Louis Persent of Colchester and Tendring AC put on a sparkling display of high jumping to win gold at the prestigious South of England Championships held in Bedford.

Ipswich School pupil Persent, in his first competition in the under-17s, set himself a new personal best (PB) as he leapt to a massive height of 1.80 metres to beat some of the country's best prospects.

He was one of a small group from the club who had made their way to the Bedford International Stadium for a weekend of athletics, returning with a bag full of medals.

On the first day of competition, Jade Morgan took part in the under-17s triple jump and saw her first jump take her into third place, which she held all the way through.

Sarah Glanvill set a new PB in the 60m hurdles after her second place in the heats took her into the semi-finals.

She had even more success in the long jump which saw her leap to a new PB of 4.39m in her final jump to secure the bronze medal.

In the under-15s 60m sprints, Sarah's twin sister Jessica picked up a new PB in a time of 9.10s. The weekend finished on a high note when debutante Esther Kraus came away with a gold medal in the senior women's shot putt.

Next weekend sees the club return to Bedford for the South of England Combined Events Championships.

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Published Tuesday, January 11, 2005

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