New Forest Juniors' Hayley Pointer has clinched the overall under-17 women's title in the Hampshire Cross-Country League.

The Noadswood schoolgirl finished tenth senior and second under-17 runner in the fifth and final fixture at Magna Road, Poole, leaving her top of her age-group.

Pointer, fellow Noadswood pupil Charlotte Bates and Laura Pankhurst from Barton Peveril College have been selected to compete for Hampshire Schools in the English Schools' Championships at Norwich next month.

All three, along with clubmate Alice Cole, are also in line for Hampshire selection for the UKA Inter-Counties Championships at Nottingham, also in March.

Bates was the 21st woman across the finishing line at Poole, placing sixth in the under-17 category.

For the under-13 girls, Cole was 19th, Gemma Knell 25th and Stephanie Smallwood 43rd, while for the under-15 girls Becky Knell was 15th, Rachael Smallwood 20th, Nicola Wells 29th.

The following day, NFJ sent a group under-11s to the Wessex Cross-Country League fun run at Poole's Upton Country Park where Freddie Leigh was 14th, Greg Hatch 18th, Max Leigh 24th and Amy Marzaroli 44th.

On the track, NFJ's Susan Roberts reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Indoor 60m sprints, clocking 8.44 seconds.

Meanwhile, Tiffany Markham crowned a great start to 2005 by winning the Hampshire under-15 girls' individual title at the Sportshall Championships in Portsmouth.

With the track and field season fast approaching, parents of any young athletes in the New Forest schools' district interested in athletics can contact NFJ's Tim Wilding on 023 8084 8914 for more information.