WOODFORD Green with Essex Ladies athlete Rachel Dean was one of three local competitors to win gold at the Southern Indoor Championships at Lee Valley.

16-year-old Dean claimed the triple jump title in the under 17 category with a jump of 11.00m, while hurdler Sarah Claxton was first across the line in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.60 secs.

Richard Alleyne took the senior men’s title in the 60m hurdles with 7.90 secs, and there were strong performances from Elaine O’Neil, who took bronze in the 60m, and new member Daniel Davies. Chris Linque was second in the senior shot putt, David Crisp claimed silver in the U17 triple jump, Gavin Lewis was runner-up in the U20 1500m and Kitty Elayae was third in the U20 long jump.

Meanwhile, 41-year-old Linda Jackson was the star performer as Woodford Green’s ladies overturned a 13-point deficit in the London City Runner Metropolitan CC League to sit atop the division after the meet at Stevenage.

Jackson cantered home, enjoying a winning margin of over 30 seconds, while Lauren Stewart (seventh), Diana Kennedy (17th), Kat Gundersen (18th), Bernie Pritchett (23rd) and Rachel Lund (24th) all ran well. The club now lead Highgate by 37 points heading into the league’s final fixture.

Meanwhile, the men’s team extended their lead at the top of their division to 470 points over Shaftesbury, with Bertie Powell (eighth) and Ewen Malloch (ninth) the outstanding athletes. Craig Berg, Jim Roche, Martin McLean and Jordan Donnelly also enjoyed strong runs.