ATHLETES from St Helens-Sutton returned from the North of England AA Junior tournament with a treble haul of gold medals.

On the first day of the Cudworth competition Mike Ehlen leapt 12.22m to take gold medal in the under 15s triple jump.

Ben Fisher, who is still struggling with a shoulder injury, still took silver in the under 20s javelin.

The track highlight came on the second day when 15-year-old Dave Forrester took gold in the under 17s 1,500m race. He edged out Stockport's Ross Millington with a time of 4mins.00.89.

Becky Keegan completed the golden treble with a magnificent throw of 25.51m in the under 15s girls javelin.

Mike Ehlen added a bronze to his collection, coming third in the high jump with a leap of 1.70m.

The performances delighted coaching co-ordinator Joe Ehlen, who said: "Dave's time ranks him as the third best in the country at the moment.

"Mike's display in the triple jump was tremendous as he had not even been training for the event due to a leg injury. But he just came up with an excellent jump - worthy of Jonathan Edwards as a 12-year-old - and sat back and enjoyed the rest of the competition.

"But overall our athletes have all done brilliantly."

Meanwhile two Cowley girls enjoyed a tremendous race in Germany at the weekend.

Schoolmates Zoe Woodward and Laura Crook, both aged 12, represented the borough - and Britain - in a 2km race in St Helens' twin town of Stuttgart.

Out of a mixed field of 1474, Zoe came ninth and was the fifth girl home. Laura came 47th, and was the 20th girl to finish.