Bronze beauty

THREE bronzes were won by two local youngsters at the English schools athletics championships at Gateshead. Sprinter Bunmi Awokoya from Hitchin Girls School won two bronze medals at the championships held on Friday and Saturday. She brought home bronzes

THREE bronzes were won by two local youngsters at the English schools' athletics championships at Gateshead.

Sprinter Bunmi Awokoya from Hitchin Girls' School won two bronze medals at the championships held on Friday and Saturday.

She brought home bronzes from her intermediate girls' 100m race and from the 4x100m relay for the Herts county team.

The Stevenage and North Herts athlete's times were 12.36 (second in her heat) and 12.61 (third in the final).

Clifton schoolboy Ryan Parker set a personal best in running a heroic race in the intermediate boys' 3000m.

Running in a field of 24, he worked his way through before only eventual winner Simon Horsfield (Manchester) and the runner-up Abdi Ahmed (South Yorkshire) were in front.

Ryan's time was 8:35.08, with Horsfield clocking 8:28.97 and Ahmed just five-hundredths of a second slower.

The previous best time for the Bedford and County athlete was 8:38.9 and he is at St Mary's College in Twickenham this week for a five-day residential training camp.

Ryan is also first reserve for England for Saturday's meet in Scotland against the top Scottish, Welsh and Irish schools' athletes.

Another pupil from Samuel Whitbread Community College in Clifton was the second local member of the Beds and Luton team.

Alice Middleton, a member of Biggleswade AC, made the final of the senior girls' 400m.

She was third in her heat to qualify for the final as one of the fastest runners who did not finish in the top two.

Her time of 58.48 was a personal best and a new Biggleswade AC club record.

In the final, she was seven-hundredths outside of her best time.