A BIG weekend in the UK's athletics calendar saw Bolton Harriers in action on three fronts.

The English Schools took place in Nottingham, the AAA Championships in Birmingham, while a severely weakened senior squad was in action in the Northern Knockout Cup in Oldham.

Pick of the weekend was undoubtedly Tom Lancashire's English Schools win.

The 17 year-old destroyed the field and knocked 5 seconds off his lifetime best to take Gold. He promises great things for the future and the omens are good.

The last time the Championships were held at the Harvey Hadden stadium in 1979, the Senior Boys' 1500m Champion was none other than future world record holder for the distance Steve Cram!

Also in action was Northern Junior Champion Ian Bowles, who matched his finish of last year with a creditable 5th, but was disappointed to miss out on a medal after bravely taking the lead mid-race.

Matthew Hales performed well in his first appearance in the Championships.

Hales went through to the final stage of the competition, finishing 8th with a throw of 44.51m. Sam Aspen ran well in the Senior Girls' 400m. She was satisfied with a season's best time of 59.06 for 5th in her heat.

In the AAAs in-form high jumper Brian Hall finished a valiant 6th. The 19 year-old narrowly failed with an audacious bid to win Bronze behind Champion and former Olympic medallist Dalton Grant.

After clearing 2.10m, the bar was raised to a personal best height of 2.15m, which proved just too much as Grant took the title with 2.20m.

Hazel Carwardine had a particularly busy weekend. The triple jumper has improved dramatically this year but was slightly below her best at the AAAs, finishing 12th with 12.02m.

The following day however, she was the club's only winner in the Knockout Cup, taking not only the Triple Jump but also the Long Jump and 100m. Despite Hazel's efforts, and Liz Proctor taking 2nd in both the 800m and 1500m, the club narrowly missed out on the final, finishing 3rd.

Despite fielding a weakened team the men's team demonstrated its depth by finishing runner up to Trafford and qualifying for next month's final.

Bolton Harriers