Kristie smashes county records

The teenager blew away the competition at Cudworth’s Dorothy Hyman Stadium despite being three years younger than some of her rivals in the U17 women’s events.

Competing in the  100m and 200m sprints, the Wickersley School pupil was looking to pull off a treble, having taken gold medal for the past two years in both events.

In Saturday’s 200m, in perfect conditions, Kristie stormed through the heats and then  left all the other competitors in her wake in the final, stopping the clock at 24.35 seconds. The outstanding performance was watched by a packed stand at the track, including Karen Buck, the current holder of the Yorkshire title for the age group, who set the previous record of 24.6 a marathon 33 years ago.

Fittingly it was Karen, full of praise and congratulations, who presented the City of Sheffield athlete with the gold medal - just the boost Kristie needed to propel her into Sunday’s 100m final.

She promptly won in a blistering 11.97, also a new Yorkshire county record which had stood since 1983.