HEXHAM schoolchildren impressed to gain medals from the county finals of the sportshall indoor athletics.

St Joseph’s Middle School produced champions in the girls’ category and runners-up in the boys‘ section at the Year 7 Northumberland School Games athletics final in Morpeth.

The girls finished a healthy 16 points clear of second placed James Calvert Spence, of Amble, to bring home the gold, putting in excellent displays throughout the events.

They were consistent in both the track and field events, winning the obstacle relay, the two lap race and the 4x2 relay in addition to the shot, the vertical jump and the standing long jump.

The boys impressed too but settled for joint second spot along with St Paul’s, of Alnwick, as they finished just seven points behind champions Newminster, of Morpeth.

They did excel in both the four lap race and standing long jump with wins in both.

Richard Secker, a teacher at St Joseph‘s, said: “The girls all performed really well on the day and winning by 16 points is an excellent achievement against schools from across the whole of Northumberland.

”I am really pleases with how well the worked as a team and tried the different events they hand’t experienced before.

“With the boys doing so well too, it just shows what a talented bunch of Year 7s we have here.”