EIGHTEEN-year-old Hedge End race walk sensation Nick Ball won the 3km track walk title for Hampshire at the CAU Senior Inter-Counties Championships in Bedford.

And the Southampton youngster clinched gold in style, setting a new British junior record of 11min 50sec, smashing the previous record, set over 20 years ago.

After a race-long battle with two of England's Melbourne Commonwealth Games representatives, Nick set new best splits times at one and two kilometres and then outsprinted his rivals down the home straight, having swapped places several times on the last lap.

It completed a satisfying month for Ball who, two weeks previously, had raced for Great Britain in the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Spain, this time in the junior 10km road race.

For the third time this year he set a personal best for the distance, recording 43min 36sec to finish 11th. It was the highest placing by a British walker in a world event for more than 20 years.

The race was held at 8.30 in the evening to avoid the hot sun and that helped the athletes avoid dehydration.

Ball will be back in action at an international match at Leamington Spa in three weeks' time when England take on the best European walkers in an invitation event.

Competitors will be trying to achieve qualifying times for the major championships this summer, including the European Seniors in Gothenburg and the World Juniors in China.