BASINGSTOKE and Mid-Hants athletes celebrated a superb 40-strong medal haul at last weekend's Hampshire county championships at Portsmouth.

Over two days' intense competition in the Mountbatten Stadium, a series of excellent performances produced 11 golds, 14 silvers and 15 bronze medals.

The conditions on the south coast were cool and breezy, favouring the sprinters on day one, but were against them on Sunday.

Two of the Down Grange club's athletes notched up more than one gold medal - Rebecca Curtis-Harris and Andrew Clement.

Ace 12-year-old sprinter Curtis-Harris won the under-13 100 metres on day one in 13.59sec. Better was to come with a win in the 70m hurdles in a championship best performance of 11.65sec.

Her third gold came on day two when, running into the wind in the 200m, she won in 28.89sec.

Clement's first gold came in the under-15 800m final, after a tight race with club-mate Jack Graham, when he clocked 2min 6.94sec to Graham's 2:8.57.

His second gold came on Sunday when he won the 400m in 54.8sec. Graham followed suit to bag gold in the 1,500m, where a fast last lap saw him home in 4:37.2.

Among the senior competitors, Tadley Road Race record-holder Steve Turville was too strong for his rivals in the 800m, taking gold in 1:54.43.

In the 5,000m, John Hutchins went one better than last year to win in 15:36.47, while another to convert last year's silver into gold was Georgina Neame.

She took gold in the women's under-20 400m in 59.01sec, and then took silver in the 200m in 26.93.

On the field, John Dickinson won the senior pole-vault with 4.10m and followed up with a silver in the long-jump with 6.63m.

The final Basingstoke gold went to Tom Fright in the under-17 100m hurdles, with 14.99sec running into a strong wind.

His gold followed on from two silvers gained earlier when he finished second in the under-17 400m hurdles in 62.96sec, and in the triple-jump, with 11.89m.

Silver medals went to Jonathan Elderfield in the senior 200m in 22.94sec and Mark Berridge in the 400m in 48.59.

Other silver medallists were Sam Sleap in the under-17 pole-vault with 2.80m, Hannah Myatt in the under-17 high-jump with 1.45m, and Laura Wright in the under-17 long-jump with 4.77m.

On the track, Hannah Skelton took second in the under-13 girls 200m in 29.57sec, while Jessica Sandwell followed suit in the under-15 girls 75m hurdles, in 12.30.

Rebecca Owens won silver in the under-15 girls' discus with a throw of 23.88m, while Chris Ladham's strong last 200m earned him silver in the under-13 boys' 800m with 2:25.2.

The bronze medallists were: Sam Sleap (under-17 men's long-jump and high-jump; Robert Kite (under-20 javelin and long-jump; Paul May (senior 400m hurdles); Laura Wright (under-17 300m); Gavin Berry (under-20 pole-vault); Duncan Stevenson (under-17 800m); Elderfield (senior triple-jump); Jessica Clement (under-13 shot); Nick Bates (under-20 400m); David Fry (under-20 2,000m steeplechase); Tom Syckelmoore (under-15 400m); Andy Blow (senior 400m) and Sophie Smith (under-15 1,500m).