Thruxton race circuit was the stage for 'Chapel Tri-stars' to show yet again why they are the most successful Junior Triathlon Club in the south.

The row/bike/run event, hosted by Hampshire Fire Brigade, attracted Junior entrants from all over the South.

The club filled 11 of the possible 30 podium places contested across the Age-groups to earn valuable points in the last of the British Triathlon Association Southern Junior series races this season.

The Hamble-based club claimed three first, four second and three third place trophies in this year's over-all series rankings.

Howard Johnson, aged just eight, proved too good with steady times in 50m row, 2km bike and 400m run to win by 10 seconds from Thomas Green (Thames Valley Tri).

This gave Howard his third victory in the series and first place overall.

The club's strength in depth was again evident in the male 9/10yr age group where they finished third, fourth and fifth.

Charlie White posted the fastest bike split for 3.5km cycle of 9min 43sec and second fastest run split of 3min 45 for 800m to put him top of the Series rankings.

He was followed by Anthony Bonnet and Elliot Johnson, who had the fastest row time of 5m 04sec for 1000m in second and third series placings respectively.

Jessica Atkinson was second in the female 11/12 yr old to finish second in the Southern series behind Lucie Chittenden from Hart Swim club.

In the male 11/12yr event, Jack Dewdney (Basingstoke Tri) defeated Chapel Tri's Robert Crook and Ben Plain by over a minute, which proved the same order in the Southern Series.

The notable absence of Leanne Renshaw (Chapel) in the female 13/14yr age group allowed Sophie Reynolds to win first place on the day by over three minutes.

She secured just enough points to pip Leanne for first place ranking.

Leanne was absent as she was attending a Bta Elite Performance camp at Bath.

Sophie Knight finished second to edge into third place in the yearly rankings. Chapel pair Louise Light and Lucy Atkinson were third and fourth on the day.

In the male 13/14yr Basingstoke's Aaron Harris stormed the 2000m row, 7km bike and 1600mtr row in a combined time of 29min 02 sec - over a minute faster than Chapel's Thomas Butt.

It was Harris' fifth series win in a row.

Only 11 secs seperated winner Lara Lanaghan (Chapel) from Alice Travers (Frome Tri) in the female 15/16 yr old after 41 minutes of racing.

Valuable points were gained by third place Lucy May (Chapel) to finish first in the series rankings ahead of Alice.

The male 15/16yr race was won by Simon Gibbs (Exeter Tri) from Anthony Shaw (Team Viper).

The notable absence of Jeffrey Aitken allowed Craig Williams (Basingstoke Tri) to pick up enough points to win the series.

Next year's BTA Southern series starts in April.

For information on this, and training opportunities during the winter months, contact Dave Bendon on 02380560262.