Henton lands national title (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Henton lands national title

9:02am Thursday 22nd July 2010 in

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Sarah Henton has taken her first national title at the age of 37 winning the discus at the England Athletics Senior Outdoor Championships which were held last weekend at the Gateshead International Stadium.

The Championships took place over two days with Sarah winning her gold medal on Saturday, and there was more joy for her club Blackburn Harriers on Sunday when Alison Leonard won 800 metres bronze after a storming finish.

Sarah, originally from Surrey, started her athletics career at Dorking St Pauls AC, a small club co-founded by her father before moving on the Horsham Blue Star Harriers.

While at University in Birmingham, she joined Birchfield Harriers where she was a member for seven years, but moved to Blackburn in 2001 to take up a teaching post at Moorland School in Clitheroe, and joined the Blackburn club a year later.

She went into this competition in the unusual position of favourite, and made absolutely sure of taking home a gold medal with a subsequent effort of 48.73m.

Windy conditions prevailed at the stadium but neither Alison Leonard or Paul Bradshaw were troubled on Saturday in the 800m as they won their respective heats with the fastest times of the day, with Alison recording 2:07.41 and Paul 1:51.64. Things didn’t go as smoothly for either on Sunday though.

Leonard left herself too much to do on the second lap of her final and although she went from sixth to third in the last 50 metres, she couldn’t make up the deficit.

Disappointingly, Bradshaw’s race was compromised by a faller when he was also spiked, and he couldn’t get back into contention. After lining up as a medal prospect, he ended seventh and last in 1:53.11.

In his first year of senior competition, Luke Evans clocked 22.17 in his heat of the 200m, but missed the final as the third ‘fastest loser’ with only two places available. A fifth Blackburn Harrier, Paul Whittle, was fifth in his heat of the 110m hurdles.

Cath Riley, the former Park High School AC athlete from Colne, was fourth in the women’s 1500m in 4:24.87 and Kelly Hilton, ex Chorley AC, was tenth in the triple jump with 11.94m.