ENGLISH Schools selection was the target for the winners of the older age group events in the Kent Schools Athletics Championships at the Julie Rose Stadium.

The English Schools event will be held in Gateshead on July 7 - 8 and the prospects for medals by Kent athletes look bright following two championship records at Ashford for Michael Baker and James Alcock.

Fine weather was enjoyed by everyone apart from the endurance runners and there were some other notable performances, particularly in the sprints on the track and across a wide range of field disciplines.

For the first time events for year 7 athletes were added to the programme. Edem Epharim (Tunbridge Wells) managed 13.2 secs in both heat and final for an emphatic 100m victory while Natalie Hickmott (Dartford and Gravesham) had to fight all the way for the verdict over Ashley Rose-Horton (Medway) as both athletes shared the same time of 13.5 secs in the girls race.

The Junior Boys 100m final was dominated by Elliott Cox (West Kent) in 11.7 secs and Simon Tinsley (Sevenoaks and Tonbridge) looked sharp over 400m to win by two seconds in 55.4 secs.

Stephen Cavey (West Kent) raised his game after a casual heat in the 800m for a clear victory in 2.06.6 and Seb Harding (Tunbridge Wells) was equally dominant in the 1500m for gold in 4.21.5.

Pick of the action in the field was James Alcock’s championship best performance 6.23 metres long jump for Maidstone district and Judd Harrison (Sevenoaks and Tonbridge) was four and a half metres clear of the opposition in the discus with 39.40 metres.

The Junior Girls 100m title went to Grace Sheppard (West Kent) who had the luxury of a comfortable win in 13.4 secs after running faster in the preliminaries. Amy De Matos (West Kent) worked hard for gold in the gruelling 1500m in 4.48.8 and Megan Southwart (Sevenoaks and Tonbridge) was fluent over 75 hurdles for victory in 12.3 secs.

Jessica Matthews (North West Kent) scaled 1.60 metres in the high jump and Hannah Tolhurst (Sevenoaks and Tonbridge) was just short of five metres in the long jump. The pick of the throws was Helen Silvester’s 30.04 metres javelin victory for West Kent region.

The Intermediate Boys 200m saw an easy win for Frazer Duncan (Sevenoaks and Tonbridge) in 23.9 secs, half a second clear of the field. Chris Haines of Medway and Maidstone AC ran the 800m as a guest competitor and won in a fast 1.58.4.

The 1500m saw one of the biggest winning margins as Peter Aisher (Sevenoaks and Tonbridge) took gold in 4.11.3 with five seconds spare while the 3000m produced the race of the day, with a tenth of a second the margin between the champion, Louis Crane (Bexley) in 10.00.0 and Nick James of Maidstone district (10.00.1).

Michael Baker was another Medway and Maidstone athlete guesting in these championships and he took an impressive win over 400m hurdles in 54.5 seconds for a new championship record as Sam Bradley (Tunbridge Wells) got away from Lawrence Clemence (Medway) for gold in the 1500m steeplechase in 4.37.0.

Stuart Hitchcock (Medway) bounded out to 13.81 metres for triple jump gold and Ben Johnson (Maidstone) sailed the javelin out to 50.82 metres for victory by over four metres.

The Intermediate Girls races resulted in golds for North West Kent district through Lucy Bolton (26.1 for 200m), Kate Laidlow (41.1 for 300m) and Amy Smith (10.27.4 for 3000m) in a solid display on the track. Catherine Wearing (Medway) was a class apart in the 80m hurdles in 12.0 secs and Sarah McLellan (North West Kent) won the 300m hurdles in 46.1 secs.

The pole vault resulted in three athletes tied at 3.10 metres with the win awarded to guest competitor, Christina Moore, from West Kent athletes Rachel Arnheim and Emily Godley.

In the triple jump, four atletes cleared 11 metres with the gold going to Lauren Blackie of West Kent in 11.59 metres from team mate Isobel Ivy in 11.34 metres.