Rob Hodges produced the performance of the day for Kingston at the North of England Road Relay Championships in Hartlepool with a magnificent piece of running. The 18-year-old, the Northern indoor 1,500m champion, made up 16 places on the third leg for the A side with a superb clocking of 16min 54sec over the two-lap course along the town's Marina.

The side were sitting well short of a qualifying place for the National Championships but Hodges chased down those ahead of him with great gusto to give the side a fighting chance of making the top 25. However, Hodges' fine run proved in vain as Kingston fell just two places short over the six-stage event as their overall time of 1hour 48min 36sec left them down in 31st overall, and 27th A side home - two spots off a trip to Birmingham in October.

In the absence of World Biathle Champion Gregan Clarkson, who was competing in a swimming competition in Scarborough, the A string far from disgraced themselves. James Johnson put in a sterling effort on a very fast first leg, while Tom McKee, Alex Wileman and Ben Rumford all held their positions, while Mike Tanner brought the side home.

The B team runners performed valiantly to come home in 53rd, with notable displays coming from club stalwarts Stu Buchan and Andy Lyons - who shrugged off years of Achilles troubles to clock the third fastest time by any Kingston runner on the day.

In the women's event the side finished a superb 11th and will head to the nationals in confidence, having been assured of a spot in Birmingham before the day started.

Jo Maddick found it hard going on the first leg but twin sister Nikki, along with Steph Bloor and Cheryl Lyons saw the side home in respectable fashion.

Cheryl Lyons romped to the women's Haltemprice 10k title after a superb display around the West Hull course.

The Kingston upon Hull athlete, who is trained by and married to former Humberside great Andy Lyons, went into the race eager to stamp her mark on the local running scene by claiming her first road race win in 2006. And the 34-year-old did not let herself down as she notched a superb personal best time of 39min 08sec, to surpass her previous best from the 2005 Elloughton 10km race, and in doing so finished a respectable 26th overall in a field of over 300 who competed in the West Hull event.

Lyons also beat her nearest rival, Daphne Elmore, by 24 seconds in a race that was won overall by Doncaster's Carl Ryde. Ryde won in a time of 32min 23sec to beat East Hull's Jon Frost, who runs second claim for Kingston, by just three seconds.

However, World Biathele Champion Gregan Clarkson failed to rekindle the glory of his summer gold medal as he finished outside the podium spots at Haltemprice as he came home fifth in a time of 34min 46sec.

Fellow club stalwart Stu Buchan, who performed so well at this year's London Marathon, claimed a top 10 finish in 36min 17sec, although his time was only good enough to finish as fourth over-45 veteran home in what was a strong field.

David Mather secured 32nd spot (39min 42sec) in tyhe over-50 category, while Stephen Lonsdale came 39th (40min 47sec

Liam Holiday fell agonisingly short of securing victory in a thrilling under-17 men's race at the Bishop Burton Cross Country. The 16-year-old, from Anlaby Common, was involved in a "hum-dinger" of a race with Matthew Duncan of Grimsby but was forced to settle for a silver medal.

Holiday held a 10-metre cushion on Duncan on the opening two laps of the 6km course but it was not until the final lap that things started to spice up. Kingston-upon-Hull AC ace Holiday kicked his rival up the many hills of the undulating landscape, but Duncan was holding on well. The lead changed hands on numerous occasions on the final lap and as the pair came into the home straight it was Duncan who held a narrow advantage.

But Holiday was not beaten yet, and the former Hull City academy star put in a dazzling sprint for home and looked to have got the better of Duncan, only for the Grimsby athlete to hurl himself at the line to win the race by mere inches, with both runners being handed the same time of 20min 22sec. Despite Holiday's obvious disappointment as he stood dump founded at how he had failed to record victory, he had led Kingston to team gold, thanks to fine runs from Tim McCune and Daniel Mullins.

The Costello Stadium based club, who organised the event at Bishop Burton College, left with two individual category gold medals from the crisp, winter's day.

Danny Holiday, Liam's brother, was the first under-20 man home in a competitive senior men's race, which was won at a canter by Jon Frost of East Hull Harriers.

In the senior event, however, Kingston did claim team gold thanks to fine runs from club coach Andy Lyons, Alex Wileman, Graham Gagg and Stephen Lonsdale.

Michelle Stone, who won the under-15 race at Bishop Burton last year, was first under-17 girl home - with her age group pitted against the seniors. Stone finished second overall in her race, while there were also good showings from Jodie Spencer, Lauren Havercroft and Emily Curry in the same category.

In the under-11s Kingston tasted success, with two team gold's. Katie Norris performed superbly to claim silver in the girl's race, around the 1,700m course, and she steered the team of Holly Skinner (3rd) and Chelsea Walker (5th) to top spot, while Rhianne Nendick came in 25th. Michael Adlard was the star of the show for Kingston in the boy's event, although he to had to settle for silver in the individual race. Adlard was backed up well by Matthew Elvidge (5th), Matthew Carmichael (6th) and Liam Petch (8th).

In the under-13 girls, Jessica Lonsdale did well to hold off three runners, including Kingston's Alice Middleton (6th), to claim bronze in a time of 8min 39sec for 2km.

In the same race Naomi Petch (12th), Zoe Czelecki (13th), Charlotte Reed (15th), Kimberley Yu (18th) and Maria Walker (19th) all performed admirably. Meanwhile, there was more podium success for Kingston in the under-13 boy's - with Callum Skinner taking bronze, while good displays from Thomas Holgate and Jack Thundercliff, who finished eighth and ninth respectively, saw the team home for a silver - matching the achievement of the girl's team.

Kingston new boy Lee Blaymire smashed the existing club long jump record at the Sheffield Open at the EIS centre.

Multi-event specialist Blaymire, who has recently made the switch to north of the River Humber from rivals Grimsby, produced a best indoor jump on the day of 6.63m to beat the old junior record by a massive 54cm.

Elsewhere, there were two more club records for a couple of returning athletes. Phil Norfolk and Rob Henry have both recently re-signed for Kingston as second claim runners and got their names onto the honours board with fine runs over 300m.

Norfolk was narrowly beaten by Commonwealth games representative Richard Buck as he finished in a time of 34.57sec, beating the old junior men's record by a full second.

Henry, meanwhile, beat the old senior 300m record by 0.9sec as he finished in 36.48sec, while decathlete Lewis Stead won his heat of the junior men's 300m in a time of 37.75sec.

James Johnson enjoyed a superb day in Birmingham as he more than matched some of the best cross-country runners from across the UK. The Kingston-upon-Hull Athletic Club runner was competing in a high-class senior race in the Midlands and finished a fantastic 33rd, crossing the line as the sixth junior athlete home.

Johnson, who was running for the UK's top athletics University, Loughbrough, was competing for a place in their premier 'A' team for 2007 and managed to beat many household names to claim his spot. The 18-year-old, who came of age at the English Schools Cross Country Championships in 2006 when he finished 21st out of over 300 athletes, had warmed up for the event in hot style.

Johnson's parents both now live in Oman in the Middle East and the young starlet spent his three-week Christmas break doing warm weather training to get him ready for a busy schedule in the coming months.

And the time away from the cold British winter helped the former Beverley resident to "show his true potential in cross country" according to his Kingston coach Trevor Therkelson.

Johnson was fifth Loughbrough student to finish in Birmingham, in a time of 31min 33secs, and thus earned his place in their prestigious squad for some massive events.

His achievements were even more commendable considering the loyal Kingston stalwart had suffered a bad knee injury in October and was forced to be on crutches for two weeks.

Next up for Johnson is the Northern Championships at the end of this month where he will don the blue and gold of Hull once more and coach Therkelson believes his performance on Saturday can catapult him to greater things in the future. He said: "JJ's (Johnson) growing in confidence with every race.

"Now he's gone away to Loughbrough he is training very well and so he'll progress and turn into a very good cross country runner."

Kingston stars Tom Smith and Sam Sajkovic were both a whisker away from claiming a medal at the North of England Junior Championships in Sheffield.

The duo, both coached by Barry Feasey, had scooped gold medals at the Humberside Cross Country trials in Beverley earlier in January but showed their adeptness at making a speedy switch to a different discipline.

But Sajkovic left the English Institute of Sport venue wondering what could have been. Competing in the under-15 800m, the teenage starlet finished second in the third heat in 2mins 24.92sec before later that same day finishing fourth in the final.

However, Sajkovic was just shy of podium success as less than a second separated the silver medal spot and the youngster - who finished in a time of 2min 21.08sec around the four laps of the indoor track, with fellow training partner Hannah Jacobsen finishing sixth in the same final (2min 35.13sec).

Smith, meanwhile, continues to show his true quality in the 1,500m. The under-17 Kingston Upon Hull AC ace was pitted in a straight final in south Yorkshire and notched a superb time of 4min 20.21sec, a full three seconds quicker than fellow club athlete Jack Cutsforth - who finished seventh in the under-20 final on the same day. Smith, however, was a mere 0.31sec off beating Warrington's Matthew Jackson, who ended with a bronze medal for his efforts.

Elsewhere, Stephen Richardson represented the club well with two good performances in Sheffield. Richardson finished 10th in the under-17 long jump with a best of 5.44m and his time of 57.09sec was good enough for fourth in his heat of the 400m, while Lewis Stead was sixth in the final of the under-20 60m hurdles in 8.93sec.

Kingston upon Hull Athletic Club tasted further cross country joy as their girls shone at the North of England Championships in Manchester.

The under-17 team did the club proud as they narrowly failed to claim a team bronze in their 4.5km race. Michelle Stone led the team home in 27th after surging clear of Hull Achilles rival Katie Clark in the final stages to beat her rival by just two seconds.

Stone was backed up by high finishes from Laura-Jane Day and Jodie Spencer, who finished 36th and 40th respectively, while Lauren Havercroft finished just outside the top 50 (51st).

Kingston`s youngest team, the under-13s, also enjoyed success in Lancashire - and it was the club`s latest star name who led the team home with another fantastic run.

Sam Sajkovic, who has had a great start to 2007 after winning the Humberside Championships and taking fourth in the 800m at the Northern Indoor Championships, managed to grab more silverware for her mantelpiece.

The teenage ace finished second in 10min 57sec for 3km to help her team claim seventh spot - with Katie Michaels (42nd), Alice Middleton (78th) and Jessica Lonsdale (94th) completing a strong showing by the club.

The Maddick twins were also in fine form, as the pair competed in the same cross-country race for the first time in over a year. Defending junior champion Jo had things a little tougher this time around, however, as she scooped seventh spot.

Nikki, meanwhile, used the race to gather some much needed fitness, following an injury plagued 2006, as she came home a respectable 18th around the 8km course.

The top performer in the men`s came from in-form athlete James Johnson. The 18-year-old Loughborough student, who spent a spell of warm weather training in the Middle East over Christmas to prepare for another gruelling season, ran a hard fought race to finish 14th - with fellow Kingston athlete Steve Feasey crossing the line in 54th.

Another one of the club`s in-form runners is Jon Tucker - and the Wolfretton youngster was again on song in Manchester as he led home a strong under-17 side, that finished ninth.

Tucker was first Kingston runner past the post, in 52nd, despite being a year younger than his other squad rivals, with Matty Pye (62nd), Jack Cutsforth (83rd) and Liam Holiday (87th) sealing the teams position in the top 10.

Meanwhile, in the senior races, Dan Thompson and Gregan Clarkson both got the better of East Hull rival Jon Frost as they claimed high finishes, while Cheryl Lyons' 40th in the women`s represented a good day`s work by the local GP.

How Kingston`s athletes got on-:
Under-13 girls - 3km
2 S Sajkovic 10:57
42 K Michaels 12:06
78 A Middleton 12:30
94 J Lonsdale 12:40
7th Kingston upon Hull AC


Under-15 girls (4km)
93 H Bentley 16:02
140 B Woodrow 17:29


Under-17 girls (4.5km)
27 M Stone 17:40
36 L Day 18:11
40 J Spencer 18:14
51 L Havercroft 18:31
79 J Hammond 20:00
81 E Curry 20:07
4th Kingston upon Hull AC


Under-20 women (6km)
7 J Maddick 21:53
18 N Maddick 23:42


Senior Women (8km)
40 C Lyons 28:36


Under-17 men (6km)
52 J Tucker 19:51
62 M Pye 20:04
83 J Cutsforth 20:29
87 L Holiday 20:34
89 J Gilchrist 20:36
128 T McCune 21:26
154 M Cage 22:36
9th Kingston upon Hull AC


Under-20 men (8km)
14 J Johnson 24:13
54 S Feasey 26:12


Senior-men`s (12km)
49 D Thompson 36:56
60 G Clarkson 37:23
102 T McKee 38:46
139 S Rennie 39:56

Kingston upon Hull`s senior track and field stars showed their quality indoors as they claimed podium joy at the North of England Championships at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

Talented teenager Annabelle Lewis was the first to bring home a medal in the sprints. Lewis clocked a fine personal best of 7.74sec as she cruised into second spot in her semi-final, before clocking 7.77sec in the final to grab a bronze.

New Kingston athlete Lee Blaymire also picked up a bronze on Sunday. The multi-event specialist was competing in the long jump and while his best jump of 6.43m was way short of his best - it was still good enough to earn a place on the podium.

There was gold medal glee on the day for Enfield & Haringey athlete Rob Henry, who competes second claim for Kingston and is coached by Kingston Open organiser John Brant. Henry was involved in a tight, tense and thrilling 60m hurdles final and, despite being drawn in the outside lane, the tall athlete came through to win in 8.13sec.

Club sprinter Luke Giblin, who was competing in Loughborough University colours, qualified for the final of the 60m and while he managed only seventh he did go away with a lifetime best time of 7.27sec, before shortly after coming fifth in the final of the 200m in a time of 22.95sec.

Elsewhere, Jon Mattos had his first taste indoors and finished fourth in his semi-final of the 800m in 2min 08sec.

Former Driffield resident Day was racing in Humberside colours, after qualifying with a good performance at the County trials in Beverley, and easily came away with a well-deserved top 100 spot as well as the notable scalp of club rival Michelle Stone. Day finished in a time of 22mins 21sec over the 5km course at Wollerton Park but despite such a rewarding day in the East Midlands the young starlet admitted she could have done better.

She said: "It was not my best performance by any means. However, I was pretty pleased that I ended up beating her (Stone)."

Stone ended up finishing 88th, after being badly spiked during the race, but for Day it was the perfect preparation for the up-and-coming national club and schools championships, as well as a confidence booster for the ever-nearing track season.

"I hope to keep on improving. My best for the 3,000m on the track is 10 minutes 23 seconds and I'm focussed on bringing that time down a lot in the summer after I did well at the Northern Inter-Counties at Gateshead last year," added Day, who has one more year left at her age group to try and improve on her 80th next season.

In the same race Jodie Spencer came home 141st and Emily Curry crossed in 242nd.

In the season showpiece over the country, which is televised live on Sky, another of the club's rising stars managed to claim a top 100 spot.

Jack Cutsforth, who has enjoyed an indifferent winter after a fine campaign in the road relay scene, was a creditable 99th in the under-17 boys.

Liam Holiday shrugged off recent rib problems to meet his personal aim of finishing better than 170th (166), while Tim McCune made the top 200 in his first appearance in the Nottingham showpiece.

Jo Maddick and James Johnson put the disappointment of missing out on competing at the UK Inter-Counties by putting in dazzling displays at the National Cross Country Championship.

Maddick, who lives in Willerby but is studying at Loughborough University, was forced to sit out the showpiece event on Sky TV a fortnight before after suffering a bout of flu.

The teenage starlet, who shot to prominence when she won an IAAF sanctioned race in Spain running for England in 2006, was expected to improve on her seventh spot in Nottingham before being laid low by the illness. But, despite her training being badly affected, the Kingston upon Hull AC star came home in 12th around the 5km course at a windy Sunderland.

Johnson, meanwhile, had been left bemused at his omission from the under-20 Humberside squad for the same race in Nottingham - having finished 21st overall in the race the year before. But the 18-year-old former Beverley resident, who is also based in Loughborough, was in equally fine form as he recorded a superb time of 34mins 48sec for 10km over the undulating ground to finish 40th among the best athletes from across the UK. Kingston also tasted team success in both the under-17 boys and girls races.

Laura Day (47th) led home the girls team to a fabulous fifth-placed finish, beating some of the more recognised and established clubs. Day who completed the course in 19min 58sec, was helped home by a consistent crossing of Kingston vests - after Michelle Stone (59), Jodie Spencer (64) and Lauren Havercroft (69) all finished soon after each other, while Emily Curry came home in 129th. The boys, meanwhile, managed to finish higher up nationally than they had at the Northern Championships - as they were eighth side overall.

Jack Cutsforth showed he is finally coming to terms with channelling his great potential into running on the cross country as he led the team home with a 63rd place finish, pipping fellow Kingston ace Matty Pye by just three spots. Liam Holiday and Jon Tucker made up the team with further good showings, with Holiday showing his injury woes are starting to be put in the past after finishing 86th.

Elsewhere, Sami Sajkovic was 33rd in the under-13 girls race, Hannah Jacobsen came in 51st in the age group above, while Tom Smith finished well in the under-15 boys challenge.

In the seniors Cheryl Lyons romped home in 67th, while Steve Rennie and Gregan Clarkson featured well in the men’s along with Tom McKee (234) who had been fourth after the opening stages

Lois Earl and Lydia Parker got some early season confidence under their belts with a fine showing at the UK Hurdles Club open meeting at Loughborough. The pair had different reasons for making the trip south to the Loughborough High Performance Centre to get some competition before the season gets into full swing.

Earl, who attends Howden School and competes for Kingston upon Hull AC, produced a personal best of 12.88sec over the 80m hurdles indoors to finish fifth in the under-17 girls race. The teenage starlet was competing in her first competition in nine months following an injury disrupted 2006 but followed up that performance with third spot in the 60m hurdles in 9.79sec.

Parker, meanwhile, was featuring in her first competition for any club having been discovered on the Spar Sprints Initiative the previous year. The North Ferriby resident, who is looking to specialise over the sprint hurdles this season, competed over the flat in the East Midlands.

The under-15 athlete finished fourth in the 100m in 13.7sec, on one of the country’s only full length indoor straights, before taking an 8.69sec clocking for 60m to cross in sixth.

Kingston ace Michelle Stone ended her winter season over the cross country with a confidence boosting display in Leeds. The teenage starlet bounced back from being badly spiked at the Inter-Counties clubs showpiece on Sky TV in February to claim a top 50 spot at the ESAA National Schools Cross Country Championships.

Stone was competing at Temple Newsam against the best young athletes in England but was undaunted as she showed determination throughout to help the Humberside team to their best ever result in the Intermediate girls event.

The squad was helped to fourth spot by fellow Kingston athletes Lauren Havercroft (174) and Beth Woodrow (324), while Laura Day (184) and Jodie Spencer (210) had respectable finishes running for North Yorkshire, although Spencer was forced to recover from being pushed to the floor at the start of the race.

Tom Smith capped off a consistently good cross country season to finish 76th in the inter boys, despite being at the bottom of his age group. In the same race Liam Holiday was well placed to claim a top 60 placing before bad rib problems hampered the Anlaby resident in the later stages and he had to settle for 89th, while Jon Tucker`s early season promise failed to materialise following a back injury as he crossed in 166th.

Hannah Jacobson managed to get the better of training partner Sami Sajkovic, whose 95th place finish was a good showing against older athletes, while Beth Gray was 290th in the same junior girls event.

Elsewhere, Jack Cutsforth battled hard to work his way through the field in the closing stages to finish 113th, with Matty Pye came home 141st.

How Kingston`s athletes got on -:

Inter boys
76 Tom Smith, 89 Liam holiday, 166 Jon Tucker

Senior boys
113 Jack Cutsforth, 141 Matthew Pye

Junior girls
90 Hannah Jacobson, 95 Sam Sajkovic, 290 Beth Gray

Inter girls
50 Michelle Stone, 174 Lauren Havercroft, 184 Laura Day, 210 Jodie Spencer, 324 Beth Woodrow

Former international runner Andy Lyons showed that class is permanent as he rolled back the years to help Kingston upon Hull AC take team gold at the Wakefield 10km.

The 37-year-old, who ran for Great Britain in his student days and was a national standard 5km runner on the track, was using the race in west Yorkshire to warm up for the Northern 12-stage road relays in Sunderland this Sunday.

But Lyons` appearance was his first competitive 10k for many years.

Lyons is a club coach now at the club and also runs his own running shop, Humber Runner, and has long since left those intense days when he trained intensely - with Achilles problems reducing his competitions for the club.

However, since the end of the track season, Lyons has raced in a steady stream of races and it has been reported he is angling for a serious return after finishing ninth in Wakefield in a time of 33min 25sec.

Kingston fielded a men`s team with a mixture of youth and experience as Tom McKee claimed 12th with a fantastic new personal best time of 34min 10sec.

Teenager John Gilchrist showed he has bounced back from his poor showing at the Inter Counties in Nottingham and showed he is back to full fitness with a fine 27th place finish in 35min 29sec.

Meanwhile, Stuart Carmichael, who trains with Lyons` ever-growing distance squad came home seventh running for City of Hull (33min 09sec).