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English title for Jack of all sports

26/ 3/2008

MACCLESFIELD Harrier Jack Andrew won the heptathlon gold medal in the Under-17 English Indoor Combined Event Championships.

The two-day indoor heptathlon event took place at the Sheffield EIS stadium over two days.

After the first day Andrew found himself in third position overall with a points tally of 2,557, some 133 points off the lead.

Many athletes in a high-standard field were setting personal bests in the events of the day which included the 60m, long jump, shot and high jump.

Andrew’s performances were 7.42sec for the sprint, 6.29m for the long jump, 1.71m for high jump and 12.16m for the shot.

The 133-point gap looked a big margin to claw back but with the pole vault and 1,000m, along with his favourite sprint hurdle event to come, there was everything to compete for on the second day.

Sunday started well for Andrew with an impressive 8.53sec in the 60m hurdles lifting him into second place, 242 points behind the leader, Andrew Pozzi from Stratford.

However, the work Andrew had put into improving his pole vault saw him produce a fantastic personal best of 4.20m which catapulted him into first place with a 74-point margin.

It was all down to the 1,000m to decide who would be the English champion.

Andrew’s speed, strength and stamina saw him come home in 2.52.11min, gaining another massive points total of 744 and securing first place and the English title to add to his list of honours.

It was a well deserved victory for a modest ambassador of athletics and Macclesfield Harriers.

Andrew had already shown his prowess this season, finishing eighth in the English Under-20 combined events Championships earlier this year.

The Harriers also had another combined events competitor in the Under-17 girls pentathlon.

In a 40-strong field, Ceri Williams, the Cheshire Pentathlon Champion, set indoor personal bests in the high jump, shot and 800m to finish in 27th place.

A disappointing long jump for Williams did not detract from her strong personal best overall score of 2,434 points.