JAMES McMurray dropped back in distance to strike gold at a national championships when he won the under-15 800m at the English Athletics Outdoor Championships staged at Bedford at the weekend. The St Albans AC athlete had left the English Schools champio

JAMES McMurray dropped back in distance to strike gold at a national championships when he won the under-15 800m at the English Athletics Outdoor Championships staged at Bedford at the weekend.

The St Albans AC athlete had left the English Schools championship in Sheffield last month with a bronze in the 1500m but he showed superior tactical acumen to his rivals, striking for home early on the second lap and just hanging on in a tight finish in a time of 2:01.34.

Joining him in securing a medal was Luke Yaxley who won bronze in the under-15s 80m hurdles.

The Westminster Lodge club's hurdling squad has been exceptional this summer with Christian Gaddes ranked three nationally in this age group and Yaxley fourth.

But, while a false start in Sunday's final did Gaddes no favours and he subsequently hit a number of obstacles on his way to seventh, Marlborough pupil Yaxley's 11.38sec run secured a podium finish which was deserved reward for his summer of achievement.

The feature of the rest of the performances by St Albans AC competitors was a personal best throw of 33.54m by Abi Wilde in the under-15s javelin, which saw her claim 11th.

Steph Rukin's semi-final appearance in the under-15s 75m hurdles was also a commendable effort at her first major championships.

Other under-15s to make the championships were Jake Awe (100m and 200m), Chris Hilton (800m), Megan Steer (800m), Alicia Tymon-McKewan (75m hurdles) with Gaddes also finishing seventh in the long jump.

In the under-17s, Abi Holman was seventh in the triple jump, Kieran Moss ninth in the triple jump and 12th in the long jump, Khalid Al- Abaidy 14th in the 3000m while Laura Farrar was close to her personal best in the final of the 1500m.