Witton Park was the scenic backdrop for a dominant display of athletics from Kingston’s ever- impressive u17 women, who outshone Northern Premier League leaders Liverpool Harriers, Blackpool and home team Blackburn. Despite the club’s 4^th place overall- 2^nd looking realistic until the final events- Kingston also took huge positives from memorable debuts for u13 distance runner Samantha Sajkovic and u15 boy Tom Smith, who showed they’re at home in the top flight of track and field.

 The tricky away fixture, against west coast teams on their home turf, started with first blood to the visitors, with a marvellous win for Zoe Garton in the 300m hurdles. Flying out of the blocks, she held her advantage in the home straight, despite having moved up from u15 and trying the event for the first time in this league. Lois Earle went well in the shorter sprint hurdles, and topped her second place there with a fine 4.65m long jump win.

 There was more silky smooth sprinting from Reiss Holmes, showing she’s made strides forward in only her second season by winning the B 200m before matching the 100m winner’s time as a tight decision saw her given second. Holmes showed versatility with a 9.77m grade 1 performance, easily good enough to take a quality triple jump in which all 6 competitors including Rachel Coupland made the grade 1 standard.

 Nicola Bates and Emily Curry took maximum points with flawless javelin throwing, Bates launching her missile 23.54m, while Alex Wilson also won at u15 girls level with a 20.68 mark. Sarah Ombler won the u17 womens’ high jump by clearing 1.45m and Matthew Fenny made a good debut to win the u17 men’s B high jump- but was upstaged by boys’ team captain, Jack Cutsforth, who took more points with his 1.50m leap than in his specialist 400m!

 The day was capped by the u17 women’s 4x300m relay victory: sprinters and distance runners uniting to produce a sensational 3.00.8 clocking. Zoe Garton led after leg one, Laura Frenneaux and Laura Jane Day keeping the team in the hunt with astonishing bursts of speed for endurance athletes who’d run gruelling 3km and 800m races. Clare McPhee took the baton- and it was lights out for Liverpool as they watched her streak away for a 4 second win, going pedal to the metal even after first place looked assured.

 Tom Smith showed no nerves on his debut in the u15 4x400m with an incredible 57.9 split to anchor the u15 boys relay team to second. Starting in the pack, Andy Anderson and Dominic Haigh put in solid runs before Mike Pope stormed through the field, closing on the magic minute mark and setting up Smith to astonish his coach and the team.

 Emma Jackson, top ranked u13 sprinter nationwide last season, showed she can give away a year and still take a clear 100m/200m double at u15 level. Her 26.1 200m earned her a grade 1 certificate, as well as a .6 winning margin- huge in the sprints.

 Samantha Sajcovic was untouchable as she demolished the field in the u13 1200m, coming home 10 seconds clear in 4.03.0 in her first Premier League outing. A hardworking bunch of u13 boys gave their all for the cause: Tom Holgate, Alec Russell, Nathan Redpath and Tom Ballantine all impressing on their debuts, Russell second in the shot by just 8cm, supported by Ballantine’s B win.

Final candidates for performance of the day were u17 men Mike Jennings, who looked more than capable moving up a weight in the u17 hammer for a huge 48.78m win over top class opponent Adam Reynolds of Liverpool, 7m adrift. Not forgetting, of course, crowd- pleasing distance duo Matty Pye and John Gilchrist who burst into rivalry after running as a team in the final 30m of their 3km, duo turning dualists with Pye just shading it. The man/woman of the match debate rages on the club's message board as the votes flood in. Match 2 on 21 May promises even more excitement as Kingston give more debuts to their young athletes, and aim to use vital home advantage to charge up the league.

On a damp dank day, KUH hosted the second NJAL match of the season, fielding a slightly stronger team than had travelled to Rotherham for the opener.

The only concern was that apart from Sarah Gibson in the 3000m, the home club couldn’t field another athlete in any event longer than 400m!

The day opened as expected with a brace of wins in the Mens Hammer from James Bedford and Pete Smith who both improved on their performances in the first match with 63.94 and 56.02 respectively.

At the same time in the sand, Chris Stephenson and Dave Wolstenholme were scoring heavily, with leaps of 5.60 and 5.44 for 2^nd ‘A’ and 1^st B.

The opening event on the track again saw a solid performance from Chris Walgate over the 400m hurdles, finishing 2^nd in 64.4. This was shortly followed by the speed boys, Chris Stephenson and Jordan Ellis who recorded 11.8 and 11.7 for 3^rd ‘A’ and 1^st ‘B’.

James Bedford followed his hammer victory with a winning ‘B’ throw of 11.10, whilst the welcome return of ‘Big’ Joe Lewis saw him winning the ‘A’ event with a throw of 12.10. Meanwhile, in the javelin, making his first appearance following injury younger brother James managed 32.40 for 4^th ‘A’.

Our long distance runners were next to hit the track, Rob Clark covering the single lap in 54.7 for 4^th ‘A’ whilst, Rob Butler managed 53.7 to win the ‘B’ in the tightest finish of the day. Rob was soon back in action in the 200m, in which he finished  3^rd ‘A’ in 24.0. Jordan Ellis completed his sprint double with 24.1 to win the ‘B’.

James Bedford and Pete Smith proved equally at home hurling flat objects, with throws of 37.26 and 30.71 for 2^nd ‘A’ and 1^st ‘B’.

The relay teams performed well for 3^rd and 4^th places in 47.5 and 3.44.3.

The ladies kicked off the afternoon with the shot, Nicola Bates and Stacey Kirby teamed up for 3^rd ‘A’ and 2^nd ‘B’ with throws of 7.70 and 5.92. The same pair teamed up for the hammer, Nicolas again finished 3^rd ‘A ‘ with 25.81, whilst Stacey won the ‘B’ with 22.56.

Reiss Holmes and Amy Giblin both won well for the home club in the 100m, Reiss clocking 12.8 and Amy recording 13.4.

Another double win was being recorded in the long jump, with debutantes Anna Parkinson and Lois Earl both winning by over half a metre with leaps of 4.88 and 4.69.

The 400m saw two third place finishes from Clare Blunt and Racheal Coupland with times of 63.2 and 68.0.

As previously mentioned Sarah Gibson provided the long distance effort of the day, and finished 3^rd in the 3000m with a new PB of 11:53.9.

Stacey Kirby came 3^rd in the discus with a throw of 18.54.

The high jump saw further success, with Lois Earl clearing 1.45  for 3^rd ‘A’ and Sarah Ombler winning the ‘B’ event with 1.40. Emily Cope guested and cleared 1.35.

Anna Parkinson and Nicola Bates provided another fine pair of winning performances in the Javelin with 31.55 and 26.36 respectively.

Reiss Holmes found one too good for her in the 200m, and finished 2^nd in 26.4, whilst Anna Parkinson completed her 3^rd win of the day with 27.9.

The triple jump again saw the home side scoring good points with Reiss Holmes finishing 2^nd ‘A’ with 9.92, and Emily Cope winning the ‘B’ with 9.31.

The girls sprint squad were pipped on the line, finishing 2^nd in a time of 54.4.

Kingston took full advantage of home turf for their second Young Athletes League match, fielding a bigger team, winning more events, and sweeping both female athlete of the match awards on track and field.

Heptathlete Anna Parkinson proved more than a match for the specialists by winning the u 17 javelin, taking second in the long jump, and leaping a massive personal best 1.66m in the high jump. This was a grade 1 standard which also qualifies her for English Schools, particularly impressive in sodden conditions not conducive to the event.

Samantha Sajkovic stunned on her debut in match one, blowing away the field in the u13 girls’ 1200m- but on her home track, improved on perfection, beating her own mark by another 9 seconds for a staggering 3.54.3 performance earned by sprinting the final lap on her own. Laura Jane Day also set a tempo no one else could live with in the u17 3000m, gradually stretching her lead to 45 seconds with a 10.54.7 win.

More grade 1 performances came from u17 Clare McPhee, who shot out of the blocks and made up the stagger on her rivals instantly, going on to win by 2.6 seconds in 41.2, and the consistently brilliant Emma Jackson who ran 25.9 in the u15 200m, later adding a familiar 100m victory. Maddy Cardwell won a fiercely- contested u13 girls 80m in 10.7, adding 2^nd place over 150m.

With dominance a trend in the girls team, the boys chose to give a partisan crowd more drama with their wins, notably in the u15 4x 400m. Tom Smith was first to hand over, Dominic Haigh put in his best ever split to keep the team on the shoulder of the leaders, while Mike Pope consolidated second. Stephen Richardson closed the gap on a tiringSouthport anchor, who drifted into lane 2 as he faded, giving Richardson an invitation he couldn’t refuse, the Kingston sprinter sneaking through on the inside to take the victory. Richardson’s split of 56.4 was a scorching 6 seconds quicker than his individual 400m, “I’m going to run the Northern Championships next week with a baton in my hand,” he joked.

Smith and Pope had already wowed supporters with a dual in the 1500m well ahead of runners from York, Preston and Southport. Pope built up a gap, but it was not enough to see off the sprint of Smith, who won in 4.29.9; Pope’s 4.35.6 easily good enough for the B win. Andy Burrluck made a welcome return to the team- and it was as though he’d never been away, performing astutely to kick for first in the 800m in a personal best 2.15.5, Haigh 2^nd in the B race a whisker from the win.

Maximum points came in the u13 boys shot and long jump, Alec Russell pushed by team mate Nathan Barr to throw 7.53m as Barr won the B event beating all other A competitors on his debut in the league. Russell was the support act to James McCartney, as both Kingston A and B jumpers outleaped the rest and spurred each other with close 4.24 and 4.21 marks. Callum Skinner was a valiant 2^nd in the 1500m backed by Alex Randerson’s B win, both runners again making debuts that secure their place in the team. Tom Holgate went all out for glory in the A 800m and again came close as yet another fine debut gave Jon Hewitt the B win. U 13 girls Katie Michaels and Alice Middleton took 7 points from 8 in the 800m with equally gutsy performances as Beth Gray and Hannah Bentley did the same in the u15 1500m.

Mike Jennings’ unblemished record in the hammer continued with a 48.34m win, backed by a B win in the unlikely form of distance runner John Gilchrist. Kingston’s tradition in mens’ hammer now extends to the women’s event, Stacey Kirby and Nicola Bates clearly the best with throws of 24.43 and 23.70m respectively. Bates took the B javelin and the B discus, both throws only bettered slightly by her Kingston colleagues and A string winners Parkinson and Chloe Smyrk. Reiss Holmes again won the u17 women’s triple jump, took close seconds in both sprints and shrugged of York’s challenge to anchor the 4x100m team to gold.

Many thanks also go to all the parents and athletes who helped at this match. This included stewarding, officiating, announcing results, processing results, running the tuck-shop and of course, cheering on the team!

Kingston star sprinter Emma Jackson showed she was heading for yet more success this season as she dazzled at the Northern Championships in Leeds. Jackson was one of the star performers in the UK as an under-13 last year, so much so that she was ranked No 1 in the rankings over 150m. And such is her awesome potential that following an impressive step up to under-15s at the Humberside Championships, where she won the 100m and 200m, she further impressed with a fine showing over 200m at the South Leeds Stadium.

Jackson finished second in her heat in 25.70sec but was narrowly pipped to the gold she so coveted as she had to settle for silver in the final, in a time of 25.82sec.

Clare McPhee further hit home her intentions over the sprint distances, following her step down from the 800m, as she took bronze in the under-17 300m in 41.0sec. This after she had won her heat in 40.92s, with Rachael Coupland finishing sixth in her heat in 47.05s.

McPhee was attempting a double by competing over 200m, but after finishing second in her heat in 26.35s she was ran out into seventh in the final (26.55s).

Further medal success came from Laura-Jane Day in the 3,000m. Following a good cross-country season Day made the step into the senior women's team at the first senior Northern League match in Boston and showed this was fully justified as she claimed bronze in the under-17 event in 10:23.46.

Michelle Stone, moving up an age group this season, finished with sixth (10:43.43), while Lauren Havercroft was 11th in 11:41.95.

Kingston's other medallists were the ever-reliable Mike Jennings, who was second in the under-17 hammer with a best of 51.82m, and Stephen Richardson who won bronze in the under-15 long jump (5.21m).

Richardson narrowly missed out on glory in the 400m with a fourth place finish (58.87sec), while he was not the only athlete to try his luck at more than one event.

The ever-enthusiastic Mark Cage competed in three events in total; the 100m (7th in heat in 13.14sec), the 1500m (17th in heat in 5:11.8) and the 100m hurdles (6th in heat in 18.37s).

Nicola Bates competed in three events but had the agony of finishing just outside the medals in fourth in all of them - the hammer (26.27m), discus (24.57m) and javelin (27.26m).

Elsewhere, Zoe Garton finished eighth in the under-17 300m hurdles final in 48.15sec, Tom Smith (10:10.5) fourth and Michael Pope (10:21.59) sixth in the under-15 3,000m and Beth Woodrow was seventh in her heat of the under-15 800m in a time of 2:37.89.

Kingston's athletes all across the spectrum teamed up to keep the club on course for promotion from Division four of the Northern senior league. With the daunting prospect of taking on City of Sheffield and Hallamshire on their own patch Kingston's young and more senior stars pulled out all the stops to keep hold of top spot on points difference from Hallamshire.

Despite the Sheffield based club taking the match honours Kingston's aces edged City of Sheffield to leave them poised for promotion with just two matches remaining, including a home match on July 2 at the Costello Stadium. And with national stars past and present chipping in KUH were always in with a good chance of success.

Teenage sprint sensation Anabelle Lewis, fresh from her appearance at the Loughborough International, turned out and earned big points as she claimed victory in the 100m and 200m, while former Great Britain 400m runner Steve Wymark, now 46 and the men's team manager, finished second in both the long and triple jump as well as helping the 4x100m relay team to first spot.

Club stalwart Tom O'Malley took top honours in the javelin, while YAL team manager Alex Wileman won the B string.

Rising Kingston star James Bedford eased to victory with a huge throw in the hammer, with young pretender Mike Jennings, an under-17 protégé, getting a taster of senior athletics to finish first in the B string.

Women's team manager Cheryl Lyons, who recently turned 34, showed her commitment to the cause by earning much needed points in all the three longer distance events despite having only returned from Cyprus 24 hours before hand.

Sprinter Emma Worrell showed the best piece of team spirit of the day as not only did she compete and earn big points in the 100m, 4x100m, long and triple jump she turned out over 800m, a distance alien to all speed wizards! Meanwhile, after inspiring the team to victory in the first match in Boston Lisa Kenny enjoyed further joy with two first places, two second places and two third places.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Louise Davis in the hammer, Luke Giblin in the 200m and Paul Stephens in the pole vault, while Sheffield University student Ben Rumford helped his home city club with good points in the 5,000m.

How are athletes got on:-

Women
100m - 1 Annabelle Lewis 12.0, 1 Emma Worrell 13.1
200m - 1 Annabelle Lewis 25.2, 3 Rachel Coupland 29.3
400m - 3 Claire Blunt 63.5, 2 Rachel Coupland 66.4
800m - 2 Cheryl Lyons 2:28.2, 2 Emma Worrell 2:37.6
1500m - 2 Steph Bloor 4:59.0, 2 Cheryl Lyons 5:54.4
3000m - 2 Cheryl Lyons 12:21.5
400mh - 2 Claire Blunt 72.0
Hammer - 1 Louise Davis 45.64, 1 Lisa Kenny 28.13
Discus - 1 Lisa Kenny 33.00, 1 Louise Davis 24.79
Javelin - 2 Lisa Kenny 34.32, 1 Nicky Bates 26.64
Shot - 2 Lisa Kenny 10.46, 2 Nicky Bates 7.64
Long jump - 5 Claire Bowman 4.23, 1 Emma Worrell 4.18
Triple jump - 3 Claire Bowman 9.35, 2 Emma Worrell 9.13
High jump - 2 Claire Blunt 1.45, 3 Lisa Kenny 1.20
4x100m - 2 53.6 (Lisa Kenny, Emma Worrell, Rachel Coupland, Anabelle Lewis)
4x400m - 2 4:26.8 (Claire Blunt, Cheryl Lyons, Rachel Coupland, Emma Worrell)

Men
100m - 2 Luke Giblin 11.3, 2 Rob Clark 12.2
200m - 1 Luke Giblin 22.9, 2 Chris Stephenson 23.9
400m - 4 Tom Butler 54.3, 3 Rob Clark 55.2
800m - 3 Danny Holiday 2:07.1, 2 Mike Tanner 2:04.4
1500m - 3 James Johnson 4:18.0, 2 Mike Tanner 4:52.6
5000m - 2 Ben Rumford 16:45.5, 2 Tom McKee 17:04.3
Hammer - 1 James Bedford 54.80, 1 Mike Jennings 33.89
Discus - 2 John Twiddle 35.23, 3 James Bedford 23.06
Javelin - 1 Anthony O'Malley 43.22, 1 Alex Wileman 31.34
Shot - 2 John Twiddle 11.42, 3 Anthony O'Malley 8.74
Long jump - 2 Steve Wymark 5.70, 2 Chris Stephenson 5.64
Triple jump - 2 Steve Wymark 11.45, 3 Dean Lewis 9.59
High jump - 6 Chris Stephenson 1.45
Pole vault - 1 Paul Stephens 3.50
4x100m - 1 46.4 (Rob Clark, Chris Stephenson, Steve Wymark, Luke Giblin)
4x400m - 3 3:44.5 (Tom Butler, Chris Stephenson, Danny Holiday, Ben Rumford)
 

Match Result
1 - Hallamshire - 393.0
2 - Kingston upon Hull - 381.0
3 - City of Sheffield - 376.0
4 - Boston - 196.0
5 - Grimsby - 182.0
6 - Wombwell - 143.0

Overall Standings
1 - KUHAC - 11 Points
2 - Hallamshire - 11 Points
3 - City of Sheffield - 8 Points
4 - Boston - 6 Points
5 - Grimsby - 4 Points
6 - Wombwell - 2 Points

Sean Harkin also reports
Only a brief report, as I didn’t manage to travel myself, Mike Nicholson taking on Team Manager duties assisted by Reiss Holmes at very little notice. Many thanks.

A small band of KUH athletes and officials travelled to Barnsley on probably the hottest day of the year, and acquitted themselves very well to finish in 4^th place on the day.

Pete Smith deservedly won male athlete of the match with his longest NJL of the season so far, as he was only narrowly beaten at the Costello match. I don’t have the make up of the relay teams, but it appears that at least one male and female thrower stepped into the breech.

Again, the NJL senior management need to look at the scheduled dates for matches, as this weekend match clashed with Schools events and examinations. This will need further consideration for next year, when this is the premier competition for U17s. Do we need to voice our opinion at the NJL AGM in November?

Prior to this weekends match, James Bedford was lying 6^th in the Grand Prix competition for male athletes. He was obliged to miss this match due to the Bedford International Games, where he came 2^nd behind Alex Smith, throwing 63.86 (how honoured he must feel, to be invited to compete in a meeting named after his older brother John). The top eight go through to he GP final, so hopefully James can do the business on 16^th July at Grimsby

Male

Female

Teenage sprint ace Reiss Holmes stepped up to senior level in style to help Kingston-upon-Hull to victory in match three in Division Four of the Northern League. Holmes, who has performed superbly all season in the Young Athletes League Premier Division, turned out for the seniors on a baking hot day at the Costello Stadium.

The under-17 athlete started with a superb showing over 100m, winning in 12.6 seconds from club mate Emma Worrall, before surging clear in the 200m to record a composed nine-point win in 26.1sec. Holmes was then at the fore in perhaps the performance of the day from the club.

With Hallamshire Harriers of Sheffield, who were joint top with Kingston in the overall standings going into the match, just three points behind KUH going into the relays it was the women's 4x100m team who led the way towards a comfortable first-place finish at the end of the day.

Lisa Kenny started well out of the blocks before Holmes charged like a girl possessed down the back straight to hand to Lois Earl in a massive lead, before Worrall brought the baton home in first from rivals Hallamshire. Not content with her days work, Holmes then brought the baton home in the 4x400m on the last leg, after, amongst others, Jodie Spencer showed her great form of late has rubbed off on her leg speed as she built up a lead on the second leg.

Fellow sprint wizard Luke Giblin was in ever magnificent form with maximum points in both the 100m and 200m, while Claire Blunt cruised to a splendid victory in the 400m hurdles (72.1sec).

Jo Maddick wowed the crowds early on with a thrilling finish in the 800m. Maddick, 18, who had broken her the 3,000m Humberside record for the second time in the space of a month on Tuesday at Trafford, ran down Julia Russell of Hallamshire in the last 30 metres to not only take extra valuable points - but also record a massive personal best of 2.14.7.

In the field events Kenny was her usual busy self. The former multi-event star showed she still has a taste for every athletics event as she recorded four first places, two seconds and one third - with her best showing coming when she scuttled over the 100m hurdles to finish a fine second (18.8sec).

Meanwhile, youngster Nicky Bates further added to Kingston's efforts with three wins in the B string throws and Chris Stephenson produced a quality leap (5.87m) as his best saw him finish second in the long jump.

How our Kingston athletes got on -:
Women's
100m - 1 Reiss Holmes 12.6, 1 Emma Worrall 12.7,
200m - 1 Reiss Holmes 26.1, 1 Emma Worrall 26.9
400m - 2 Claire Blunt 63.9, 2 Rachel Coupland 65.4
800m - 1 Jo Maddick 2.14.7, 1 Jodie Spencer 2.25.7
1500m - 2 Nikki Maddick 4.47.4, 1 Cheryl Lyons 5:04.7
3000m - 2 Lauren Havercroft 11.54.2, 2 Jo Maddick 11.54.2
400mh - 1 Claire Blunt 72.1
100mh - 2 Lisa Kenny 18.8
Hammer - 1 Lisa Kenny 31.65, 1 Nicky Bates 24.70
Discus - 1 Lisa Kenny 34.22, 1 Nicky Bates 24.94
Javelin - 1 Lisa Kenny 34.49, 1 Nicky Bates 30.55
Shot - 2 Lisa Kenny 10.22, 2 Alison English 6.10
Long jump - 3 Lisa Kenny 4.54, 2 Claire Bowman 4.30
Triple jump - 1 Harriet Forman 10.64, 1 Claire Bowman 9.63
High jump - 2 Lois Earl 1.50, 2 Claire Blunt 1.40
4x100m - 1 51.9 (Lisa Kenny, Emma Worrell, Lois Earl, Reiss Holmes)
4x400m - 1 4.14.3 (Jodie Spencer, Reiss Holmes, Rachel Coupland, Emma Worrall)


Men's
100m - 1 Luke Giblin 11.2, 2 Rob Clark 11.7
200m - 1 Luke Giblin 22.4, 2 Chris Stephenson 24.0
400m - 2 Tom Butler 52.9, 2 Danny Holiday 55.4
800m - 2 Danny Holiday 2:03.9, 1 Mike Tanner 2:02.6
1500m - 2 James Johnson 4:07.7, 2 Jon Mattos 4.26.9
3,000m s/c - 2 Alex Wileman 10.51.9, 2 Craig Havercroft 11.11.0
5,000m - 3 Andy Lyons 17.04.1, 2 Tom McKee 17:09.4
400mhurdles - 2 Chris Walgate 61.1, 4 Alex Wileman 96.2
Hammer - 4 John Twiddle 19.80, 4 Dean Lewis 11.71
Discus - 2 John Twiddle 36.52, 4 Dean Lewis 19.44
Javelin - 1 James Lewis 36.05, 1 Alex Wileman 34.76
Shot - 2 John Twiddle 11.15, 3 Dean Lewis 8.30
Long jump - 2 Chris Stephenson 5.87, 1 Steve Wymark 5.61,
Triple jump - 2 Steve Wymark 12.11, 2 Chris Walgate 11.15
Pole vault - 1 Paul Stevens 2.50
4x100m - 2 46.7 (Rob Clark, Chris Stephenson, Tom Butler, Luke Giblin)
4x400m - 2 3:41.2 (Tom Butler, Mike Tanner, Danny Holiday, James Johnson)


Match result
1 - Kingston upon Hull - 436.0
2 - Hallamshire - 418.0
3 - City of Sheffield - 357.0
4 - Grimsby - 158.0
5 - Boston - 129.0
6 - Wombwell - 58.0

Standing (Position/Points/Total Points)
1 - KUHAC - 17 - 1207
2 - Hallamshire - 16 - 1179.5
3 - City of Sheffield - 12 - 1066
4 - Boston - 8 - 615
5 - Grimsby - 7 - 412
6 - Wombwell - 3 - 286.5

The Senior Boys competitor, who took bronze in his first year at senior level at the club's Northern Championships last month, was pipped to the glory by Nottinghamshire starlet Matthew Lambley (64.02m) in Gateshead. There was further joy for Kingston-upon-Hull AC in the throwing circle as young pretender Mike Jennings took a fabulous bronze in the Inter Boys hammer.

Jennings, who was national under-15 club champion and silver medal at Junior Boy level at the national schools championships last season, showed how well he has stepped up to a heavier weight of hammer since going up the age groups as his best throw of 54.65m was good enough for third.

Multi-eventer Anna Parkinson was the club's top female performer on the day with her sixth place finish in the Inter Girls high jump, although Michelle Stone's seventh place finish for Humberside in the 3,000m was also a superb showing.

Sprint queen Annabelle Lewis made the final in the 100m before struggling to repeat her second place heat finish in the final, while fellow Senior Girls ace Steph Bloor was 11th in the 3,000m.

Rob Hodges produced a superb time of 3min 56.27sec in the Senior Men's 1,500m final but was ran out into seventh - having impressed before hand to win his heat.

Elsewhere, sprinters Emma Jackson, Reiss Holmes and Clare McPhee far from disgraced themselves in their respective heats in the North East, Jack Cutsforth was below-par in the 1,500m and Laura-Jane Day was 13th in the Inter Girls 3,000m competing for North Yorkshire.


How our Kingston athletes got on -:
Results

Junior Girls
200m heat - 2nd Emma Jackson 25.58

Inter Girls
200m heat - 6th Reiss Holmes 26.13,
300m heat - 4th Clare McPhee 41.04,
3000m - 7th Michelle Stone 10:21.16,
3000m - 13th Laura-Jane Day 10:44.79,
High Jump - 6th Anna Parkinson 1.62m

Senior Girls
100m Heat - 2nd Annabelle Lewis 12.22, Final - 8th 12.82,
3000m - 11th Steph Bloor 10:09.53

Inter Boys
1500m heat - 9th Jack Cutsforth 4:18.38,
Hammer - 3rd Michael Jennings 54.65m

Senior Boys
1500m heat - 1st Rob Hodges 4:01.06,  Final- 7th Rob Hodges 3:56.27,
Hammer - 2nd James Bedford 63.73m

Go back eight days and Lewis was left down-trodden after coming in last in the final of the 100m. Lewis had been suffering with illness in the lead up to the event in Gateshead, as she explained: "At the English Schools everything went wrong for me.

"On the day of the final they made us wake up at 6.30am and that morning I didn't feel to good. But I came to Manchester feeling good after a good week of training and just said to myself to go for it."

Lewis had been handed her first taste of senior competition on a national level at the Loughborough International earlier in the season and, having been ranked 12th in the UK at under-17 level last season, was handed the chance to compete in the AAA senior Championships for the first time.

"I was down on the start line and it was really nerve wracking. I had a great lane draw and could see what others were doing, which made it easier for me to go out there and do my own thing.

"I started well, got a good bend and tried not to think about the quicker girls in the race and just ran my own race."

Such is the inexperience of the teenage talent, she had not even heard of the AAA Championships before getting her invite a month before the event. But having experienced the whole day Lewis admits it was great to get the opportunity at such a young age.

"This was what I wanted, to get into a big race like this for experience and also to soak up this sort of championship and have fun," she added. "I have been running well the last year or so but the thing I have been lacking is experience. "It's all new for me. I didn't even expect to get a call up, I didn't even know what this event was - so when I was invited to the European trials - I thought 'that's great'.

"There was only four girls my age chosen so that was pleasing. "It was a good opportunity and good to have the chance to step up in level at my age and see what it is like."

Lewis went to the Sportcity complex without her coach and was most pleased with how she managed to compose herself among the top women sprinters - the same one's she is hoping to be competing alongside for the top honours in the coming years. Lewis said: "It is nice to see the sort of people I will be up against over the next two or three years. "And also run and warm up alongside the top performers and see how they do
things and see how they cope."

Jo Maddick was the fourth club star to try her luck just north of London. The 18-year-old middle distance ace was competing over her lesser preferred 1,500m and in a strong U20 field finished a fine sixth in 4min 36.9sec.

Another of the club's field event stars, Anna Parkinson, was busy over both days of the Championships and despite failing to come away with medals around her neck she delivered some fine results. The multi-eventer's best showing came on the second day in the high jump - where the under-17 athlete finished joint seventh with her best clearance of 1.58m. This after Parkinson had finished ninth in the national championships in the javelin - with a best of 29.12m - and 11th in a competitive long jump field with her leap of 4.97m.

The club's youngest performer on the day Tom Smith did fantastically to make the final of the under-15 1500m. Smith qualified for the race-off as a fastest loser in a time of 4min 24.4sec, although the youngster had ran his final in the semi and could only manage 4min 34.35sec for 11th in a final which was ran at a fierce pace and was won in a championships record by Ireland's Shane Quinn in 4min 04.19sec.

Laura-Jane Day was also in dazzling form as she finished seventh in the final of the 3,000m in 10min 24.13sec, while fellow middle distance athlete Michelle Stone failed to progress from her heat of the under-17 1,500m as she came eighth in 4min 49.6sec.

The club's two sprinters on show were Clare McPhee and Zoe Garton. McPhee edged her way into the semi-final of the 300m with a run of 41.7sec, before failing to progress into the final despite running one hundredth quicker, while Garton was fifth home in her heat of the 300m hurdles (51.4sec).

Chris Walgate and Jon Mattos got the ball rolling with a superb double in the 400m hurdles - with under-17 ace Walgate crossing first by just one hundredth of a second. And there was a flurry of first-place finishes in the A and B events of a plethora of events to follow. Further maximum points from the club came in the women's throws as Lisa Kenney and Nicky Bates dominated all day to claim wins in the hammer, discus and javelin, while Jon Frost followed up his fine run over 10,000m at the BAL Cup semi-finals to win the 5,000m - with Gregan Clarkson winning the B event.

Rob Clark more than made up for the absence of sprinter Luke Giblin as he surged clear of a strong field in the 200m for a thrilling victory in a
blanket finish, adding to his second spot in the 100m. Team manager Cheryl Lyons, still recovering from a bad calf injury, filled vital gaps and came away with a win and two second places, while Nikki Maddick turned out on her 19th birthday to win the 800m.

As ever John Twiddle and James Bedford dominated their rivals in the throws for vital extra points and Peter Watts showed how he is coming into form, after a season of injury last year, as he looked in dazzling shape in the 400m B race. Other notable performances saw Mike Tanner continue his ultra consistent times over 800m, Emma Worrall secured victory in the 100m and youngsters Chris Bloomfield, Mark Cage and Rachel Bolton marked their debuts in the senior league with respectable displays.

The day would have ended in style for Kingston, as they celebrated gaining promotion at a canter, but their thrilling victory in the 4x400m relay, led home by Watts, was discounted after Mattos stepped out of the starting block and the team were disqualified. But that proved futile as Kingston won their third match of the season to join city rivals Hull Achilles in Division Three.

How our Kingston athletes got on -:
Women's

100m - 1 Emma Worrall 13,0, 2 Rachel Coupland 14.7
200m - 2 Emma Worrall 27.0, 2 Rachel Coupland 29.5
400m - 3 Jodie Spencer 61.4, 1 Claire Blunt 65.7
800m - 1 Nikki Maddick 2.18.2, 2 Cheryl Lyons 2.57.0
1500m - 2 Lauren Havercroft 5.44.7, 2 Cheryl Lyons 5:45.2
3000m - 1 Cheryl Lyons 12.30.3, 1 Helen Maddick 12.10.2
400mh - 1 Claire Blunt 74.8
100mh - 2 Lisa Kenny 19.9
Hammer - 1 Nicky Bates 29.15, 1 Lisa Kenny 26.47
Discus - 1 Lisa Kenny 32.88, 1 Nicky Bates 25.31
Javelin - 1 Lisa Kenny 33.90, 1 Nicky Bates 27.76
Shot - 2 Lisa Kenny 9.77, 2 Alison English 6.58
Long jump - 4 Rachel Bolton 4.38, 3 Lisa Kenney 4.15
Triple jump - 3 Rachel Bolton 9.21, 1 Emma Worrall 8.99
High jump - 2 Claire Blunt 1.40
4x100m - 2 54.8
4x400m - 1 5.06.00

Men's
100m - 2 Rob Clark 11.7, 3 Chris Bloomfield 11.9
200m - 1 Rob Clark 23.2, 2 Chris Bloomfield 23.9
400m - 5 Tom Butler 53.0, 1 Peter Watts 52.6
800m - 2 Mike Tanner 2:02.7, 2 Danny Holiday 2:07.8,
1500m - 2 James Johnson 4:12.9, 3 Owen Williams 5.12.1
3,000m s/c - 2 Craig Havercroft 11.33.3, 2 Jon Mattos 12.56.5
5,000m - 1 Jon Frost 15.54.5, 1 Gregan Clarkson 16.06.5
400mhurdles - 1 Chris Walgate 61.1, 1 Jon Mattos 61.2
Hammer - 1 James Bedford 58.74, 2 John Twiddle 21.62
Discus - 2 John Twiddle 36.55, 1 James Bedford 33.47
Javelin - 2 James Bedford 40.74, 1 John Twiddle 32.88
Shot - 2 John Twiddle 11.63, 1 Joe Lewis 10.77
High jump - 6 Danny Holiday 1.45, 3 Joe Lewis 1.45
Long jump - 5 Chris Bloomfield 4.85, 4 Mark Cage 4.50
Triple jump - 3 Chris Walgate 11.69, 2 Mark Cage 10.25
4x100m - 2 46.7
4x400m - DSQ

Match result
1 - Kingston upon Hull - 423.5
2 - Hallamshire - 328
3 - Grimsby - 303
4 - City of Sheffield - 281
5 - Boston - 122.0
6 - Wombwell - 100.5

Final Standings
1 - KUHAC - 23
2 - Hallamshire - 21
3 - City of Sheffield - 15
4 - Grimsby - 11
5 - Boston - 10
6 - Wombwell - 4
 

It was a welcome result for the 18-year-old from Beverley, who had been disappointed with his recent results over 1,500m - where he had hoped to become a consistent four-minute flat runner this season without success. But not for the first time in 2006 Johnson showed his talents over the longer distance. Just like at the English Schools National Cross Country Championships "JJ" saw off training partner Rob Hodges over a longer distance - beating the under-20 Northern Indoor 1,500m champion by just two tenths of a second into 10th.

Steve Feasey finished further down the field in 18th in a time of 9min 24.90sec, while 16-year-old John Gilchrist continued his fine progress since his move to a new coach (Andy Lyons) as he was 19th in a respectable time of 9min 30.15sec - a time he had stated before hand that he would have been happy with.

In the junior women's 3,000m race Jo Maddick was left disappointed by her fifth place finish (10min 09.65sec) - citing stomach problems for finishing well short of her Humberside record from earlier this season.

Kingston's rising stars Jo Maddick and James Bedford represented the North with pride as they both recorded victories in an inter-area match in Derby. The pair were both selected to compete for the region after successful seasons, with Maddick having represented England in cross-country earlier in the year before twice breaking the Humberside record over 3,000m, while Bedford once more dominated at under-20 level on a regional and national basis in the hammer.

Jo Maddick - 2nd on the right

Loughborough University student Maddick, who lives in Willerby, shrugged off the disappointment from five days previous to post a good time and earn the North team valuable points. The 19-year-old had failed to win gold at the Northern Championships over 3,000m at Trafford during the midweek, after suffering from stomach problems, as she finished in fifth. But Maddick returned to fine form with a clocking of 10min 01.97sec to finish first under-20 runner and third overall in the senior race alongside some of the countries finest under-23 exponents over seven-and-a-half laps of the track.

Bedford, meanwhile, was in sparkling form in the hammer circle as his best of 56.56m not only easily won him the under-20 competition but also saw him beat all the more senior competitors in the field, and all that while using a heavier weight of hammer than what he is used to.

RAIN FAILS TO DAMPEN SPIRITS
By Jon Mattos

Daniel Agustus put the pouring rain to the back of his mind as he swept to an impressive victory at the inaugural Jim Dingwall Elloughton 10k. The Scarborough AC runner surged to the front from the off and never looked back as he consistently added to an already sizeable lead throughout the six-and-a-quarter miles around the streets of Elloughton and Brantingham, 10 miles west of Hull.

City of Hull Athletic Club hit the streets of Budapest as participants of the 21st Budapest International Half Marathon

The River Danube gleamed in the summer sunshine as the Hull runners joined over six thousand athletes from across the world to compete in the 13.1 mile race around Hungary's capital city.

There were some outstanding results from the Hull runners with Stuart Buchan clinching first place in the Vet45 age category with a time of 76:45. Overall Stu finished 63rd. With over 250 Brits in the race Stu was the 3rd fastest.

Buchan states frustration as he believed he ran "a poor tactical race" and "had good deal left in tank at finish.

Both races were won by home-grown Hungarians with Barnabas Bene winning the male race (66:32), and Aniko Kalovics taking the female title (70:46).

A great race. Just not enough portaloo's at the start!