CHARLES Hilliard made a cracking start to his indoor athletics campaign when he clinched a gold medal at the Midlands Championships which were staged at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena.

The young Halesowen sprinter won the U15s 60 metres dash with a best ever time of 7.35 secs having only finished third in his heat with 7.53 secs.

Not content with that, Hilliard then went onto win the 200 metres title as well, snatching victory on the line in another best time of 23.46 secs.

These results have set Hilliard up for the season placing him third in the UK rankings at 200 and fourth in the 60 metres.

More medals came Halesowen’s way in the U15 girls 60 metres competition when Josie Oliarnyk crossed the line first in a best time of 7.89 secs having clocked 7.94 secs when winning her heat.

Molly Jenks underlined Halesowen’s strength by taking the bronze medal in 8.15 secs after recording 8.21 secs in her heat.

The pair were joined by Halesowen team mate Lauryn Elliott in the 200 metres.

Lauryn came fifth with a best time of 29.67 in her heat while Molly came second in her heat and third in the semi-final with a time of 26.94 – her best time ever.

Josie won her heat in 26.11, came third in another in 26.31 and second in her semi-final with a very impressive 25.83 secs.

Alex Beardmore added to Halesowen’s medal haul by taking silver in the ladies U17 200 metres final when clocking 25.46 secs after winning both her heat and semi-final, where she recorded a time of 25.29 secs.

Joseph Rogers raced to fifth place in the Men’s U17 400 metres clocking 54.54, having recorded a time of 53.03 secs in his heat.

James Hoult also took on the 400 metres in the U20 competition, finishing with a best time of 54.69 Hannah Sharkey snapped up a silver medal in the Ladies U20s 800 metres where she clocked 2 mins 27.33 secs.

There was a win for Niall Geraghty in the U17 men’s competition when clocking 2 mins 3.83 secs.

Another Halesowen athlete crossed her palm with silver when Iris Oliarnyk came runner-up in the U13 girls quadrathon, which incorporates a 60 metre sprint, high jump, long jump and shot.