BROTHERS competing in the North of England Combined Events Championships at the English Institute of Sport Stadium at Sheffield came away with silver and gold medals at the weekend.

Three out of four South Lakeland-based athletes taking part had podium places with Claire Huck gaining a bronze.

Matthew Wright, of Kendal AAC, had an excellent day in the U-15 boys pentathlon at his first combined events championship meeting.

He recorded lifetime best performances in four of the five events: 9.76 sec. in the 60m hurdles; 9.57 metres in shot; 1.53m in high jump and 2 min. 28 sec. in the 800m.

Matthew could not quite beat but did equal his previous best performance in the fifth event, the long jump, with 5.09 metres.

This gained him an overall score of 2,202 and a bronze medal, setting a challenge for his older brother to follow the next day.

James Wright has recently moved clubs from Kendal to Sale Harriers, but remains a full-time member of the Kendal AAC track and field training group.

Competing in the U17 boys pentathlon, James - who has set the fastest indoor time in the country for this age group this year - got off to a flying start with a run of 8.46 seconds in the 60m hurdles.

A personal-best throw of 10.67 in the shot placed James in first place after two events and he consolidated this with a good long jump of 5.88m and another personal-best high jump of 1.53m.

With all to go for in the final event, James ran his 800m in 2 min. 16 sec. to finish in second place, missing gold by less than one second.

However, the silver medal, with a points score of 2,866, was an outstanding performance in such a large field.

In the U20 women pentathlon, Claire and Katie Huck produced a series of solid all-round performances across their five events.

A rousing final 800m run of 2 min. 40 sec. gave Claire a bronze medal position, with a score of 3,082.

Katie finished close behind in seventh place with a score of 2,918 points. All four athletes are now looking forward to competing in their individual events at this weekend's North of England Indoor Championships in Sheffield.