THE cream of the county came together in an attempt to run, jump and throw their way to glory in the annual Lancashire Sportshall Athletics finals.

The competition, held at heaving Hyndburn Sports Centre, brought together hundreds of young athletics who were cheered on by school-mates and teachers alike.

And there was plenty for local schools to celebrate with two of three top honours remaining in East Lancashire.

Salesbury Primary School from Ribble Valley finished as runners-up while St Laurence from Chorley were joint third with Newton Bluecoat, who were representing Fylde.

However, St Andrews from Preston were the undoubted stars of the show, winning the title by more more than 100 points.

The super Saints clocked up an impressive 658 points, 112 ahead of Salesbury’s 546 total with St Laurence and Newton Bluecoat both on 504 points.

But Salesbury certainly had something to cheer about as they were crowned top boys team with 332 points , six ahead of the overall champions from St Andrews.

Salesbury’s boys won three events outright, wining the 4x1 lap relay, the chest push and the vertival jump.

But the Preston school underlined their dominance with the boys and girls teams winning a combined toal of 10 events between them.

Pupils took part in various relays including one lap, two lap, 6 lap, obstacle and hurdle relays.

In the field, they competed in the long jump, triple jump, javelin, speed bounce, chest push and vertical jump. It is a team event so every athlete is competing to score points to add to their overall team score.

Every district in Lancashire took part with teams selected to represent their respective boroughs having taken part in qualifying competitions.

East Lancashire schools present were Avondale (Blackburn with Darwen), Cliviger, St Johns (Burnley), Baxenden (Hyndburn), Laneshawbridge (Pendle), Salesbury (Ribble Valley) and St James the Less (Rossendale).

Jane Johnson, school games organiser for Hyndburn, said the event was a big hit.

“Every district in Lancashire held similar events to select a winning team to represent them at the county final which we were extremely proud to host in Hyndburn.

“These were organised by the local school games organisers who were also helping to organise the school games country final.

“Young Leaders from Clitheroe Royal Grammar School were at the event and they really were exceptional, pushing every athlete to get the best possible results.

“The overall standard increases year on year and every school that attended should be extremely proud to get this far. “The winning schools however won from over 600 schools in Lancashire which is no mean feat.”

Adam Burgess from Sportshall Athletics said the youngest who took part could be the stars of the future.

“The event was a fantastic culmination of the 2015 Sportshall Athletics season across Lancashire,” he said.

“It’s great to see such a high quality competition but, most importantly, all the children enjoying their day.

“For more than 30 years Sportshall has been the breeding ground for the next generation of British athletes and we may even have had the next Katarina Johnson-Thompson or Mark Lewis-Francis in the hall.”

Sportshall Athletics is by far the most popular of all school sports since it was introduced in the 1970s.

It is the largest competition within the School Games framework and with an estimated user-base of well over one million children, Sportshall has more participants than any other School Sport Competition.

It was created by George Bunner MBE to provide a safe and warm environment for young athletes to train during the cold and dark winter months. Sportshall quickly developed into a new form of team competition and the first ever Sportshall competition took place in 1976 with the annual UK clubs championships being established in 1984.

The programme focusses on fitness and multi-skill development providing a grounding for all sports. It is totally inclusive, encourages children to get fit and promotes friendship whilst having lots of fun. Additionally, Sportshall promotes a wide range of community benefits as it provides a focus for mums, dads and grandparents to actively come and support their children. Sportshall also provides a stepping stone into after-schools sporting activity.

  • Results 1. St Andrews (Preston) 658pts, 2 Salesbury (Ribble Valley) 546pts, 3= St Laurence (Chorley) 504pts, 3= Newton Bluecoat (Fylde) 504pts, 5 St Leonards (South Ribble B) 480pts, 6 Lancaster Road (Heysham) 430pts, 7 St Annes (West Lancs) 424ps, 8 Moorside (Lancaster) 418pts, 9 St James the Less (Rossendale) 412pts, 10 Anchorsholme (Blackpool) 404pts, 11 Shakespeare (Wyre) 378pts, 12 Avondale (Blackburn) 356pts, 13 Laneshawbridge (Pendle) 332pts, 14 Baxenden (Hyndburn) 275pts, 15 Lever House (South Ribble W) 272pts, 16 Cliviger, St Johns (Burnley) 224pts, 17