ST Peter's School youngster Ben Noble has proved to be one of the stars of the North of England Indoor Rowing Championships.

Noble raced to victory in the Men's Junior 14 event, completing 2000metres in a personal best time of just 7mins 33.7secs on the Concept 2 Indoor Rower.

He beat a high quality field to the title, and his achievement was all the more impressive as he has only been rowing since September.

More than 500 athletes raced at the event - the largest indoor rowing competition in the UK apart from the British Championships at Reading - at Birch Hill School sports centre near Littleborough.

Updated: 14:06 Saturday, February 17, 2001