MEDALS were the order of the day for Bury Athletic Club's youngsters at the John Gerrard Track and Field meeting held at Leigh earlier this month.

Gilbert Vaughan demonstrated that the talent in his family extends beyond his sister. He sprinted to victory in the under-11 boys' 75 metres in a time of 12:05. He added a bronze medal in the long jump with 3.01 metres and ran a fine 2:08.4 for fifth in the 600 metres. Elder sister, Hattie, also took bronze, this time in the under-15 girls' high jump with 1.40 metres. She was delighted, however, with personal bests in the long jump – 4.61 metres – and 200 metres – 29.29 – performances which both secured sixth place overall. Also competing in the under-15 age group, Heledd Rimmer finished fifth in the javelin, throwing 18.99 metres.

Charlotte Speakman-Farnworth has had a great summer, returning to form after a difficult winter season. She leapt a superb personal best of 4.21 metres for bronze in the long jump, adding fifth in the 800 metres with 2:41:97 and sixth in the 150 metres in 22:86.

Just ahead of her in the under 13 girls' long jump was Grace Goodsell who took silver with 4.42 metres. Goodsell went one better on the track. Her run of 10.94 for the 75 metres just pipped three runners by 0.02 seconds for gold, but there was a much more convincing victory in the 150 metres in 21.61. These performances rounded off a superb season for the Parrenthorn School pupil, who finishes ranked inside the top five in the North West for 100 metres, 200 metres and long jump.

Bury Athletic Club's junior female captain, Jenna Allen-Cartwright, made her Greater Manchester debut at the weekend, representing her county in the Northern Inter-Counties Championships at Witton Park, Blackburn. She was selected as a result of superb performances at the Greater Manchester Championships back in May.

Competing in the 100 metres, Allen-Cartwright finished fifth in her heat in a time of 13.97 seconds, less than a tenth of a second outside her personal best. She then ran a superb leg in the sprint relay, taking Greater Manchester from fourth to first in their heat takes to an excellent run on the bend of the third leg, before passing onto Hannah Kelly for the victory.

Representing Greater Manchester was a superb reward for Allen-Cartwright's hard work. Having started life as a distance runner in the footsteps of her illustrious mother, Donna, she has moved down to become a strong sprinter, taking 0.6 seconds off her best for 100 metres this year, over a second in the 200 metres and an incredible 2.5 seconds improvement in the 300 metres.