Hats off for Sara's treble
SOUTH Shields' Sara Todd surged to a hat-trick of gold medals and also collected a silver in the North Eastern Track and Field Championships at Gateshead over the weekend.
Sara, a 27 year old physiotherapist at the Percy Hedley Foundation in Newcastle, is a former under-23 international at Jarrow and Hebburn AC.
However, she left the South Tynesiders to join Border AC, in Carlisle for higher league competition.
She was a resounding winner of the senior women's 100m hurdles in 14.44 from Alicia Berry, and achieved a double in the 200m forging half a second clear of Gateshead's Sheona Burns in 25.4 in the cold, windy conditions.
Her favourite 400m hurdles duly completed the treble as she established a winning lead of 30m over Nisha Desai, of Trafford AC, Manchester, in 61.7.
Rugby's Victoria Barr was in control of the 100m with 12.20 as Todd finished second in 12.48.
Andrew Stanton, now at Gateshead Harriers, was an impressive winner of the under-20 men's 800m.
In command from the gun, Stanton eased away from Middlesbrough's Andrew Wiles along the back straight opening up a gap of 20m at the line with 1:54.6.
Shields-based Adam Rogers competing for Sale, Manchester AC finished only a tenth of a second behind Gateshead's Andrew Sturrock with 11.2 in the senior men's 100m.
Nick Ridgeon, a schoolboy under-15 combined events international, now in the under-20 section found the gold medals elusive, but gained five silvers and a bronze.
Only 2cm off the discus title behind Blaydon's Phil Brown with 35.16m, Ridgeon finished 15cm down on Middlesbrough's Lloyd Powell with 1.75m in the high jump.
Darlington's Matthew Smith prevailed by 0.9 of a second in the 110m hurdles, while Ross Davison was 0.60m higher than Ridgeon with 3.70m in the pole vault.
A shot putt of 12.49m again brought him another second position.
His long jump of 5.39 achieved the bronze.
Hebburn's Rachel Barnes won the under 20 women's 2,000m steeple chase in 8:26.3, retaining her title.
Jarrow's Alicia Berry was first in the senior women's high jump with 1.50m and was third in the javelin with 27.05m.
Andrew Harle cleared 1.65m, level with Gateshead's Niall Flannery in the under-17 boys' high jump.
However, the latter won on a countback of fewer failures in earlier rounds.
Harle was also second in the shot with 11.75m and third in the pole vault with 2.20m.
Katherine Bulmer finished 27cm off gold in the under-15 girls' shot with 8.60m, and Nicholas Wood was a second behind Gateshead's Martin Young with 25.63 for silver in the under-15 boys' 200m.
Ashleigh Stone won the bronze medal in the under-15 girls' long jump with 4.72m and was also third in a tight finish to the 100m in 13.48.
Janet Abladey was only a tenth of a second off the bronze medallist Jayne Norton of Middlesbrough with 43.1 in the under-17 girls' 300m. She also came fifth in the 200m in 27.1.
India Sharpe, from the Shields club, won gold in the under-17 girls' high jump on a countback with Grace Johnson of North Shields as both athletes reached 1.55m.
Her colleague Laura Watt was second to English Schools champion Rebecca Pottinger, of Birtley, in the under-20 event, where both competitors finished with 1.55m.
Jarrow's Beth Kerrigan was third in the under-13 girls' shot with 5.16m and Abigail Smith, from Shields, was only three cm behind in fourth.
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Weather for South Shields
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
