BOLTON sprint star Hannah Kelly debuted at the British Athletics Championships last weekend, despite being only 17 years old, and performed admirably.

The list of entrants for the 200m was enough to make anyone nervous – Olympic athletes, the European under-23 champion and British champions, but Kelly took it all in her stride.

In lane six for her heat, she did not get her usual blistering start, however she accelerated hard off the first bend to hold her position.

GB international hurdler Megan Beesley and Northern U20 champion Georgina Adam started to pull away but Kelly worked hard for third place in a time of 24.53secs – just 0.03s outside her indoor personal best – to secure a semi-final spot.

It was always going to be a massive challenge for Kelly in lane one but, after a better start, she worked hard in the inside lane and overtook Mair Edwards in lane two after 70 metres.

She finished fifth in a time of 24.63, setting her up for this weekend’s EA U20 championships in Sheffield.

Coach Les Hall said: “Luck wasn’t on her side when she was drawn in lane one for the semi, but she just got on with it."

Meanwhile, Harriers fielded a 20-strong squad in the opening Central Lancashire Grand Prix – the home fixture of the CL5K – at Bolton’s Leverhulme Park.

Horwich’s Mike Cayton won by the smallest of margins of one second, after having upped the pace from 4k to take the sprint finish out of Bolton’s Jonny Kay (15mins 42secs), who had led until that point.

Karl Darcy collected a deserved bronze, while three of the first five in the women’s race were Blue Vests, with Katie Oakley and Rebecca Kay being led home by winner Laura Lombard (18:38).

Other notable results were John Knowles in 11th and first CLGP veteran, Lewis Aldred’s top 20, despite being possibly the youngest in the field, and several well-placed age-group results including Chris Povey (second M40), Mark Wolstencroft (third M50), Ken Fowler (first M65) and Mary Cheung (third F35). Asad Maslah and David Jones also made their competitive debuts as 309 finished in total.

In the CLGP, it would appear as though newcomers Ramsbottom RC (55) will battle Burnden Road Runners (70) for the largest squad, while Radcliffe AC (34) and Swinton (35) could challenge overall with good-sized teams.

BUH&AC results: Jonothan Kay 15:42, Karl Darcy 16:03, John Knowles 17:34, Dominic Gavin 18:14, Lewis Aldred 18:18, Chris Povey 18:35, Laura Lombard 18:38, Craig Kenny 18:54, Mark Wolstencroft 18:54, Stephen Bonney 19:10, Katie Oakley 19:21, David Chrystal 19:33, Rebecca Kay 20:51, Ken Fowler 21:37, Asad Maslah 22:03, Scott Bracey 22:06, Rachel Bailey 22:15, Zoe Gibson 22:21, Mary Cheung 23:29, David Jones 25:44.

The annual Bolton 10K race, hosted by Bolton United Harriers on Sunday, April 22, is the next race to take place at Leverhulme Park. Runners interested in taking part should go to the event website at www.bolton10k.org for more information.