ELEANOR Markendale is the North of England Champion in the Women's Under 17s 300 metres hurdles, and she took the silver medal in the long jump.

In the same age group, Leigh Lennon struck bronze in the 800m.

The Northern Championships for the under 15s and under 17s were held at the South Leeds Stadium over two days and Markendale enjoyed a busy weekend with heats and finals in three track events as well as her long jump contest.

The Pendle Athletic Club member hit the top of the national rankings in the 300m hurdles when winning the Lancashire Championships recently, and the purple patch continued as she clocked 44.44 seconds in breezy conditions.

In the long jump she lost out to Alex Russell from Wirral AC, her main rival on the national stage, but was well clear of the bronze medallist with a leap of 5.47m.

Sixth in the 200m and seventh in the 80m hurdles were to follow for the prolific all-rounder.

Hyndburn's Lennon safely negotiated heats in the 300m and 800m before taking fifth over the shorter distance in 41.7 seconds. The 800m seemed set to be one of the weekend's highlights but Chorley Harrier Alison Leonard withdrew after her exertions at the Loughborough International to leave a finely matched field.

Lennon won the bronze in 2:20.22 after Stacey Smith of Tyndale and local rival Kate Hindle from Preston.

Hyndburn club-mates Ashleigh Williams, Suzanne Bailey and Sarah Crossley were eliminated in the heats as were Joe Basquill and Eliot Bailey in the under 15 boys 800m.

Aaron Barker of Rossendale Harriers took fourth in the under 17s 400m hurdles in 59.16 seconds, and there were fifth places for Pendle's Liz Clarke in the under 17 triple jump with 9.53m and for Rachel Searson from Blackburn Harriers, who clocked 10:36.36 in the under 17s 3,000m. Mohammed Mousa, also Blackburn, went out in the heats of the under 17s 100m hurdles.