Athletics: Lynsey uses Meadowbank league meet to stay Sharp

Scotland's top-ranked 800 metres runner at 2:01.98, Lynsey Sharp, used the UK Women's League at Meadowbank on Saturday as the perfect warm-up for the European Under-23 Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, later this month, twice beating her best 400 time.

Sharp sliced half a second off her best one-lap in finishing third in 55.27 secs in the A race, then came back to anchor Edinburgh into second place in the 4x400m relay with a superb 54.20 flying leg, chasing Windsor's Leslie Owusu, whom she had just pipped in the individual race.

GB star Nicola Sanders had given Windsor such a big lead after the first lap that Sharp's task was always going to be beyond her.

Stacey Downie was another to rise to the challenge, putting in a hard stint which included both sprints and the sprint relay.

Second in 24.20 to Windsor's Helen Pryer (24.08) in the 200, where the runners faced a -2.4mps headwind, former Scottish champion Downie was satisfied with her day's work. "I felt strong - that would have been my best ever with the wind the other way and I've taken some good scalps," she said.

Arguably that included Sanders, who won the B 200 in 24.28secs, with the headwind a gentler -1.2mps.

"That was probably worth a 23," said Sanders, who builds up for the UK Championships at the end of the month.

Capital captain Susan McKelvie gave the home side the perfect start by narrowly winning the hammer (62.65) from Trafford's Rachel Gair (62.54), while Hannah Evenden (53.19) took the B event for Edinburgh.

Late call-offs had given Edinburgh team manager Anne Scott real anxiety that they might be dragged into the relegation battle, but in the end they repeated their fifth place of the first match and actually ended up fourth overall with one away match to go on August 6.

Home high jump star Jayne Nisbet, up against a top-notch, though recently injured 1.90 performer in Manchester's Steph Pywell, had to be content with 1.75m, in contrast to Pywell, who was visibly delighted with a season's best of 1.83m.

"I had the height but kept coming down on the bar," explained Nisbet, who was no luckier with her run-up in the triple jump, where she was forced to revert to the short nine-metre trig to register a 11.87 effort for fourth.

• EDINBURGH clubmate and Nisbet's close rival Emma Nuttall was below her best in clearing 1.72m for sixth place for the Great Britain Juniors in Mannheim, Germany, yesterday.

But Mary Erskine FP Myra Perkins won the hammer with a throw of 60.10m and Manchester-based Kirsten McAslan won the 400m in 54.48.