AN unprecedented 12 athletes from St Albans AC have been selected to compete in next weekend s English Schools Championships in Sheffield. The hunt for medals will be headed by James McMurray, who runs in the Junior Boys 1,500m while the trio of Christian

AN unprecedented 12 athletes from St Albans AC have been selected to compete in next weekend's English Schools Championships in Sheffield.

The hunt for medals will be headed by James McMurray, who runs in the Junior Boys 1,500m while the trio of Christian Gaddes, Jason Tang and Luke Yaxley have all qualified for the Junior Boys 80m Hurdles.

They are joined in this age category by Jake Awe (triple jump), Joel McNeill (400m) and Chris Hilton (800m).

Alicia Tymon-McEwan (75m hurdles), Megan Steer (800m) and Abi Wilde (javelin) have all qualified in the Junior Girls competition.

While, in the older Intermediate age group, Abi Holman and Kieran Moss both contest the triple jump.

The English Schools Championships are staged at the Don Valley Stadium over two days (July 10-11) with coverage on Sky Sports.

With over 2,000 competitors, it is the biggest athletics meeting in the country.

The championships have been an early stage for some of Britains best known track and field stars with Lord Sebastian Coe, Steve Cram, Jonathan Edwards, Dame Kelly Holmes and Paula Radcliffe all tasting success.

Emma Clarke enjoyed an afternoon to remember, setting three new personal bests to prove a key member in St Albans ACs Eastern Young Athletes League match at Sandy on Sunday.

A leap of 4.20m won Clarke the U13 girls long jump, she dipped under the 30 second barrier to land the 'B' 200m in 29.5secs and a time of 14.5secs earned a third place in the 'A' string 100m.

It was a valuable contribution as St Albans (611pts) ran out clear winners from Enfield & Barnet (454pts) with West Suffolk (376pts) third, Ipswich (344pts) fourth, Trent Park (166pts) fifth and hosts Biggleswade (125pts) sixth.

St Albans AC now stand seventh in the 26 team league but only one point off fourth.

The U13 Girls also saw a good effort from Chloe Rutherford-Hughes, who won the 'B' 100m in 14.2secs.

In the U15 boys, Billy Sach's debut in the javelin produced a commendable winning throw of 38.65m while Chris Gillespie took the Pole Vault with a 2.50m clearance.

Rowan Seglah's 2.10m pole vault improved her PB by 20cm to earn a second place finish in the U15 girls where Abi Wilde had a welcome return to form with a winning throw of 31.38m in the javelin ahead of her trip to the National Schools Championships.

In the U17 Men, Khalid Al-Abaidy set a new PB of 2mins 3.3secs in the 800m while a 36.68m throw in the javelin earned first for Jonathan Howarth, who also won the 'A' string hammer and 'B' string discus.