Freya living the American dream

The 19-year-old former Barton Peveril student improved her personal best by two metres to win the women’s title at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Jones, a student at the University of Georgia, has been getting steadily better all year.

She achieved a 22-centimetre improvement on her previous best, throwing 52.95 at a competition in Des Moines, Iowa, towards the end of April.

But that was firmly overshadowed by Wednesday’s amazing NCAA triumph in Oregon.

Going into the penultimate round of the competition, she was lying in fifth place.

But the picture changed dramatically when she pulled out a massive fifth-round throw of 54.95 metres – just short of the qualifying standard for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

It keeps Jones second in the 2013 British rankings behind North Devon’s Izzy Jeffes who is a couple of years her senior and threw 56.31 at Loughborough in May.

Jones’s proud mum Annie said: “Freya needs 55 metres for the Commonwealth Games next July but, as she said herself, she’s still only 19 and they won’t be selecting until next year.

“Freya’s got a great coach in Don Babbitt, who is very well respected in America.

“He coaches Reese Hoffa who won men’s shot put bronze at the Olympics.”

Last year Jones – who hails from Chandler’s Ford – signed off with a senior girls’ silver medal for Hampshire at the English Schools’ Championships with a throw of 45.31.

Her colossal achievement in America will be an inspiration to the county’s next generation of athletes who will be gathering at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth, tomorrow (11am start) for the 2013 Hampshire Schools’ AA Track & Field Championships.

Athletes will be bidding to qualify for this year’s English Schools event which takes place at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham on July 5/6.

• For a full round-up and results of the Hampshire Schools’ Championships, don’t miss Tuesday’s Echo.