TWELVE young athletes from Warrington represented Cheshire at the North of England Inter-County Championships at the Gateshead International Stadium with Beth Hicken retaining her 200m title.

Hicken made it a winning return to the stadium where she finished fifth in the final of the English Schools under 15s girls' 200m race three weeks earlier and where Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell equalled the world 100m record in June.

She took the gold in 26.09secs, a time only bettered on the day by the winner of the senior women's title.

Three athletes gained runners-up spots with Megan Tyler performing well in the under 17s high jump with 1.60m.

Heather Timmins battled all the way in a closely fought under 17s women's 1,500m in a personal best 4mins 41.01secs and Martin Corcoran produced an outstanding finish in the under 15s boys' 400m in a personal best 52.54secs.

Chris Kirk gained bronze in the under 17s men's 400m with a personal best 53.04secs, while Matt Jackson was third in a tactical under 17s men's 1,500m in 4mins 17.09secs.

Hannah Tart finished fourth in the under 17s women's 800m in a season's best 2mins 19.32secs, while Luke Miller-Briggs was fifth in the under 17s men's 200m with 23.44secs.

Ste Broadhurst finished fifth in 2mins 25secs in a fiercely contested under 17s men's 800m before producing an outstanding 600m relay leg of 1min 24.4secs, moving the team from fifth to second.

Jade Llewellyn was sixth in the under 15s girls' 1,500m in 5mins 7secs and Louise Sullivan brought the under 15s girls' relay team home with an excellent 600m leg of 1min 41.4secs.

The unluckiest athlete was under 17s men's northern steeplechase champion Lawrence Walker.

After breaking away from the main field with Yorkshire's England international Joe Wilkinson, Walker made a break for home with 100 metres to go and was on his way to victory before falling heavily at the final barrier.