Lee McConnell led Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers to second place at the first UK Women's League meeting in Birmingham.

The Scot gained two League record-equalling victories with 51.7sec at 400m and 23.1sec at 200m in what was a great day for the club.

McConnell was supported on the track with convincing wins from Marilyn Okoro at 800m in a gun-to-tape victory in 2min 02.4sec and B string wins at 400m by Gemma Nicol in 55.3sec and at 800m by Rachel Felton in 2min 11.9sec. Okoro also had the fastest 400m relay split of 52.3sec.

Another A string winner was Gemma Bennett who, in a tight 100m hurdles, just held on in the fine time of 13.5sec. This was after finishing second in the 100m in 11.8sec.

There were further good points in the 1500m, where both Amy Campbell and Phillippa Aukett were runners-up.

Also second were Kirsty Law and Navdeep Dhaliwal in the discus.

There were double victories in the javelin, where Louise Watton, with 45.26m, and Jenny Grimstone, with 37.99m, were clear winners.

Nony Mordi had her usual busy afternoon, with victory in the A string triple jump and a PB in the long jump with 5.93m.

City of Manchester won the event. The next meeting, in Manchester, is on July 5.

Meanwhile, the club's men struggled in their British Athletics League meeting in Birmingham, but still managed fifth place.

Newham & Essex Beagles won the first premiership match of the year.

It was an "if only" day for Shaftesbury Barnet, with A string disappointments in the hammer, shot and high jump, which probably cost 50 points in total and an overall third place rather than fifth. Nevertheless, there were some great performances which more than compensated.

Like the women the previous day, the men had a gun-to-tape win in the 800m from Neil Burnside in 1min 52.02sec and a runners-up spot in the B for debutant Paul Laslett, who, after two years off through injury, was ecstatic with his comeback time of 1min 52.46sec.

In fact, it was a good day for middle-distance generally, as Shaftesbury Barnet dominated the 1500m, with Gareth Price running away from a class field with 300m to go after clubmate Tom Russell had done the early leading. The latter was rewarded with a win in the B event with a PB of 3min 50.09sec.

Kris Robertson ran a quality race to beat a handful of GB internationals to win the 400m in 47.44sec, while Nick Smith did likewise to come second in the 100m in 10.44sec.

There was a really brave run in the 3000m steeplechase from Glen Watts, who was comfortably in second place with two laps to go and heading for a PB when he got a severe stitch which forced him to double up in pain every few metres, but he gallantly finished in fourth, which allowed Orlando Edwards to win the B event.

The hurdles and throws were of a very high standard throughout, and the team struggled to make a mark.

There were good points in the long jump, where Jude Beimers was third with a PB of 7.45m and Nonso Okolo was also third in the B event.

Larry Achike won the triple jump with his final leap of 16.74m, while John Carr was second in the B event. Achike's performance was even more commendable as he was using a shortened 13-stride run up as opposed to his normal 19-stride approach. He improved in each of his six jumps and beat a string of GB internationals into the bargain.

The match was a very close affair and the final positions depended on the relays. However, the Shaftesbury men rose to the challenge magnificently.

In the sprint relay, Justin Geohagan, Aaron Harris, Jamahl Alert-Khan and Nick Smith had an inspired race and came home in fourth in the excellent time of 41.55sec, just two places behind Belgrave who had been led off by Dwain Chambers.

It was therefore down to the 4x400m, in which the club had to finish within two places of Belgrave to secure fifth place.

The team of Lloyd Gumbs, Hamim Lubega, Neil Burnside and Kris Robertson did more than that, finishing second.

The next meeting is at Eton on July 5.