It’s high vault-age

Pole vaulter Louise Shortland just missed out on a medal and top three finish in the highly contested second Annual Jumps Fest meet at the weekend.

On the back of two postponements of major pole vault competitions, 20-year-old Louise of Royston travelled to the Birmingham Alexandra Stadium hoping to take part in some much-needed action.

The fixture also included the rescheduled County Athletics Union (CAU) championships.

However, heavy rain dampened spirits again with a number of the day's early competitions abandoned.

Fortunately for Louise, who represents Stevenage and North Herts AC, the Alexandra Stadium is one of the best centres for athletics, and her event was moved indoors.

Here, she was unlucky to fail at 3m 50cm, bringing down the bar with her arm, having otherwise made a good clearance.

As a result, she was left out of the medal placings, but still finished in a respectable fourth place.

The top three spots were decided on count-back, with the first three all securing a height of 3m 50cm.

Emily Taylor of Notts won the event, with Michelle Sharrock of Wigan Harriers second, and Sale's Abigail Haywood third.

The results of the rescheduled CAU match will be aggregated from the results of the five pools of vaulters at the Jumps Fest, and unofficially Louise is expected to have finished in sixth place.

Her father Mick said: "Despite the setbacks with the unreasonable weather, Loiuse has produced a number of excellent results.

"In her first senior season she finished sixth in the South of England championships, and a commendable fourth in the National Championships at under 23 level.

"Her season's performances range from 3m 30cm to 3m 50cm, which is just 10cm below her personal best."

Louise is currently ranked 26th in the UK senior women pole vault rankings.

She returns to the Birmingham Alexandra Stadium this weekend for the second match in the National Division 1 competition.