Kingdom – comprising athletes from Pitreavie, Dundee Hawkhill Harriers and Fife AC – won promotion to Premier Division One last season.

And they made a strong start as the new campaign got under way in Sheffield, finishing in fourth place, ahead of one of British athletics’ biggest and best-known clubs, Manchester-based Sale Harriers, and Preston Athletic, who were promoted alongside Kingdom.

Paul Allan, joint manager of the Kingdom team, said, “Finishing in fourth place overall was an excellent performance for our first match in the top division, especially considering the level of opposition.

“We had our largest-ever travelling team to an away match of 49 athletes.

“The team spirit was excellent and that was reflected in the results, with so many athletes setting new personal bests this early in the season.” Jack Lawrie was one of the athletes who set new personal bests. His first PB was in the 400 metres hurdles, which he won in a time of 52.21 seconds, and he then followed that up with a second PB in the 110m hurdles, winning in 14.21.

Lawrie completed his hat-trick of PBs in the 200m in 22.46, although on this occasion he had to be content with second place. His performances could well earn him a call-up to the GB junior team for the Loughborough International in May.

Not to be outdone, Taylor Roy also claimed a hat-trick of PBs. He ran 11.71 to finish second in the 100m and then broke the 14-second barrier for the first time in the 100m hurdles, clocking 13.94, before taking more than half a second off his best in the 200m, winning in 23.40.

New team members Ben and Lewis McGuire both performed well in their debut match.

In the long jump, Ben was second in the A string with 6.32 metres and Lewis won the B string with 6.21m, a personal best by more than 60cm.

In the high jump, Lewis won the A string with 2.00m and Ben came second in the B string with 1.80m. Ben also added a fifth place in the A string shot putt with 10.37m.

William Murray was second in the B string shot putt with 9.83m and then threw 36.48m for fifth in the A string javelin.

Tyler White recorded two PBs – 9:33.94 for fourth place in the A string 3000m and 4:21.95 in winning the B string 1500m.

Craig Moriarty won the under-17 pole vault with 3.85m, his best outdoors, and also threw a good javelin of 25.73m for fifth place and recorded a throw of 16.03m in the discus.

Ben Grant ran 52.74 to finish third in the A string 400m.

Kirsten Loudon ran 13.18 to finish third in the 100m B string and Amy Gullen, on her debut for the team, was second in the A string high jump with 1.55m.

Kirsten McIntee, also making her debut, came third in the A string triple jump with 10.12m and was fifth in the A string long jump with 4.64m.

Eve Huxley was in excellent form in the sprints, running 12.87 for second place in the B string 100m and 26.73 for fifth place in the 200m.

Molly Cunningham set a new PB in the 300m hurdles, recording a time of 52.85 for fourth place in the A string, and Kerrin De Pear ran 51.70 for second place in the B string, also a personal best.

Leah Davie won the B string 1500m steeplechase in 5:56.60, her first ever attempt at this race.

Chloe Davie had a good day, throwing 20.65m for fourth place in the discus, 25.21m for fourth place in the hammer and 7.44 for sixth place in the shot putt.

Aimee Scott jumped 1.45m for fourth place in the high jump.

In the relays, the under-17 women’s 4x100m quartet, including Nicole De Pear and Eve Huxley, finished second in 53.75; the under-20 men’s 4x100m team, featuring William Murray, Jack Lawrie and Ben McGuire, also finished second in 45.09; and the under-20 men 4x400 quartet, including Ben Potrykus and Jack Lawrie, were third in 3:31.98.

Top relay honours, though, went to the under-17 women’s 4x300m quartet, including Nicole De Pear and Eve Huxley, who won their race in an excellent time of 2:51.44.

The next league match will be in Manchester on Saturday 16th May, when Kingdom will be hoping to build on their solid start to life in the top division.

Kingdom – comprising athletes from Pitreavie, Dundee Hawkhill Harriers and Fife AC – won promotion to Premier Division One last season.

And they made a strong start as the new campaign got under way in Sheffield, finishing in fourth place, ahead of one of British athletics’ biggest and best-known clubs, Manchester-based Sale Harriers, and Preston Athletic, who were promoted alongside Kingdom.

Paul Allan, joint manager of the Kingdom team, said, “Finishing in fourth place overall was an excellent performance for our first match in the top division, especially considering the level of opposition.

“We had our largest-ever travelling team to an away match of 49 athletes.

“The team spirit was excellent and that was reflected in the results, with so many athletes setting new personal bests this early in the season.” Jack Lawrie was one of the athletes who set new personal bests. His first PB was in the 400 metres hurdles, which he won in a time of 52.21 seconds, and he then followed that up with a second PB in the 110m hurdles, winning in 14.21.

Lawrie completed his hat-trick of PBs in the 200m in 22.46, although on this occasion he had to be content with second place. His performances could well earn him a call-up to the GB junior team for the Loughborough International in May.

Not to be outdone, Taylor Roy also claimed a hat-trick of PBs. He ran 11.71 to finish second in the 100m and then broke the 14-second barrier for the first time in the 100m hurdles, clocking 13.94, before taking more than half a second off his best in the 200m, winning in 23.40.

New team members Ben and Lewis McGuire both performed well in their debut match.

In the long jump, Ben was second in the A string with 6.32 metres and Lewis won the B string with 6.21m, a personal best by more than 60cm.

In the high jump, Lewis won the A string with 2.00m and Ben came second in the B string with 1.80m. Ben also added a fifth place in the A string shot putt with 10.37m.

William Murray was second in the B string shot putt with 9.83m and then threw 36.48m for fifth in the A string javelin.

Tyler White recorded two PBs – 9:33.94 for fourth place in the A string 3000m and 4:21.95 in winning the B string 1500m.

Craig Moriarty won the under-17 pole vault with 3.85m, his best outdoors, and also threw a good javelin of 25.73m for fifth place and recorded a throw of 16.03m in the discus.

Ben Grant ran 52.74 to finish third in the A string 400m.

Kirsten Loudon ran 13.18 to finish third in the 100m B string and Amy Gullen, on her debut for the team, was second in the A string high jump with 1.55m.

Kirsten McIntee, also making her debut, came third in the A string triple jump with 10.12m and was fifth in the A string long jump with 4.64m.

Eve Huxley was in excellent form in the sprints, running 12.87 for second place in the B string 100m and 26.73 for fifth place in the 200m.

Molly Cunningham set a new PB in the 300m hurdles, recording a time of 52.85 for fourth place in the A string, and Kerrin De Pear ran 51.70 for second place in the B string, also a personal best.

Leah Davie won the B string 1500m steeplechase in 5:56.60, her first ever attempt at this race.

Chloe Davie had a good day, throwing 20.65m for fourth place in the discus, 25.21m for fourth place in the hammer and 7.44 for sixth place in the shot putt.

Aimee Scott jumped 1.45m for fourth place in the high jump.

In the relays, the under-17 women’s 4x100m quartet, including Nicole De Pear and Eve Huxley, finished second in 53.75; the under-20 men’s 4x100m team, featuring William Murray, Jack Lawrie and Ben McGuire, also finished second in 45.09; and the under-20 men 4x400 quartet, including Ben Potrykus and Jack Lawrie, were third in 3:31.98.

Top relay honours, though, went to the under-17 women’s 4x300m quartet, including Nicole De Pear and Eve Huxley, who won their race in an excellent time of 2:51.44.

The next league match will be in Manchester on Saturday 16th May, when Kingdom will be hoping to build on their solid start to life in the top division.