POLE-VAULTER Louise Shortland continued her successful season on Sunday when she took part in the South of England athletics championships at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. On a warm afternoon with a light breeze Royston athlete Shortland waited

POLE-VAULTER Louise Shortland continued her successful season on Sunday when she took part in the South of England athletics championships at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

On a warm afternoon with a light breeze Royston athlete Shortland waited patiently as one by one the other competitors fell by the wayside.

With the bar at 3m only training partner Kirsty MacKintosh, of Woodford Green with Essex Ladies, remained.

Shortland, finally entered the competition with the bar at 3.2m and took control of the pole vault competition with a first time clearance.

MacKintosh, uncharacteristically, failed to match this height, leaving Shortland in pole position after only one vault.

Shortland then went on to clear 3.5m before moving into new territory and attempting a championship best performance of 3.73m.

Sadly this eluded her but her rivals could not fail to notice that she made three very good attempts at the height and was unfortunate to have been unsuccessful.

Along with her gold medal Shortland won herself a place in the South of England under-20 team that will compete against the Midlands, the North, Scotland and Wales in September.

She also gains an automatic entry to the AAA National Champion-ships, to be held at Bedford in July.

This event is designated as the trials for the World Junior Championships but with the qualification standard set at 3.95m it will be a tall order for Shortland to find the extra 35cm she would need to make the qualification height.

Picture: SUBMITTED