Sharon McPeake

Sharon McPeake

Medal record
Women's athletics
Competitor for  Northern Ireland
Commonwealth Games
Silver	1986 Edinburgh	High jump

Sharon Hutchings (née McPeake, born 22 June 1962) is a former high jumper from Northern Ireland. She won a silver medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh with a lifetime best of 1.90 metres.^[1]

Career

McPeake was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and was a member of Ballymena & Antrim Athletics Club. As a seventeen-year-old in 1979, she finished third at the AAAs National Championships with 1.73 metres. In 1981, she finished third at the UK National Championships with a clearance of 1.83 m.

In 1982, McPeake competed at her first Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, finishing ninth with 1.74 m. In 1985, she finished second at the UK Championships, behind fellow Northern Irish athlete Janet Boyle.

The best season of McPeake's career came in 1986. She finished second behind Diana Davies at both the UK Championships and AAAs Championships with 1.80 m. Then at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, representing Northern Ireland, she achieved her lifetime best of 1.90 m to win the silver medal, defeating teammate Janet Boyle and England's Diana Davies on countback. The competition, which was won by Australia's Christine Stanton with 1.92 m, remains one of the highest quality Commonwealth high jump competitions in history, with nine jumpers clearing 1.83 m or better. She also competed at the European Championships in Stuttgart, where she was eliminated in the qualifying round.

In 1987, she again finished second at the AAAs Championships with 1.85 m. Her seasons best for the year was 1.89 m.^[2]

In 1988, now competing as Sharon Hutchings, she narrowly missed Olympic selection for Seoul. At the AAAs Championships incorporating the Olympic trials, with the top two guaranteed selection, she was third, losing second place on countback. The competition was won by Janet Boyle with 1.91 m, while both Hutchings and nineteen-year-old Jo Jennings cleared the Olympic qualifying standard of 1.88 m. The third Olympic spot went to that years UK number one Diana Davies, who had cleared 1.92 m a month before the trials.

In 1989, she won the AAAs Indoor Championships title with 1.82 m, to defeat Debbie Marti on countback. She earned selection for the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland in January, where she finished thirteenth with 1.80 m. Auckland would prove to be the conclusion of her international career. Her best of 1.90 m from 1986 ranks her (as of 2013) fourteenth on the UK all-time list and second behind Janet Boyle on the Northern Irish all-time list.^[3]

Personal life

McPeake married fellow international athlete Tim Hutchings in 1987. Among his achievements is a fourth place finish in the 5000 metres final at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Achievements

• AAAs National Indoor Champion (1989)
• 2nd at the AAAs National Championhsips (1986, 1987)
• 2nd at the UK National Championships (1985, 1986)
• 6 Times Northern Irish Champion (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1989)

Representing  Northern Ireland
1982	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	9th	1.74 m
1986	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, Scotland	2nd	1.90 m
	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	22nd (q)	1.76 m
1990	Commonwealth Games	Auckland, New Zealand	13th	1.80 m

References

External links