IT was a weekend of contrasting emotions for Blackburn Harriers duo Joe Pearse and Alison Leonard.

Pearse continued his year to remember with a superb performance at the British Universities & College Sport Indoor Championship On the back of a high jump that left him fifth in the U20s national rankings, the 18-year-old bettered that performance at the big Sheffield event as he cleared 2.04m to move up to third in his age group and 18th overall in the country.

Pearse, 18, said: “Qualifying for the final went really well as I cleared every height first time.

“However at 1.90m I tweaked my knee, which was a bit of a worry.

“The next day, after a lot of physio, and my knee taped up, I started off with a failure, which gave me the boost that I needed to really drive over those higher heights and finally up and over 2.04m on my final attempt to gain the bronze medal at my first ever BUCS competition.”

Leonard, meanwhile, set an indoor personal best for the one-mile distance when finishing ninth in four minutes and 38.37 seconds at the Sainsbury’s Indoor Grant Prix at Birmingham.

The 24-year-old’s target, after posting four minutes 13.57 seconds for the 1,500m when she took the silver medal at the Sainsbury’s Indoor British Championships, was to try and secure a time of 4:13 to qualify for the European Indoor Championships.

She fell short, however.

Leonard said: “I was hoping to run faster but I’m pleased with my indoor season overall and I’m looking forward to outdoors now, and getting back to 800ms.”

Young Blackburn Harriers members, meanwhile, impressed at the National U15s/U17s/U20s Indoor Championships in Sheffield.

Morgan Angland set a personal best and a club record of 8.86secs on her way to qualifying for the U17s women’s 60m hurdles final, where she finished seventh in 8.95secs.

There was also a personal best for Ben Aspinall as he powered his way to seventh place in the U20s men’s triple jump final in 13.72m.

Archie Braysford came close to breaking Ian Sudall’s club record that has stood for 41 years when setting a personal best of 7.28secs in winning his U17s men’s 60m heat.