SEVEN Blue Vests put in good displays at the Northern Athletics Under-17/u20/senior Indoor Championships in Sheffield.

As usual, the group was dominated by sprinters and jumpers with Martin Reid the sole distance runner.

He finished eighth in the senior men’s 1500m in a time of 4mins 11.16secs.

Long-serving senior Sian Pledger flew in from her home in Malta with high hopes until she was laid down with a virus just a week ago.

She decided to compete and on Saturday she raced over 400m for the first time, clocking a good time of 59.88.

On Sunday, she won her 200m heat in 26.24 and followed it with third place in the semi-final, her 26.08 meaning she missed out on the final by an agonising 0.06 seconds.

Jack Dickinson raced the 400m as a senior for the first time and after a tremendous first 200m, which was just outside his personal best, he faded to finish fifth in 53.68.

Meanwhile, u17 Olivia Kimbowa made her debut at this regional level, clocking an indoor PB of 44.69 for the 300m, with a strong finish for fourth in her heat.

Three u17 athletes competed over 60m with Kehinde Taiwo storming through his heat and then finishing fifth in the semi-final with a new PB of 7.69.

Twin sister Taiwo Taiwo breezed through her heat and semi despite being 12 months younger than many of her competitors. She finished a fantastic seventh in the final in her fastest time of the day (8.07).

Hannah Kelly also competed in the 60m winning her heat in 7.83 and her semi-final in 7.81 before breaking her PB in the final with 7.76 to take gold.

The three junior sprinters all lined up again on Sunday, but this time in the 200m.

Kehinde ran a great race to finish third in his heat in a new PB of 25.11, unfortunately missing out on a place in the semi-final.

Taiwo, in her favoured event, once again showed class by winning her heat in 26.17.

Three hours later, 26.07 brought a second place in the semi before just missing out on a medal in the final, finishing fourth in 26.02.

Training partner Kelly was in superb form though. Powering away from the rest of the field in the heats, she was able to jog the last 50m while still clocking 26.15.

The semi-final saw her line up against team-mate Taiwo and, knowing she would have to work harder, she ran a second quicker (25.15).

She lined up in lane five for the final with tough opposition in Rotherham’s Ellie Booker – the UK’s number-two ranked in 2016 – just outside her.

Kelly got a great start and within 100m had closed down the stagger and run past her main competitor.

She was in imperious form and took her second gold of the weekend with a time of 24.93 – the fastest u17 time in the country this year.

Winning two Northern titles in a weekend is a superb achievement and confirms her outstanding potential, with coach Les Hall ambitious for the future based on her continued progress.

Both Kelly and Taiwo will now go to the national indoor championships next month with high hopes of winning more medals.

* The annual Bolton 10k race, hosted by Bolton United Harriers on Sunday, April 23, is ideal for those wishing to target a challenge for the new year, perhaps as part of a ‘get-fit’ regime.

An ‘early-bird’ discount is available for entries received before January 31. Runners interested in taking part should go to the event website www.bolton10k.org for more information.