ELEANOR Markendale and Alison Leonard have won gold medals and set championship best performances at the North of England AA Indoor Junior Championships. The two-day event at Sheffield was also a triumph for Hyndburn Athletic Club, winners of six medals.

Pendle's Markendale is a talented all rounder and won her strongest event, the long jump, against arch rival Alex Russell. Although Eleanor was always just in front, the final margin was only four centimetres and it took an indoor personal best of 5.66 metres in the fourth round to clinch the gold medal. Like Markendale, Leonard competes in the under 17 age group, and her success came in the 800 metres, the distance at which she won the bronze medal at the outdoor AAAs Championship last summer.

The Chorley Harrier's main rival was Hyndburn's Leigh Lennon who has just moved into the age group this winter. The younger athlete set the pace leaving Alison to strike with 70 metres remaining. Both girls were inside the old record with respective times of 2:15:00 and 2:16:37 with the defending champion Natalie Grant in close attendance. On the second day of competition Lennon picked up her second silver medal as Rotherham's Grant took her revenge in the 1500 metres.

While Leigh was well beaten, her time of 4:51.95 left her nine seconds clear of third.

Joe Basquill has only been running with Hyndburn for three months, and this was his first championship, and he'll be thinking it's all very easy as he struck silver in the under 15s 800 metres. His time of 2:05.72 was six seconds inside the old championship record and over the course of the heat and final he lowered his personal best by 19 seconds.

Amazingly, his time would have won him the bronze in the under 17 race, a medal that was won by his training partner Robbie Schofield in 2:06.26. Apparently there is already a rivalry between the pair which coach Don Lennon feels will drive them on to the next level. Robbie won a second bronze in the 1500 metres with 4:20.72 as Preston's Nathan Bibby smashed Richard Newton's Championship best with 4:08.87. Hyndburn's sixth middle distance medal was won by Maisie Bonney with third in the under 15s 800m in 2:22.96.

East Lancashire was well represented at Sheffield with many reaching finals. Among them were Paul Whittle, Adam Hurley and Mohammed Moosa from Blackburn Harriers, Henri Lawson of Pendle, and Hyndburn's Nicola Barnes, Ashleigh Williams, Sarah Crossley, Michael Smith and Nathan Riding. Wigan's former Hyndburn athlete Anna Griffiths was fourth in the under 20 400m hurdles.