CITY of York Athletic Club’s youngsters enjoyed a fruitful weekend at the English Schools’ Athletics Association Combined Events competition in Bedford.

The Minster city club had six athletes competing at the event, which brings together some of the best young combined events athletes in England.

In just her first year in the under-17 category, Frances Hogg came sixth of 42 in the inter-girls heptathlon.

In every one of the seven events, Hogg produced a strong performance which was close to her best (80m hurdles, 12.40 seconds; high jump, 1.59 metres; shot put, 9.72m; 200m, 26.61s; long jump, 5.10m: javelin, 30.82m; 800m, 2:30.53 minutes).

She produced a total score of 4,492 points.

Isaac Henson finished 20th of 36 in the inter-boys octathlon. Also in his first year of U17 competition, Henson gained four personal bests (in long jump, discus, 400m, high jump) over the two days.

He earned 4,092 points with his results (long jump, 5.44m; discus, 33.67m; javelin, 36.48m; 400m, 58.34s; 100m hurdles, 16.40s; high jump, 1.68m; shot put, 9.93m: 1500m, 4:54.13 minutes).

The club had strong representation in the U15 junior girls pentathlon, the team made up entirely of City of York athletes.

Esme Pounder (ninth), Emily Maude (10th), Kathryn Clague (29th) and Grace Green-Hemmings (34th) finished fourth of nine teams, with 42 taking part overall.

Pounder had a rocky start, losing points in her first event when she hit a hurdle, but fought back over the course of the day to gain personal bests in shot (9.43m) and the 800m (2:34.19 minutes). She earned 2,994 points with her results from those and her three other events (75m hurdles, 12.45; high jump, 1.53m; long jump, 5.11m).

Maude had an outstanding competition, earning personal bests in the hurdles, shot put (8.44m), high jump (1.53m)and 800m (2:39.19 minutes). Hers was the fourth fastest hurdles time of the day with 11.58s. In long jump, she registered 5.10m, bringing up a total score of 2,977 points.

Despite carrying a heavy cold, Clague completed the day with 2,509 points. Her scores were: 75m hurdles, 13.06s; shot put, 10.90m; high jump, 1.41m; long jump, 4.23m; 800m, 2:49.05 minutes.

Green-Hemmings kicked off the day with hurdles personal best of 12.40s. Her other scores (shot put, 6.78m; high jump, 1.38m; long jump, 4.21m; 800m, 2:42.68 minutes) earned her 2,342 points.

Meanwhile, Grace Gannon finished fifth in the U17 pentathlon in Jarrow. She cut five seconds off her personal best in the 800m.

Lead coach Craig Pounder said: “These are fantastic results for the athletes and the club, and are a fitting reward for the hard work and dedication of these athletes and all the other athletes within the performance training group throughout the year.

“The team of coaches who work with the athletes every week, Clare Blunt, John Moreland, George Dawson and Harry Maslen also deserve a special mention.”

At the North of England Road Relay Championships in Redcar, City of York’s senior women notched a club record of fifth place.

Katy Wood, fresh from a 5k race the night before, ran 20:52 minutes for the 6k opening leg to put the club in fourth place.

Emma Ballantyne (24:10) and Isabel O’Brien (23:19) then ran well on the middle legs before Charlotte Mason ran a superb anchor leg of 20:56 to bring the club home in fifth place, just 45 seconds away from a bronze-medal finish.

The senior men came a creditable 16th place, which was enough to qualify for the national final. Angus McMillan’s 17:53 was the fastest time from the club for the 6k leg.

The club’s junior section fielded five teams in the junior races. Both the U17 men’s and U15 boys’ teams came fifth with Isaac Stabler running the fastest leg in the U15 race.

He covered the 3.1k course in a time of 10:07.

The club fielded two teams in the U13 girls event, with the two teams coming seventh and twelfth, while the U13 boys team came ninth.

City of York also had Katy Wood and Lottie Langan in road running action.

Wood (16.51) and Langan (17.09) came first and second in last Friday night’s 5k race at the University of York cycle circuit.

Langan’s time is the third fastest in the national U15 age-group rankings for this year.