Katarina Johnson-Thompson secured silver in the women’s long jump final at the British Indoor Championships, incorporating the European Trials at Sheffield last Saturday afternoon.

Lorraine Ugen produced the fourth longest jump in the world so far this year to take victory ahead of the Liverpudlian in an exciting long jump contest.

Johnson-Thompson led until the final round with Ugen jumping 3cm further than her rival to take home the British title.

Commonwealth champion Jazmin Sawyers finished in third showcasing the strength of competition on the day.

The multi-event specialist will now head to Belgrade to represent Great Britain at the European Championships in March in the long jump.

Wirral-based triple jumper Alexandra Russell clinched a fantastic gold in the women’s final with a season’s best clearance of 13.27m. Competing for Wigan & District the former Wirral athlete showed her class holding off the challenge of Ireland’s Sara Buggy in second.

John Ashcroft narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s 1,500m final finishing in fifth in 3:50.19 in a race won by Elliot Giles (Birchfield) in 3:45.59.

Craig Jones (Liverpool Harriers) was also in action finishing in seventh in men’s long jump with a jump of 7.22m.

Mellor defies conditions for third place

Jonny Mellor finished third in Holland.
Jonny Mellor finished third in Holland.

Jonny Mellor traveled to Holland to compete in the Schoorl 10k, which incorporated the Dutch 10k Championships.

The Liverpool Harrier finished third in the international field clocking 28 minutes and 54 seconds despite the tough conditions following heavy snow over night.

The 30-year old finished just behind training partner Ross Millington (Stockport Harriers) with the 2016 Olympian pulling away in the final stages to cross the line in 28 minutes and 46 seconds.

Next up for Mellor is a stint of high altitude training in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before racing the United Airlines New York Half Marathon in March.

Elsewhere Matthew Crehan took victory at the 47th Parbold Hill race near Ormskirk with James McNally (Liverpool Harriers) finishing second in the popular trail race. In the women’s event Kirsty Longley (Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton) finished in third behind Louisa Powell Smith and Caitlin Rice of Ribble Valley Harriers.

In the Nick Beer 10k Matthew Clowes (Cardiff) took victory, just missing out on the course record clocking 30:57 over the challenging course around the Great Orm.

The race also incorporated the Welsh 10k Championships with Liverpool Harrier, Ricky Challinor finishing in third in 32:33.

In the women’s race Georgina Outten was a comfortable winner crossing the line in 35:46 following a strong run at the British Championships over 3,000m the previous day representing her new club Liverpool Harriers.

The British international finished in 12th at Sheffield in a season’s best 9:33.96.