North Of England Track and Field Championships 2004

A good weekend at the North Of England Track and Field Championships 2004 which was held at Wigan, with medallists and personal bests by athletes from VRAC.  The athletes enjoyed the contrasting sunshine and cloudy conditions to bring home one gold medal and three silver medals.

Athletes in action were Becky Ellis who won the gold medal for the under 20 women 1500 metres with a time of 4.31 minutes.  Becky is now looking forward to the British Championships which take place in four weeks time in Bedford.  Lee Davenport battled through the heats to reach the final and then gained a silver medal in the under 17 boys 800 metres with gutsy running and a dash for the line ending in cuts and bruises from the track, but with a smile knowing he had secured the silver medal.

Morgan Brown was also in action in the 200 metres, with again heats and then a final.  The heats and the final were very closely contested with Morgan in 2nd place with a excellent time of 25.48 seconds in silver medal position.  The final race of the championships proved to be extremely exciting with athletes scrapping for position.

Laura Lambert was in action and came fourth in the under 17 girls 800 metres with again some tough heats and in the final did very well.  Natalie Abrams finished 6th in the under 20 womens triple jump, contesting her first ever north of England championships.  Katie Balfour and Kate Lievesley also competed in their respective age groups in the under 15 girls 100 metres and the U20 women 400 metres.

Tom Stringer who last month won his first Cheshire Track and Field Title for 400 metres hurdles has added another medal towards his tally.  Tom gained the bronze medal in the championships at Wigan with a gutsy run to the line with a time of 58.88 seconds in the under 17 men age group.  Tom was delighted with his medal and is the first ever 400 metre hurdler in the history of Vale Royal Athletic Club, in an event where the demands of running 400 metres and hurdling too is no easy discipline.  A big well done to Tom from everyone at the club.

Hayley Jones of Vale Royal AC was in action on the first day of the championships (Saturday) with a silver medal in the Under 17 women 100 metre sprint.  Hayley ran the distance in a time of 12.7 seconds at the Wigan track, where on Sunday there will be many more athletes in action.