HAMPSHIRE returned with a bumper crop of medals from the 83rd English Schools’ Track & Field Championships at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium – over a third of them gold.

The county managed 17 podium places with six athletes – Adam Jones, Leslie Parkes, Nick Percy, Katya Oldfield, Millie Cavanagh and Kierra Barker – finishing top of the class.

Six others achieved individual silvers, including jet-heeled Upper Shirley High sprinter Oliver Bromby whose winning heat time of 10.69 seconds, achieved with a +2.7 wind, turned out to be the fastest in his age-group over the two days of competition.

But come the final, the wind had changed to -1.5, and Bromby (10.96) missed out on gold by a tenth of second to Fawwaz Okunola (10.86) of London. The 15-year-old made swift amends, however, anchoring the intermediate boys’ 4x100 metres relay quartet to an exhilarating 42.29-second victory.

Wildern schoolboy Adam Jones was one of the stars of the Hampshire show, scaling a personal best 1.93 metres to win the junior boys’ high jump.

It puts the West End-based 14-year-old three centimetres clear at the top of the national under-15 rankings.

Katya Oldfield and Millie Cavanagh did Fareham’s Cams Hill School proud with two golden performances in the field.

Cavanagh, coached by Dave Callaway in Southampton, won the junior girls’ shot put with 11.42 metres – just ten centimetres shy of her pb – while Oldfield sneaked a tight junior girls’ high jump in which all three medallists cleared 1.66 metres.

As expected, Ryde and Upper Chine international Nick Percy signed off his schools’ career by dominating the senior boys’ discus, albeit that his winning throw of 56.87 metres was well down on his 62.79 pb.

Cowplain’s Leslie Parkes won the inter boys’ hammer with 60.19 metres and is one of five Hampshire intermediates who will represent England in the Schools’ Home Countries International in Dublin on July 20.

Joining Parkes in Ireland will be Oliver Bromby, Bishop Challoner’s talented all-rounder Kierra Barker (inter girls’ high jump gold, 1.74), Test Valley’s Jake Ness (inter boys’ 400m silver, 48.84) and Kings’ Andrew Mead-Briggs (inter boys’ discus silver, 47.59).

Peter Symonds’ 800m prospect Emily Jenkinson, from Hedge End, missed out on the Schools’ event to concentrate on this week’s IAAF World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine (July 10-14).

But younger brother Eddie (Wildern School) made sure of upholding the family name by taking silver in the junior boys’ discus (44.95).

The Gregg’s Andrew Douglas was another junior boys’ silver medallist, clearing 3.30 metres in the pole vault, while Leanne Davies (Calthorpe Park, 43.04) and Southampton’s Jordan Campbell (King Edward VI, 40.59) pocketed silver and bronze respectively in the inter girls’ javelin.

The field events also brought bronze reward for Test Valley’s Charlie Maw (inter boys’ pole vault, 4.40), Arnewood’s Tom Sear (junior boys’ high jump, 1.78) and long-time Schools’ campaigner Henry Ridgers of St Mary’s who medalled for the first time ever in the senior boys’ shot (14.03).

A delighted Eileen Williams, past chair of the Hampshire Schools’ AA, smiled: “It’s the best we’ve done in a long time.

“We had a high number of golds and also a lot of athletes in second place who were so close to winning.

“Eighteen either set or equalled personal bests.

“We expected Adam Jones to do well, but 1.93 metres is a hell of a jump for a junior boy.

“The high jump was a good event for us. Katya Oldfield did 1.65 indoors but, until the county championships, she couldn’t get the entry standard outdoors. Things then suddenly clicked and her competitive streak came through at the weekend.”