Rooney prevails to book place for Barcelona

Rooney clocked 44.99 seconds for the second time this season at the UK Championships, the joint-fastest time by a European athlete and the first time a British athlete has broken 45 seconds on British soil since he did it two years ago.

The 23-year-old, from Croydon, sixth in the Olympics on his debut aged just 21, said: "I'm very happy. It was a nice enjoyable race and the first time this race has been competitive for a while.

"I ran well. I think there are bits of it that weren't amazing but I'm happy with the result."

Michael Bingham took second in 45.67secs to also seal his place in Barcelona, with Conrad Williams close behind in third.

The best race of the weekend took place in the men's 110m hurdles, with William Sharman edging out four-time champion Andy Turner by just 0.03s.

Sharman, who was a shock fourth at the World Championships in Berlin last year after being a late addition to the team, said: "Andy may have been second here but I still fancy him for the Europeans.

"I heard he was out for his fifth title and I just had to do something about that."

Middlesborough long jumper Chris Tomlinson, who has often flattered to deceive, also came good at the weekend.

His first-round jump of 8.17m was 33 centimetres clear of the runner-up. His jump was wind assisted but Tomlinson was in good enough form to have another two jumps over the

eight-metre mark.

Johanna Jackson, also from Middlesbrough, was in a class of her own in the 5km walk, winning by two-and-a-half minutes in 21:52.95.

Wakefield high jumper Martyn Bernard, who has struggled with injury, bounced back to form with a win, clearing 2.28m at the first attempt.

He failed with 2.31 but had done enough to beat Tom Parsons who also cleared 2.28. His selection for the European Championships is by no means certain as he has done the B standard but not the all-important A standard

Hull-based hammer throwers were in top form at the event, with Alex Smith, who competes for Sale, well clear with a throw of 70.68m.

Runner-up was James Bedford (Birchfield) with 67.34m with another Humberside man, Pete Smith (Birchfield), younger brother of Alex, just missing a medal with fourth (67.25m).

Hallamshire's Hatti Dean ran an excellent race to finish runner-up to Barbara Parker (Norwich) in the women's steeplechase.

Parker got away early but Dean stuck to her task well and was not far behind at the finish. She clocked 9:40.69, tantalisingly close to the A standard of 9:40 but Dean will have another crack at that time next week.

There was disappointment for pole vaulter Luke Cutts (Dearnside). Firm favourite for the event, Cutts cleared 5.20m first time but could not clear 5.35m, the height cleared by surprise winner Joe Ive (Belgrave).

Just missing a medal was Leeds City's Matt Hudson, fourth in the 110m hurdles. It was a superb run by Hudson whose time of 13.86 secs was a personal best.

There was also a fourth place in the women's hurdles for Wakefield's Zara Hohn who clocked 13.75. Holmfirth's Mark Buckingham just missed out on a medal finishing fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase in 8:57.31.