Jessica Ennis (Sheffield) won two events and had a second place at the Yorkshire Track and Field Championships at Don Valley, Sheffield, when the two-day meeting was held in perfect conditions.
The Olympic Heptathlon hopeful was in a class above the rest in the 100m. She won her heat in 11.85 before beating defending champion Zara Hohn by half a second margin in 11.7, unfortunately hand timed when the electronic system failed on that occasi
on. Both heat and final are faster that her previous best times, her best being a hand timed 11.9. Hohn went o to win the 100m hurdles in 14.04
Ennis was given a scare in the high jump by her former Sheffield team-mate Kay Humberstone, now with Sale Harriers. Ennis scraped home by a centimetre with 1.76, almost 20 centimetres short of her best.
On the second day she threw an outdoor best in the shot with 13.19 but her Sheffield team-mate, junior Amy Hill, came first with 13.89. Also a heptathlete, Hill's best event is the shot and she was expected to defend her title successfully.
Ennis then did the 200m and, again, was easily the best in the field, winning her heat comfortably in 23.74 but declined her place in the final, satisfied with her weekend's workout.
Charlene Thomas (Wakefield), who has designs on a 1,500m place for Beijing, dropped down to 400m and showed impressive speed with a win in 56.75, while her Wakefield team-mate Kelly Johnson successfully defended her 800m title, leading all the way to record a personal best of 2:06.
In the field events Matt Lambley beat a 12-year-old record in the hammer with a 63.78m effort while in the women's event Sarah Holt, the former Spenborough athlete now with Sale, went close to the record with 60.17.
Marcus Gouldbourne (Sale) and Jamie Williamson (Sheffield) continued their hold on the discus (54.20) and shot (17.22) titles respectively.
Leeds City junior Hannah Evenden beat the seniors to win the discus title with a throw of 40.07 and completed a good weekend by taking bronze in the shot and hammer.
In the younger age groups Leeds City sprinter Tom Mosley was faster than the seniors, taking the Under-17 100m title in 11.18 while there was a fine double in the junior sprints from Todd Marshall (Sheffield) who won the 100 (11.27) and 200 (21.97)
Paula Radcliffe has admitted she may wear a face mask at the Beijing Olympics this summer – but not while running.
Britain's top distance runner has so far played down the fears over pollution in the Chinese capital which have been voiced by other athletes such as Haile Gebrselassie.
Men's marathon world record-holder Gebrselassie has decided not to run that distance due to fears over his asthma but Radcliffe, also a sufferer, has no such concerns.
The 34-year-old, world record-holder in the women's marathon, said: "To be honest, I think the whole pollution thing has maybe been a little bit too focused on.
"I think elements that need to be focused on and thought about more are the heat and humidity.
"I have competed in polluted places before – Atlanta was pretty polluted and Athens wasn't the most unpolluted city.
"I think the biggest factor is going to be runny eyes, runny nose and sore throat after the event - and if things go according to plan in the race, I don't particularly care."
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