THE weather conspired to wreck Richard Humby's attempt to smash Ashley Swain's 1995 under-15 boys' pole vault record of 3.01 metres at the weekend's Hampshire Track & Field Championships.

Having cleared 3.60m for Team Southampton in the previous weekend's National Young Athletes' League match, Gregg School pupil Humby had gone to Portsmouth with high hopes of re-writing the record book.

But, with high winds playing havoc at the Mountbatten Centre and blowing the bar off, the youngster had a disastrous time and no-heighted.

"Richard was disappointed, but he has already put it behind him and is looking forward to the next National Young Athletes' League match at the Sports Centre on Sunday," said Gregg's Kate Longhurst, whose son Paul Thomas is Humby's coach.

After that the youngster will be setting his sights on breaking Swain's junior boys' Hampshire Schools' record of 3.07m at the 2007 championships in Southampton on June 9.

Humby's older brother Peter had more luck at Portsmouth, taking silver in the under-17 men's competition - one step up from the bronze last year.

But it was the two girl pole vaulters who emerged as the heroines for Team Southampton with Hannah Pim scooping silver and Claire Tolcher taking bronze in the under-17 women's event with new personal best heights of 2.30m and 2.00m respectively.