ON-SONG Melanie Purkiss has taken another giant step towards her European dream.

The Team Solent sprinter notched a legal personal best of 23.80 seconds in the women's semi-finals at the Inter-Counties Championships in Bedford - well inside the the 24.05 qualifying time for July's European Under-23 Championships in Gothenburg.

Coming on top of outstanding wind-assisted 100/200m runs at Loughborough the previous week, Purkiss couldn't have asked for a better start to the season.

Asked the secret of her success, the 20-year-old Loughborough University student from North Baddesley said: "I've been training harder and have gained a lot of confidence from being the World and European Junior Championships over the past couple of years.

"I'm in the senior age-group now and although people say that the step up from junior to senior athletics is tough, I came in well prepared. When I trained in Southampton with Janet Smith, she always encouraged me to run as many senior races as possible and that's made the transition a lot easier."

Purkiss ran a slightly slower 23.82 to finish fifth in the Bedford final which was won by Joice Maduaka of Woodford Green & Essex in 23.57.

With big names like Tracy Joseph, Emma Davies and Angela Newport all absent, Hampshire women's team had to settle for overall eighth place this time round having victoriously lifted the Bedford Plate in 1998.

The men were also way below strength, finishing tenth overall in the Achilles Trophy, but they too had an outstanding performance to cheer from Portsmouth's hot prospect Michael East who won the men's mile in four minutes 16.12 seconds.

It was quite a day too for Havant's 3000m steeplechaser Tim Watson who sliced eight seconds off his personal best to clock 9.12.36 in the heats and then improved by another eight seconds to finish ninth in the final in 9.04.68.

Team Solent sprinter Peter Brend finished sixth in the 400m final for Devon, clocking a season's best 47.66.

See today's Daily Echo for results.

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