Athletics: Many of the region's top athletes - and youngsters coming through - will be in action over the next two days in the annual North-East Track and Field Championships at Gateshead international stadium, writes Frank Johnson.

Senior entries are slightly down - but there has been a surge of interest among boys and girls in the younger age groups.

One of the region's brightest prospects, 18-year-old Washington schoolboy Lewis Robson, will be using the championships as part of his build-up to his bid to qualify as a decathlete in the World Junior Championships in Beijing in August.

Robson, who helped his club, Gateshead Harriers to victory despite fielding an injury-weakened team in their British Athletics League National League 3 debut at Rugby last weekend, is aiming to compete in six events at Gateshead today.

Robson, who represented Great Britain in the World Youth Games in Morocco last year, has proved himself one of the UK's best 400m runners, having won English Schools Championships gold medals at junior and intermediate levels. He will be trying for a hat-trick when he competes as a senior boy in this year's championships at Gateshead in July.

Robson knows he faces a formidable challenge to win selections for the World Junior Championships, having to achieve a qualifying mark of 7,200 points - 120 points more than the current UK junior record.

Durham City's North-East cross country champion Rosie Smith, who recently scored a middle-distance double in the Scottish Universities Championships, will be trying for another double gold medal achievement over 1500m and 3000m this weekend. The championships start each day at 10am.