EIGHT Worcester club aces headed to the World Masters Athletics Championships in Spain with some scooping medals.

Seven women and one man from the city's Midland Veterans League squad competed for Great Britain in Malaga.

In her first masters international, Liz Bowers qualified for the W65 800-metre final with her fastest time for several years of three minutes 3.32 seconds.

It was quicker than the European Indoor Championships winning run by another athlete but not enough for a medal at the worlds.

She was sixth in the 1,500m final in hot conditions in 6.14.66.

Melanie Garland qualified for the W55 semis in the 100m and 200m and ran even faster in each but did not progress to the finals.

In the high jump she recovered some of her early-season form and managed 1.36m for fifth place.

Garland set a new lifetime best of 9.42m in the triple jump but was narrowly beaten by her GB colleague Janice Pryce who achieved 9.46m for third.

At the end of the first round of long jumps she led the field with a leap of 4.53m.

But then Garland delivered a series of no jumps plus a 4.19m to be relegated to third place and a bronze.

Although ecstatic about winning her first individual medal at international level, she was left wondering what might have been.

Garland also won a bronze with the W55 4x100m relay team alongside Worcester club-mate Angela Sonn in 56.52.

Sonn, who married her partner Mike Bryant just before the trip, ran the W55 100m, 200m and 400m but did not make it beyond the heats.

She had also been selected to run a leg in the W55 4x400m relay but was controversially left out of the gold medal-winning team.

The 57-year-old was shuffled down to the W45 relay team who failed to win a medal.

Iris Holder, competing with a heavily-strapped knee and chest infection, managed 19.00 for a season's best in the W75 100m heats but could not improve in the final and failed to medal.

In the long jump she cleared 2.81m for fifth place but went a bit better in the triple jump for a bronze medal with just under 6m.

Holder dropped down to the W70 age group for the 4x100m relay and helped them clinch team bronze.

Henry Hopkins did a best of 9.87m in a competitive M60 triple jump but missed the cut.

Due to injury he was a late replacement for the M60 4x100m relay anchor leg and brought the team home in 53.96 for fifth place just behind Japan.

In the W55 group Marion Loveridge was the only 3kg hammer B final competitor to qualify for extra throws, managing a season's best of 39.17m for eighth.

She also threw a season's best in the weight of 12.85m for sixth spot to top the United Kingdom rankings.

Becky Selvey, another masters international debutant, ran 2.31.44 in the W45 800m for fifth in the semi-finals, only about a second outside her personal best.

Jan Timberlake, hampered by injury, cleared 1.28m in the high jump and 8.64m in the triple jump.

She was sixth in the W50 80m hurdles heat and managed 4.17m in the long jump.