some of the good work from coach Malcolm Brooks pay off as Rebekah Arandle and Jenni Smith recorded wins in the pole vault to earn big points for Kingston ahead of the track programme.

In the largest ever team fielded by KUHAC in the competition, there were many impressive debut performances.

James McCleish impressed with an 11.25m triple jump, Lewis Stead proved his multi-event prowess with impressive performances in the shot, pole vault and sprint hurdles, while Sean Rose was yet another pole vault winner, and contributed valuable points in the javelin.

Steve Richardson ran strongly in the 200m and 400m as well as leaping to victory in the triple jump, Tim McCune contributed valuable points in the 1500m and Kris Lecher, running second claim looked to be a more than useful addition with strong performances in the 800m and 1500m.

The ladies also had several new additions, with Natalie Swann impressing in the sand and Megan Hoult proving some what of a revelation in the 100m and 200m.

How Kingston's athletes got on -:
Results (first athlete signifies those that competed in the A string)

In the first round of the Northern Track and Field league at Derby on 5th May the Kingston upon Hull senior team destroyed the opposition to win by a massive 95 points. The 19 ‘A’ string wins and 10 2nd places , out of a possible 37, and 16 wins and 5 2nd places in the 35 ‘B’ string events meant that none of the other teams could live with the pace set (literally and metaphorically).

With James Bedford setting the tone by hurling the hammer almost 60m for the first victory of the day and Lee Blaymire cruising round the track in 51 seconds to bring the 4 x 400m relay team home to victory by almost the same distance bringing the day to a close it seemed that the only athletes who new how to win wore blue and gold.

Every member of the team put their bodies on the line for that extra point such that it would not be fair to single out any one individual for special praise. If the spirit seen at Derby continues for the rest of the season then promotion is guatanteed.

Two special mentions must be made – firstly to our officials who gave up their time, without them there would be no competitions. And secondly to the ‘massage men’ from the University of Hull – they certainly give us the edge over other teams and provide an invaluable service.

Final Result
Kingston upon Hull A.C. 527
Hallamshire Harriers 432
Derby 392
Grantham 333
Scunthorpe 246
Hull Achilles / Goole 227

Female Results

	A String	pos	perf.		B String	pos	perf
100	Annabelle Lewis	1	12.1		Clare McPhee	1	12.8
200	Annabelle Lewis	1	24.9		Clare McPhee	1	25.8
400	Rachel Coupland	5	68.7		Jenni Smith	4	81.7
800	Nicola Maddick	2	02:15.9		Emily Curry	1	02:36.5
1500	Emily Curry	4	05:55.5		Alison English	3	06:23.5
3000	Cheryl Lyons	3	11:12.0		Michelle Maddick	1	11:48.3
400H	Cheryl Lyons	5	80.4
100H	Lisa Kenney	2	19.3
Hammer	Diane Smith	2	37.30		Lisa Kenney	1	25.02
Discus	Lisa Kenney	2	32.89		Diane Smith	2	19.98
Javelin	Lisa Kenney	1	34.86		Diane Smith	2	25.72
Shot	Lisa Kenney	1	10.28		Alison English	4	6.22
Long Jump	Lisa Kenney	4	4.17		Cheryl Lyons	2	2.96
Triple Jump	Claire Bowman	1	9.11		Rachel Coupland	1	8.01
High jump	Jenni Smith	1	1.47		Diane Smith	1	1.10
Pole Vault	Jenni Smith	1	2.40
4 x 100	Clare, Lisa, Rachel, Annabelle			2nd	52.4
4 x 400	Cheryl, Emily, Rachel, Nicola			2nd	04:30.5

Male Results

Emma Jackson sits proudly at the top of the UK rankings over 200m after a fabulous eight days for the Kingston upon Hull AC athlete.

The 14-year-old sprinter produced two masterful performances in the Young Athletes Northern Premier League before swooping for gold at the Northern Championships a week later.

On home soil at the Costello Stadium in Hull, Jackson recorded a superb time of 11.9sec to put her second in the UK under-15 rankings before racing into a head wind to clock 24.7sec over 200m, which puts her top of the pile at her age group.

Those two winning performances helped Kingston to a third place finish in the match and set the young starlet up for her podium success in Leeds. Jackson, who was the Hotshot of the year for her age group last year, was leaps and bounds above her nearest rival in the North of England meeting as she reached the final in a time of 24.93sec before racing to the gold medal in 24.83sec on a very cold and rainy day.

Kingston took four golds from the Championships at the South Leeds Stadium, although Jackson's was the only on the track.

Andrew Mimmack's 30.11m best throw scooped him top honours in the under-15 discus, while 57.08m was Mike Jennings' winning distance in the Hammer and Matt Hunt also shone in the javelin to win in 53.72m.

Nicky Bates was her ever-busy self in the throws and she came away with a silver for her efforts.The under-17 athlete, who finished fourth in the hammer and seventh in the discus, came second in the javelin with her best of 29.46m.

Mimmack also left with a bronze from his efforts in the javelin, while Clare McPhee also took a third-place finish after clocking 41.40sec in the 300m - having won her heat earlier on.

Elsewhere on the track, Tom Smith failed to reach the final of the under-17 800m but did leave with a superb personal best, Lydia Parker qualified for the final of the 75m hurdles on her first outing at a major championship and came seventh, while McPhee just missed out on a second medal at the end of day two as she came home fifth in the 200m.

How Kingston's athletes got on at Leeds:-

U15 girls hammer
3 Rebecca Tuthill Kingston upon Hull AC 25.80

U15 girls 800m
heat 1
3 Samantha Sajkovic Kingston upon Hull AC 2:29.84
heat 2
4 Hannah Jacobsen Kingston upon Hull AC 2:25.73
final
8 Hannah Jacobsen Kingston upon Hull AC 2:30.09

U15 girls 75m hurdles
heat 1
4 Lydia Parker Kingston upon Hull AC 12.55
final
7 Lydia Parker Kingston upon Hull AC 12.66

U15 girl 200m
heat 3
1 Emma Jackson Kingston upon Hull AC 24.93
final
1 Emma Jackson Kingston upon Hull AC 24.83

U15 boys discus
1 Andrew Mimmack Kingston upon Hull AC30.11

U15 boys shot
6 Andrew Mimmack Kingston upon Hull AC 9.69

U15 boys Javelin
3 Andrew Mimmack Kingston upon Hull AC 36.05

U17 women's hammer
4 Nicola Bates Kingston upon Hull AC 36.05
7 Heather Simpson Kingston upon Hull AC 25.35

U17 women's discus
7 Nicola Bates Kingston upon Hull AC 27.25
9 Heather Simpson Kingston upon Hull AC 20.62

U17 women shot
6 Heather Simpson Kingston upon Hull AC8.58

U17 javelin
2 Nicola Bates Kingston upon Hull AC 29.46

U17 women 100m
heat 1
1 Megan Hoult Kingston upon Hull AC 12.74
final
5 Megan Hoult Kingston upon Hull AC 13.03

U17 women 3,000m
9 Laura-Jane Day Kingston upon Hull AC 10:40.39
16 Lauren Havercroft Kingston upon Hull AC 12.00.18

U17 women 300m
heat 1
1 Clare McPhee Kingston upon Hull AC 41.72
4 153 Michelle Stone Kingston upon Hull AC 43.66
final
3 Clare McPhee Kingston upon Hull AC 41.40

U17 800m women
heat 1
8 Jodie Spencer Kingston upon Hull AC 2:31.14
heat 3
5 Michelle Stone Kingston upon Hull AC 2:25.05

U17 women 200m
heat 1
2 Clare McPhee Kingston upon Hull AC 26.04
final
5 Clare McPhee Kingston upon Hull AC 25.99

U17 mens hammer
1 Michael Jennings Kingston upon Hull AC57.08

U17 mens javelin
1 Matthew Hunt Kingston upon Hull AC 53.72

U17 400m mens hurdles heats
5 Mark Cage Kingston upon Hull AC 65.91

U17 mens 800m heats
4 Tom Smith Kingston upon Hull AC 2:00.56

U17 men 1,500m steeplechase
8 Jonathan Tucker Kingston upon Hull AC 5:11.81

U17 men 1,500m
heat 1
6 Liam Holiday Kingston upon Hull AC 4:28.68
8 Jack Robinson Kingston upon Hull AC 4:32.06

U17 men 3,000m final
12 Tim McCune Kingston upon Hull AC 10:05.51

Kingston made sure they will be top of their Northern Junior League table after mastering the terrible conditions in Rotherham with maturity.

The rain barely stopped all day in South Yorkshire as an injury-hit Kingston squad, badly affected by the loss of athletes to the Northern U17 Championships, came home in first to sit top of the table going into the match at the Costello Stadium on July 1.

Megan Hoult produced one of the performances of the day in the 100m to back up her good display in the North of England Championships at Leeds. Hoult won the A string 100m in 12.6sec to gain the qualifying time needed to reach the English Schools Championships, and she was helped to full points by Reiss Holmes who won the B string in 12.7sec.

James Bedford and Pete Smith again dominated the hammer, with Bedford throwing 68.71m and Pete earning himself a new personal best and Athlete of the Match with 63.07m. The pair, not content with their days work, also scored strongly in the other throws to provide a good strong platform for the teams victory.

The usual female throwers were all otherwise engaged, and were replaced by a more than useful set of replacements in Anna Parkinson, Holmes, Racheal Coupland, Sonia Santos and Jenni Smith who all provided valuable points despite their relative lack of experience.

Jack Cutsforth won both the 800m and the 1500m in fine style, while Rob Clark did well in a competitive sprint field.

Tom Butler and Chris Bloomfield totally dominated the 400m events and were yards clear of the opposition, where as Amy Scutt had to work all the way to the line for a hard fought win in the 400m hurdles.

The relay squads demonstrated the team spirit prevalent throughout the day, and the points earned in these events were what actually won the match for Kingston.

Meanwhile, the performers of the day were the club's officials; Mike Nicholson, Julie Gibson, Sue Bedford, Steve Wymark and Anita Coupland - who got soaked at the uncovered venue to bring the points gained from having a full accompaniment of officials.

Results
100m Rob Clark 3A 11.6, Dave Wolstenhome 2B 12.0
200m Rob Clark 3A 23.2, Chris Bloomfield 1B 23.7
400m Tom Butler 1A 53.3, Chris Bloomfield 1B 54.6
800m Jack Cutsforth 1A 2:02.6, Matty Pye 1B 2:06.0
1500m Jack Cutsforth 1A 4:21.9,
3000m Matty Pye 3A 9:49.6
LJ Chris Stephenson 2A 5.76, Dave Wolstenholme 1B
5.65 TJ Chris Stephenson 4A 9.45
SP James Bedford 1A 11.71, Pete Smith 1B 10.50
HT James Bedford 1A 68.71, Pete Smith 1B 63.07
DT James Bedford 1A 38.16, Pete Smith 1B 26.64
JT Sean Rose 4A 26.69, James Bedford ? ?
4*100 Chris Stephenson, Tom Butler, Dave Wolstenholme, Pete Smith 1A 47.8
4*400 Jack Cutsforth, Matty Pye, Tom Butler, Chris Stephenson, 2A 4:03.8


100m Megan Hoult 1A 12.6, Reiss Holmes 1B 12.7
200m Reiss Holmes 2A 26.6, Amy Scutt 2B 27.4
400m Racheal Coupland 4A 70.9
800m Emily Curry 4A 2:38.0
1500m Emily Curry 4A 5:52.1
400mH Amy Scutt 1A 74.5
LJ Anna Parkinson 1A 4.82
TJ Reiss Holmes 2A 8.76, Megan Hoult 1B 7.70
HJ Jenni Smith 1A 1.45, Megan Hoult 1B 1.30
SP Anna Parkinson 2A 9.20, Racheal Coupland 3B 5.24
HT Reiss Holmes 3A 20.90,
DT Racheal Coupland 4A 16.78, Jenni Smith 4B 10.26
JT Anna Parkinson 2A 27.47, Sonia Santos 2B 11.60
4*100 Sonia Santos, Amy Scutt, Megan Hoult, Reiss Homes 2A 53.2



Final score
1 KUH 451 8
2 Rotherham 442 7
3 Wakefield 384 6
4 Cleethorpes 297 5
5 Scunthorpe 216 4
6 Grimsby 14 3



League standings
1 KUH 15 910
2 Wakefield 14 877
3 Rotherham 13 878.5
4 Cleethorpes 10 625.5
5 Scunthorpe 8 490
6 Grimsby 6 100

Decathlete Lee Blaymire once again proved the star of the show as he continued his 100% record in the Northern League this season to inspire Kingston to a massive victory.

Blaymire, who signed for the club at the end of last season, notched six wins in match two at Scunthorpe to take his tally to 12 wins from 12 events so far this season and also give KUHAC their second triumph, by a 110-point margin.

The multi-eventer, who attributes his high UK ranking to his "great spring", started with 2.60m in the pole vault before experiencing a scare in the long jump.

Blaymire, who works as a personal trainer in Grimsby, had two no jumps before producing a leap of 6.82m for victory. Further comfortable victories came in the high jump (1.75m), javelin (41.53m) and the 110m hurdles (17.3) before he cruised home on the last leg in the 4x400m relay in the last event of the day for another nine-point maximum.

Heptathlon starlet Anna Parkinson, who was ranked third in the UK at under-17 level in 2006, was also in winning form as she ended the day with four wins of her own - in the high jump, javelin, 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay.

The day was littered with winning performances as Kingston's young stars coped brilliantly with the very hot conditions and the very hard and unresponsive track.

Annabelle Lewis completed a sprint double, as did Rob Clark in the B strings, while James Bedford won the shot as well as the hammer, and was backed up well in the throws by John Twiddle and Pete Smith.

Jon Frost and Tom McKee deserve top accolades for their sterling efforts in the 5,000m in uncomfortable conditions as both recorded wins, while Gregan Clarkson came down in distance with few grumbles to excel in the 800m and 1,500m.

England representative Jo Maddick dominated the 1,500m, while under-17 athlete Jenni Smith again made the step up with aplomb in the high jump and pole vault.

Kingston ended with three wins from four in the relays as they recorded a massive winning margin to go two points clear at the top of Division three east central in the Northern League.

Results:-
Women's
100m - 1 Annabelle Lewis 12.1, 1 Reiss Holmes 12.8
200m - 1 Annabelle Lewis 25.2, 1 Clare McPhee 26.3
400m - 5 Karen Hadfield 64.7, 5 Jenni Smith 102.3
800m - 4 Emily Curry 2.34.4, 4 Alison English 2.58.6
1500m - 1 Jo Maddick 4.39.1, 2 Sarah Taylor 5.34.9
3000m - 4 Michelle Maddick 11.38.4
400mh - 2 Amy Scutt 72.7
100mh - 1 Anna Parkinson 16.3
Hammer - 1 Diane Smith 38.78, 1 Nicky Bates 37.08
Discus - 3 Nicky Bates 26.62, 3 Diane Smith 17.94
Javelin - 1 Anna Parkinson 30.73, 1 Nicky Bates 29.61
Shot - 2 Anna Parkinson 9.54, 2 Diane Smith 7.55
Pole vault - 1 Jenni Smith 2.50
Long jump - 3 Reiss Holmes 4.64, 2 Amy Scutt 4.27
Triple jump - 1 Reiss Holmes 10.27, 1 Claire Bowman 9.12
High jump - 1 Anna Parkinson 1.55, 1 Jenni Smith 1.50
4x100m - 1st
4x400m - 2nd


Men's
100m - 3 Luke Giblin 11.6, 1 Rob Clark 11.4
200m - 6 Luke Giblin dnf, 1 Rob Clark 23.0
400m - 4 Danny Holiday 56.1, 3 Chris Stephenson 56.1
800m - 6 Danny Holiday 2.06.3, 3 Gregan Clarkson 2.11.3
1500m - 2 Gregan Clarkson 4.21.8, 4 Jon Mattos 5.17.9
3,000m s/c - 2 Craig Havercroft 12:21.2
5,000m - 1 Jon Frost 16.03.3, 1 Tom McKee 16.36.1
400mhurdles - 1 Jon Mattos 57.9, 1 Steve Wymark 68.6
110m hurdles - 1 Lee Blaymire 17.3
Hammer - 1 James Bedford 61.10, 1 Pete Smith 53.12
Discus - 2 James Bedford 37.27, 1 John Twiddle 34.84
Javelin - 1 Lee Blaymire 41.53, 3 Josh Bleet 25.93
Shot - 1 James Bedford 11.55, 1 John Twiddle 11.42
Pole vault - 1 Lee Blaymire 2.60, 1 Sean Rose 2.50
High jump - 1 Lee Blaymire 1.75, 2 Danny Holiday 1.50
Long jump - 1 Lee Blaymire 6.82, 1 Chris Stephenson 5.82
Triple jump - 1 Steve Wymark 11.92, 1 David Wolstenholme 10.31
4x100m - 1 46.5
4x400m - 1 3.34.3


100m guests - David Woltenholme 12.1, Josh Beet 12.2


Match result
1 Kingston upon Hull AC - 466pts
2 Hallamshire - 356
3 Derby - 269
4 Scunthorpe - 263
5 Hull Achilles/Goole - 256
6 Grantham - 220


Overall standings
1 Kingston upon Hull AC - 12pts (993)
2 Hallamshire - 10 (788)
3 Derby - 8 (661)
4 Scunthorpe - 5 (509)
5 Grantham - 4 (553)
6 Hull Achilles/Goole - 3 (483)

Kingston upon Hull AC made a mid- season charge up the Northern Premier league table with a swaggering victory as they planted the flag south of the river in Grimsby’s King George V Stadium, leaving home outfit Cleethorpes, and Liverpool Pembroke fighting over scraps and Rotherham trailing behind.

Unassuming under- 13 shot putter Nathan Barr rose to prominence by being officially named ‘Athlete of the Match’ for his 9m throw, just reward for two seasons of quietly getting on with the job of bagging big points for the club. All- rounder Alec Russell was his closest rival for the title, winning the B shot less than 30cm in arrears, as well as taking the long jump with 4.47, where he was backed by Matthew Elvidge’s B string triumph.

Nicola Bates matched Barr’s efficiency on the field, winning the u17 discus and teaming up with Heather Simpson for another awesome Hull hammer double, Bates’ 34.56m effort suggesting top level potential. Field and Track captains Mike Jennings and Liam Holiday matched them with their double win in the u17 men’s hammer; bookies’ favourite Jennings flawless as ever, while 1500m specialist Holiday showed why he’s leadership material, his irrepressible have- a- go attitude paying off with a shock maximum pointer.

Elder brother Danny Holiday, bringing 6 years’ league experience and more of the Holiday fighting spirit to the table, took over as gaffer, joining girls’ manager Bryna Chrismas in a dynamic young partnership. Both were thrilled to kick off with a confidence- boosting win, with Holiday already starting to strengthen the small u15 boys’ squad that has so far prevented his club beating the big beasts of the Premier league.

Andy Mimmack won the u 15 discus and javelin before running a powerful relay leg, where he was helped by Ben Bainbridge, Craig Cassie and Henry Pickering to a stunning third win of the day, Bainbridge adding another first in the long jump. James McLeish and Stephen Richardson won A and B u17 long jumps, while Sean Rose took the pole vault. Laura Ombler and Zoe Czelecki leaped beautifully to win the u13 high jumps, Ombler unlucky not to make it three wins as she was obstructed on her way to second place in the hurdles and was beaten in the long jump by a mere 7cm.

Kingston dominated the long distance events with some plucky front running, Jessica Lonsdale setting the tone in the u13 girls 800m with her 2.36.7 challenged only by team mate and B winner Katie Michaels, Lonsdale going on to support Maegan Taylor in the 75m as they scored yet another double. Taylor’s 10.6 was all the more amazing given that she had run the ‘Race for Life’ that morning , exploding the myth that sprinters have no staying power. Katie Norris and Alice Middleton made it déjà vu in the 1200m bringing home 8 out of 8 points. Taylor, Lonsdale, and Norris joined Czelecki for an exciting relay gold. Sami Sajkovic shook off all challengers in the u15 girls 1500m by maintaining a fierce tempo, while Michelle Stone did the same an age group up, Lauren Havercroft also well clear in the B race. Jon Tucker had it all his own way in the u17 men’s 3k finishing half a minute clear, whereas Tom Smith had to kick hard in the 800m to secure victory.

Another metronomic display came from u17 Laura-Jane Day: from the ‘B of the Bang’ till the fat lady sang, she pulled further and further away in the 3k, extending her unbeaten record along with her lead. Hannah Bentley was first class back up providing another B win, before becoming the star act in the triple jump, where Natalie Swann took the B event. Jenni Smith won the u17 pole vault, as well as the A 80m hurdles, recent signing Sonia Santos showing great progress by winning the B race. Megan Hoult was the meeting’s outstanding female sprinter, winning both the 100m and the 200m, in which Amy Giblin made a welcome and successful comeback from injury, with her B race win. Superb individually, smooth changeovers ensured the team of Hoult, Santos Giblin and Smith had the firepower to blow away their rivals in the relay. U 15 hurdler Lydia Parker won her second match on the bounce, while U17 George Pickering astonished all by winning the 100m hurdles in a swift 16.9 in his first outing for the club.

Annabelle Lewis quickly put to one side her 100m disappointment as she ended her weekend in Liverpool as North of England champion over 200m. The teenager, who runs for Kingston upon Hull Athletic Club, was the fastest under-20 athlete over the shorter sprint on the Saturday with a fine clocking of 11.9sec to win her semi-final - although her 12.04sec time in the final was only enough for a silver medal at the Wavertree Stadium.

But Lewis is nothing if not determined and the young starlet returned in style to do the exact opposite a day later. After finishing second in her semi-final over 200m, in 24.88sec, the athlete trained by Bob Hadfield clocked a superb 24.46sec to win the gold.

And Kingston tasted more podium success over the course of the Northern Championships. James Bedford achieved the distance needed to claim a place at the European Junior Championships and beat training partner Alex Smith, who competes for Sale Harriers.

Bedford won with a best throw of 70.82m, with Smith just behind on 70.20m, while under-17 athlete Mike Jennings made the step up in weight superbly to claim a bronze and Pete Smith also had an outing with his lighter 5kg hammer and also went over 70 metres.

Lee Blaymire, who joined the club at the turn of the year from Grimsby, produced a superb seasons best jump of 7.26m to win the long jump, while Luke Giblin produced a lifetime best time of 11.11sec in the senior men’s 100m final to finish fifth.

Jo Maddick made the step up to senior level and managed to qualify for the final of the 1,500, where she finished 10th, while twin sister Nikki was sixth in the final of the 800m.

Meanwhile, Rob Hodges has finally put all his injury woes behind him as he finished a respectable fifth in the senior men’s 1,500m final in 3min 58.67sec, while many other Kingston athletes had a taste of the top level for the first time and far from disgraced themselves.

Elsewhere, club stalwart Claire Bowman, 46, produced a best over 100m as a veteran to finish third in 14.8sec at the Midlands Veterans Championships, while she also won both the long jump (4.07m) and triple jumple (9.44m) at the event in Solihull.

Results -:

Kingston upon Hull AC’s promotion hopes have received a blow after Lee Blaymire suffered a hamstring injury at the AAA under-23 Championships. Blaymire has spearheaded Kingston’s fine Northern League Division Three campaign with 12 wins from 12 to date but will have to sit out for six weeks following the incident at Bedford.

With Kingston sitting top and looking well poised for a second successive promotion, the multi-eventer will miss the last two matches in Grantham and Hull as well as the Northern Knockout Cup.

The tall athlete, who moved to the club from Grimsby at the end of 2006, produced a fine long jump of 7.22m with his first attempt at the national event and looked well set to go on and win the event. However, in wet and slippery conditions, he went for a big jump in round two and on planting the foot at take off it slipped off the board and he tore his hamstring. But Blaymire, who then had to miss his last four jumps, still left with a bronze - with the winner and second placed jumpers both recording jumps just 1cm further than Blaymire of 7.23m.

Kingston upon Hull AC are all but mathematically promoted to Division Two of the Northern Senior League following another victory.

Team managers Cheryl Lyons and Steve Wymark took a weakened team with them for match three in Grantham, with multi-event star Lee Blaymire out injured and the club's hammer stars away on international duty.

But a youthful looking side still ended with an impressive win by 62.5 points from Derby, with 22 individual success across the A and B events as well as two relay triumphs.

The match win means Kingston would have to come bottom and Hallamshire beat them by over 300 points in winning the fourth fixture from Derby for KUHAC to fail to gain promotion.

But with the last match at the Costello Stadium, the club look odds on to book back-to-back promotions and also consecutive league wins.

Among the teenage stars to shine with their adult rivals was 15-year-old multi-event starlet Lois Earl, who scored an impressive win in both the javelin and high jump, as well as earning good points in the long jump and 4x100m relay.

Earl has qualified for the English Schools Combined Event Championships later this summer to compete for Humberside and her 1.53 high jump, 27.14m javelin throw and 4.98m long jump will all stand her in good stead.

Young thrower Heather Simpson was making her debut in the senior league but was by no means over-awed - winning the B hammer and scoring good points with veteran Diane Smith in the discus and shot.

In the pole vault under-17 starlets Jenni Smith and Rebekah Arandle produced personal best to deliver maximum points, while the Maddick twins, Jo and Nikki, both came up trumps with wins over 800m and 1,500m respectively.

In the men's 15-year-old James McLeish, who only joined the club this season, looked assured with big points in the long jump and triple jump, while fellow under-17 athlete Chris Bloomfield looked superb in a strong 400m race as well as in the 4x400m relay.

Joel Harrison produced one of the standout displays of the day with a leap of 1.95m in the high jump - but he had to settle for second on count back.

Results -:

KUH made the best of home advantage in this postponed NJL match, winning the event by 150 points from Wakefield and Rotherham.

The home team filled most events, and this greatly contributed to the victory.

The hammer boys and pole vault girls got the team off to the usual four straight wins, James Bedford was partnered by Mike Jennings and they won convincingly with throws of 67.91 and 50.15. Rebekah Arandle and Jenni Smith found themselves with no opposition, (curious how Rotherham only produced vaulters when the event was cancelled at the last match) and duly brought home the points with clearances of 2.40 and 2.30 in difficult wet conditions. At the same time in the shot circle Reiss Holmes discovered yet another string to her bow with an 8.95 putt for 3rd whilst Heather Simpson took 2nd with 8.44. David Wolstenholme started his busiest day of the season with 2nd place in the Long Jump, and followed up with excellent displays in the 100m, triple jump and sprint relay. Chris Bloomfield ran strongly in the 200 and 400 for 3rd and 2nd place with 23.2 and 52.2, whilst Tom Butler had two wins in 24.0 and 54.4.

A feature of the day was the strong performances from debutants to the NJL.

Laura Jane Day stepped down to the 800 and 1500 and produced two PBs of 2:19.3 and 4:55.3 which earned good 2nd places. Jodie Spencer and Michelle Stone produced excellent runs in the 400m with 63 and 63.9. Jodie followed this up with a stroll in the 3000m to win in 12:00.9. Lauren Havercroft won the B 1500 in 5:13.8.

Liam Holiday contributed good points in the 800m and discus as well as an impressive leg in the sprint relay.

Some of the regulars were also in sparkling form, Megan Hoult and Reiss Holmes shared A and B victories in the sprints. Jack Cutsforth and Matty Pye were victorious in the 1500m, whilst Tim McCune had an excellent 3000m in 9:51.8. Emily Curry ran well for 2nd in the 800m and 1st in the 3000m

James McLeish was impressive in the Triple Jump and High Jump with 11.51 and 1.60.

James Bedford currently lying 5th in the NJL Grand Prix was unable to consolidate his position, as he had to leave early to prepare for his trip to the European Junior championships, but still managed to win the shot with his only throw.

KUH travel to Scunthorpe for the final match needing to finish in the first two to qualify for the playoffs, so still need to put out a strong team.

Full Results
100m Chris Stephenson 3rd 11.8 David Wolstenholme 2nd 12.2
200m Chris Bloomfield 3rd 23.2 Tom Butler 1st 24.0
400m Chris Bloomfield 2nd 52.2 Tom Butler 1st 54.4
800m Liam Holiday 4th 2:08.5
1500m Jack Cutsforth 1st 4:09.2 Matty Pye 1st 4:12.5
3000m Tim McCune 2nd 9:51.8
400m H Chris Walgate 3rd 62.3 Danny Holiday 1st 63.4
2000m SC Mark Cage 3rd 8:48.6
DT Mike Jennings 6th 20.52 Liam Holiday 5th 16.31
HT James Bedford 1st 67.91 Mike Jennings 1st 50.51
HJ James McLeish 3rd 1.60 Danny Holiday 2nd 1.45
JT Danny Holiday 4th 30.85 Sean Rose 4th 28.74
LJ David Wolstenholme 2nd 5.64 Chris Stephenson 3rd 4.49
PV Sean Rose 1st 2.50 Aaron Raspin 1st 2.10
SP James Bedford 1st 11.72 Mike Jennings 2nd 8.32
TJ James McLeish 3rd 11.51 David Wolstenholme 3rd 10.05
4*100m Chris Stephenson, David Wolstenholme, James McLeish, Liam Holiday 3rd 48.4
4*400m Chris Bloomfield, Danny Holiday, Tom Butler, Mark Cage 3rd 3:46.0


100m Megan Hoult 1st 12.6 Reiss Holmes 1st 12.8
200m Reiss Holmes 1st 26.3 Megan Hoult 1st 26.9
400m Jodie Spencer 4th 63.0 Michelle Stone 2nd 63.9
800m Laura-Jane Day 2nd 2:19.3 Emily Curry 2nd 2:30.4
1500m Laura-Jane Day 2nd 4:55.3 Lauren Havercroft 1st 5:13.8
3000m Jodie Spencer 1st 12:00.9 Emily Curry 1st 12:23.7
DT Nicola Bates 3rd 22.91 Heather Simpson 2nd 20.52
HT Nicola Bates 3rd 36.76 Heather Simpson 1st 28.23
HJ Jenni Smith 2nd 1.40 Megan Hoult 1st 1.30
JT Nicola Bates 2nd 26.11
LJ Natalie Swann 4th 4.37
PV Rebekah Arandle 1st 2.40 Jenni Smith 1st 2.30
SP Reiss Holmes 3rd 8.95 Heather Simpson 2nd 8.44
TJ Reiss Holmes 1st 10.09 Natalie Swann 1st 9.38
4*100 Natalie Swann, Megan Hoult, Lauren Havercroft, Reiss Holmes, 2nd 55.0
4*400 Laura-Jane Day, Emily Curry, Michelle Stone, Jodie Spencer 2nd 4:30.6

Match Result
1 KUH 532 8pts
2 Wakefield 380 7pts
3 Rotherham 373 6pts
4 Cleethorpes 274 5pts
5 Scunthorpe 199 4pts
6 Grimsby 128 3pts

League Standings
1 KUH 1458 23pts
2 Wakefield 1256 21pts
3 Rotherham 1240.5 19pts
4 Cleethorpes 903.5 15pts
5 Scunthorpe 692 12pts
6 Grimsby 229 9pts

Kingston upon Hull AC came away with four medals from the ESAA Sainsbury's English Schools' Track & Field Championships in Birmingham.

Training partners James Bedford and Mike Jennings were the stars of the event for the Humberside team as both claimed gold in the hammer in their respective age groups at the Alexander Stadium.

Bedford produced a best throw of 66.52m to win the senior boys event by over six metres, while Jennings edged out Cornwall's Jay Hill for victory in the inter boys, his best throw being 58.04m.

The club's other two medals came in the sprints with female starlets Emma Jackson and Annabelle Lewis both leaving with a podium finish.

In the schools event, which was shown live on Sky Sports for the first time, Jackson was the fastest qualifier from the first and second rounds with clockings of 25.38sec and 25.78sec respectively for 200m. But in the junior girls final, last year's Hotshot of the year was narrowly beaten by Jenni Batten of Gloucestershire and had to settle for silver - although her time of 25.14sec was a national standard performance.

Jackson was a busy athlete over the weekend as she anchored the 4x100m Humberside team to a place in the final, where they finished seventh.

Annabelle Lewis, competing in her last English schools national final, made it one to remember in the senior girls 100m - claiming a bronze in 12.01sec, having finished only third in her heat in 12.23sec.

Matthew Hunt was a respectable fifth in the inter boys javelin, while Tom Smith failed to progress from the heats of the junior boys 800m but still notched a superb 2min 00.27sec clocking.

Hammer Report
By Diane Smith

Intermediate Girls - Nikki Bates, 7th
Kingston upon Hull's Nikki Bates had previously competed in these Championships in the Javelin but this year the Hammer was her first event. With tough competition Nikki produced a consistent series of throws which advanced her into the top eight final and a best of 35.66m for seventh place. This was 2m short of her lifetime best but a valiant effort in poor weather conditions.

Intermediate Boys - Michael Jennings, Gold
This was anticipated to be the most exciting and nerve-racking hammer competitions of the Championships with a big field of 20 throwers and a crowd of nervous spectators. The UK's top three had competed the previous weekend in the International Throws Meeting in Croatia where both Andrew Jordon (Surrey) and Joe Bloomfield (Suffolk) produced personal best performances to nudge Kingston upon Hull AC's Mike Jennings out of the medals.

Ranked 3rd in the UK and knowing he was unlikely to produce a long throw in the below par facility at Birmingham, Mike had his own cards to lay on the table for this competition. Mike's 'Tortoise and Hare' approach paid off big time as he produced his series of calm and consistently high standard throws, leaving his rivals to collapse under the pressure as they struggled desperately to register a decent attempt. Mike kept his cool when others around him failed. He had a clean sheet with no foul attempts and a best of 58.04m which, despite being five metres below his best, was enough for a victory and secured his first English Schools Gold medal. This completes a full set for Mike who won silver in 2005 and a bronze in 2006.

Mike's victory means he will go on to represent England at the British Schools International Championships in Newport on 21st July where he will compete with the best athletes from Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Senior Boys - James Bedford, Gold
Kingston upon Hull Ac's James Bedford made his fifth and final appearance at these Championships with understandable confidence of winning the gold medal. With a consistent series of 66m throws (best of 66.52m), James was over six and a half metres clear of the nearest competitor Sam Coe of Cumbria. But the Gold was not James's only target as he is currently on form and capable of exceeding the Championship Best Performance of 69.11m set by Alex Smith in 2005. Unfortunately the facility at Birmingham is not conducive for long distances as many throwers found out and the record remained intact.

James leaves his English Schooldays with an U15 Gold in 2003, U17 6th 2004, U17 Gold 2005 (plus British Schools International Gold in Ireland), U20 Silver 2006 and another Gold in 2007. James is now in Hengelo, Holland representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland preparing for the European Junior Championships on 21st & 22nd July.

Results -:

Inter boys heat three 800m
5 Tom Smith 2.00.27

inter boys javelin
5 Matthew Hunt 55.66m

inter boys hammer
1 Mike Jennings 58.04m

senior boys hammer
1 James Bedford 66.52

heat 3 junior girls 200m
1 Emma Jackson 25.38
semi
1 Emma Jackson 25.78
final
2 Emma Jackson 25.14
7th - 52.13 4x100m relay

heat 3 inter girls 100m
4 Megan Hoult 12.88

inter girls 300m
heat 1
6 Claire McPhee 41.96

inter girls hammer
7 Nicola Bates 35.66

senior girls 100m
heat 2
3 Annabelle Lewis 12.23
final
3 Annabelle Lewis 12.01

Kingston’s top u17 athletes bade farewell to the young Athletes league in the summer rain at Blackburn’s Witton Park in the final match of the season. The men signed off in style, breaking the club record in the 4x400m in the last event of their last ever match. Always favourites for the race after both Chris Bloomfield and Stephen Richardson had won the A and B individual 400m, they weren’t content with the win, but pushed it all the way to beat a tough record. Tom Smith had already front run the 1500m for a huge win in 4.15.7, and again found the watch his main opponent as the sprint pair gave him a substantial lead. Inspirational captain Liam Holiday, who had just finished the steeplechase on top of the 800m he ran earlier, dug deep into his reserves to bring the team home on a high. The u17 women also ran away with the 4x300m relay, Zoe Garton going with the pace, before Jodie Spencer took the lead and Laura Jane Day extended it. There was no catching Michelle Stone, who had worked as tirelessly as Holiday over the day, and brought the baton home for an emphatic win, stretching the Kingston lead to the length of the home straight. Day ends her YAL career unbeaten as an u17- a phenomenal two- year winning streak at the highest level, the Northern Premier Division. Normally a 3km specialist, she dropped down to 1500m as she was not being pushed hard enough over her favoured distance. Ironically, she was forced to take up the pace after lap one, again front running her way to a speedy 4.51.7. Nicola Bates won both the hammer and the javelin, supported well by Heather Simpson, who took the B Hammer and Discus. Chris Walgate made a welcome- and dramatic- return to 400m hurdling after an injury layoff. He powered his way to victory, but through no fault of his own the result was scratched due to incorrectly spaced hurdles. Keeping his focus for the rerun an hour later, he underlined his superiority, again taking first place in 62.8 as the others faded. All these athletes should have more top- flight competition next year, with Kingston’s junior league team poised for promotion to a Premier division which will see them competing as far afield as Edinburgh. The younger athletes were also on form, Nathan Barr defying the sodden infield conditions to win the u13 shot with a huge grade 1 performance of 9.50m. Alec Russell again made him work for the win, putting 9.11m to take the B competition. Barr’s throw would have made him athlete of the match had he not already won the award in a previous round. Ben Bainbridge was the class of the field in the u15 boys’ 100m, winning in 12.4, bouncing back after fading in the 200m and just being edged into second. Andy Mimmack launched his javelin out to an impressive 37.90 but had to settle for second, compensating with a win in the discus with 31.19. One of Kingston’s smallest but toughest athletes, Jess Lonsdale, had an unusually close fight on her hands in the u13 girls 1200m, but pulled away from York’s Katie Wood for the win. Alice Middleton and Zoe Czelecki also grafted for the team as they chalked up an amazing 5 B wins between them. Final League Standings Pos Club Total Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match 4 Match 5 Main F Liverpool Harr 19.5 2475.0 3.5 454.0 4.0 522.5 4.0 507.5 4.0 486.0 4.0 505.0 Main F Sale H M 19.0 2486.0 4.0 522.0 4.0 476.0 3.0 473.5 4.0 513.0 4.0 501.5 Aux F Gateshead 18.5 2382.0 3.5 454.0 4.0 505.5 4.0 482.0 4.0 495.5 3.0 445.0 Aux F Leeds City 17.0 2105.5 4.0 449.0 3.0 423.5 4.0 476.5 4.0 407.5 2.0 349.0 5 Preston 16.0 2048.5 2.0 363.5 4.0 465.5 3.0 454.5 3.0 378.0 4.0 387.0 6 Southport Waterloo 12.0 1828.0 2.0 354.0 3.0 356.0 2.0 372.5 2.0 372.0 3.0 373.5 7 West Cheshire 12.0 1736.0 4.0 384.0 3.0 364.0 2.0 289.0 2.0 355.0 1.0 344.0 8 Kingston upon Hull 12.0 1700.5 1.0 228.5 2.0 353.5 4.0 388.0 3.0 391.5 2.0 339.0 9 City of York AC 11.0 1759.0 3.0 409.0 3.0 424.0 1.0 245.0 3.0 353.0 1.0 328.0 10 Blackburn 11.0 1744.0 2.0 367.0 1.0 278.0 3.0 385.0 2.0 336.0 3.0 378.0 11 Wirral 11.0 1743.5 1.0 305.5 2.0 332.0 1.0 298.0 3.0 397.0 4.0 411.0 12 Liverpool Pem Sefton 10.0 1694.5 2.0 306.5 2.0 309.0 2.0 361.5 2.0 351.0 2.0 366.5 DOWN Chesterfield 10.0 1690.5 3.0 374.0 1.0 309.5 2.0 300.0 1.0 302.5 3.0 404.5 DOWN Macclesfield 8.0 1590.0 3.0 319.0 1.0 294.0 1.0 299.5 1.0 344.0 2.0 333.5 DOWN Cleethorpes 8.0 1540.0 1.0 358.0 2.0 322.5 3.0 366.5 1.0 255.0 1.0 238.0 DOWN Rotherham 5.0 1163.5 1.0 219.0 1.0 266.5 1.0 256.0 1.0 222.0 1.0 200.

Humberside Track & Field League, Costello 01/09/07