A party of seven athletes from the Isle of Man travelled to Derby last weekend for the British Masters Track and Field Championships, held over three days, and returned with a haul of 11 medals, including four golds.

Fiona Whitehead was the standout performer, winning medals in all five throwing events she contested in the women’s 55 age group.

She collected three golds, recording distances of 27.50 metres in the discus, 38.97m in the hammer and 11.42m in the weight throw. She added a silver in the javelin with 22.97m and a bronze in the shot put with 9.42m, completing an outstanding weekend.

Tom Riley contested the men’s 100m in the 40 age group, and produced an excellent performance to clinch gold in 11.32 seconds.

Ewelina Hand was also busy in the women’s 40 age group, contesting five events and winning two medals. She took silver in the 400m hurdles in 76.87s and added another silver in the triple jump with a leap of 9.57m. She also finished fourth in the 400m in 69.20s, fifth in the 200m in 30.20 and sixth in the 100m in 14.57.

Daniel Stewart-Clague competed in the men’s 35 age group 100m and 200m, winning silver in both events. His times were 11.36 and 22.79 respectively.

Competing in the women’s 45 age group, Sarah Halligan won silver in the 400m in an excellent time of 66.01. She also finished sixth in the 200m in 29.13.

There were also strong performances from Kevin Deakes, who finished fourth in the men’s 65 age group 5,000m in 20:25.77, and Robert Young who finished ninth in the discus in the same age group with a throw of 31.58m.

The 11-medal haul represents an outstanding set of results for the athletes and is a huge credit to all seven competitors, whose performances provided plenty of success to celebrate at the British Masters Championships.

DAVID GRIFFITHS