FOUR athletes from the Andover club made to trip to Portsmouth last weekend for the annual Hampshire Track and Field Championships - the biggest event on the sporting calendar for the town club - and achieved outstanding results with them returning home with eight medals as well as two Championship best times and four personal bests.

Andover's star of the show was Holly Croxford, a 12-year-old from Hurstbourne Priors and she had a memorable championship debut as she took both the under-13 girls 100 and 200m titles by large margins.

Up against the top sprinters for her age group in the county, quicksilver Holly, a pupil at the Testbourne School in Whitchurch, not only won all four of her races but also smashed championship bests in both events that had stood for six years.

Amazingly, she also broke the Andover's 14-year club record for 100m and also the 200m which has stood for 12 years in what was a truly astounding display by anyone's standards let alone a relative novice as she only joined the local club this winter.

Holly's training partner 14-year-old Fern Parker also had a spectacular weekend. Spurred on by each others performances, Fern just missed out on a repeat sprint double in the under-15 girls' events. After winning both her heats and final, the windy conditions for the 100m final told against her and was also pipped at the post in the 200m final.

However, she still clocked new best times in both events and this is all that can be asked of an athlete, and to bring home medals and trophies is a bonus.

Marty Hooley won his heat of the under-13 boys' 800m but was unable to come up with a repeal performance in the final but didn't manage to match this in the final where he finished in eighth place. The two-lap race is a tough event for a 12-year-old, proving that hard training is a must to improve performances and times.

Marty's older brother Kieron won through to the final of the under-17's 1500m final but had his work cut out against some quality competition. He too finished eighth and will be hoping to improve on that placing next year.

Andover coach George Williamson was absolutely ecstatic with the two young girls. "They were up against all the top sprinters in the county and to produce such a performance shows that they both having outstanding potential for the future," he said.

Overton Harrier's fast improving young athlete Aaron Harris, came home from the championships with a silver medal after finishing second in the under-15 boys' 800m. He won his heat in a comfortable 2:18s and two hours later in the final had a good start with him with the leading group of three runners. Going through 400m in 63s, he moved up to second place with 150m left but was then pipped on the line and finished in third position. Unfortunately, the boy who crossed the line first, was disqualified, for breaking into the inside lane before the official limit, promoting Harris to second place, in a personal best time of 2:14.99s.

Results

Girls: Under-13's, Holly Croxford, 100m ht 1st 12.98s (CB, CR, PB), final 1st 13.13s; 200m ht 1st 27.15s (CB, CR, PB); Under-15's, Fern Parker, 100m ht 1st 12.95s (PB), final 2nd 13.05s, 200m ht 1st 27.77s, final 2nd 27.45s (PB).

Boys: Under-13's, Marty Hooley, 800m ht 1st 2:41s, final 8th 3:11s; Under-15's, Aaron Harris, ht 1st 2:18s, final 2nd 2:14.99s (PB); Under-17's, Kieron Hooley, 1500m final 4:54s.

CB denotes championship best; CR denotes club record; PB denotes personal best.