Isle of Man athletes produced an outstanding set of performances at the Lancashire Track and Field Championships at Stanley Park in Blackpool last weekend.

They returned home with an impressive collection of 33 medals (12 gold, 10 silver, 11 bronze), personal bests and season’s bests across a wide range of events.

Leading the way was Manx Harriers’ versatile under-14 girls star Eve Martin who enjoyed a brilliant championships with four gold medals and one silver.

Eve dominated the 75m hurdles in 12.0 seconds before also taking gold in the long jump with 4.84 metres.

She then showed her strength over longer distances by winning the 1,500 metres in a personal best 4min 45.8sec and adding another pb in the 800 metres with victory in 2m 18.9s.

She narrowly missed a fifth gold after clocking another pb of 26.1 seconds to take silver in the 200 metres final.

There was further middle-distance success for Manx Harriers’ Alex Bell who claimed silver in the men’s 400m with a season’s best 51.3 before returning on day two to win gold in the 800m in 2m 04.8s.

Western AC’s Rory Turner also struck gold in style, taking the u18 men’s 400m hurdles title in a personal best 1m 01.5s which was also a new club record.

The u18 women’s events brought more success for Harriers. Jess Schreuder enjoyed an excellent championships, winning gold in both the discus with a pb of 17.82m and the triple jump with 10.06m.

She also added bronze in the long jump with another pb of 4.28m, plus silver medals in both the shot and hammer, again recording personal bests.

Fellow u18 Lara Smith secured a complete set of medals, taking gold in the pole vault with a season’s best 3.10m, silver in the high jump and bronze in the 100m.

In the u16 boys’ category, Taylor Kneen produced a string of high-quality performances. He won gold in the shot with a pb of 11.33m, silver in both the 300m and 200m, and also finished fourth in the 100m with another pb. Taylor had earlier won his 300m heat in 36.7 seconds.

Northern AC’s Autumn Ryles excelled in the u14 girls sprints and jumps. She won her 100m heat in a pb of 13.4 seconds before taking silver in the final.

Autumn also claimed bronze in the long jump with 4.52m and later finished fourth in the 200m final after another personal best of 27.6 seconds.

There was strong throwing success from Manx Harriers athletes. Elizabeth Clennell won u14 girls discus gold with a pb of 16.01m and added silver in the javelin with a season’s best 15.92m.

Rowan Thompson claimed gold in the high jump and added silver in the discus plus bronze medals in both the javelin and 75m hurdles. Sirona Thompson also reached the podium twice, taking bronze in both the shot and high jump with personal best performances.

Additional medal success came from Deena Barker, who secured bronze medals in the u16 girls javelin and discus, while Frankie Kennedy earned bronze in the u18 women’s high jump.

There were also many strong non-medal performances and personal bests throughout.

Issy Kennaugh won her u16 girls 100m heat before placing sixth in the final, while fellow Manx Harriers athletes Leighton Curphey, Mollie McMullan, Seamus Hall and Sophie Kaighin all recorded multiple personal bests across endurance, jumps and throwing events.

Grateful thanks go to all the officials and parents who travelled with the team.