A BOYS’ crew from Northwich Rowing Club claimed a national title at the English Indoor Championships in Manchester last weekend.

Finn Lawton, Zak Trigg, Leon Langmead and Harry Blake were fastest over 3,000m in the MJ18 team category, completing the distance in 8:24.8.

Their closest rivals were 10 seconds adrift.

Langmead, 16, celebrated individual success in the MJ18 age class, timing 6:30.5 over 2,000m with clubmate Blake fourth in 6:52.7.

Neighbours Grange School Rowing Club returned from the Velodrome with two gold medals.

George Hull was three metres clear of his nearest challenger in the MJ14 competition, completing 1,167m inside four minutes.

An MJ12 team of Bradley Strickland-Baker, Harry Barker, Alistair Begg and Sam Thorington were victors too, covering 3,000m in a time of 11:35.

Strickland-Baker also shared third position in the MJ12 individual category, tied with Jack Harrison (Danes Hill School).

Older brother Matthew, together with Ben Holt, James Darbyshire and Reece Lester, took bronze at the end of the MJ16 junior team contest.

Grange’s Poppy Howe narrowly missed out on a medal in the WJ16 class, placing fourth after completing 2,000m in 8:06.7.