On Saturday six BWFAC athletes competed in the first of this year's 'show piece' pole vault competition at Manchester's SportCity.

Between them they managed three podium places and three personal bests, on the day.

First up were rookie vaulters Beckii Ferguson and Chloe Needham (pictured right) in their first ever competition in the discipline.

Chloe, who lives in Clifton in rural Fylde and is better known for her shot putting prowess, cleared 1.73m for second place in the U13 Girls event whilst Beckii cleared 2.08m to take the bronze medal for the U15 girls.

Experienced U17M vaulter Declan O'Hara collected the bronze medal after clearing 3.43, a height that shattered his previous indoor best and came within a few centimetres of his all-time outdoor best performance.

U20M Sam Ackerley, who had been training hard for his first ever indoor competition, was justly rewarded with a new personal best of 2.63m.

In the same age-group, the seasoned vaulter, Matt Wright, easily cleared 4.03m despite being less than 100 per cent fit and finally, Alex Bale, from Hambleton, Over Wyre, who was making a welcome return to competition after several years absence, cleared 3.73m to prove that he has lost none of his ability at the discipline.

Following on from the recent PB and women's new club record of 3.10 by Elena Mingas, last weekend, the event represented an excellent day's work by all six BWFAC athletes which bodes well for the coming outdoor season.