The Norfolk Schools athletics championships at the UEA Sportspark in Norwich proved to be very eventful.

One of the top performances of the meeting came from Oliver Bradfield in the Under-17 boys javelin.

He threw 62.66m, a performance which places him second in the national rankings. This is a good place to be with the English Schools championships only a few weeks away. Another who should do well in the national championships is Sasha Burrell in the pole vault. She cleared 3.20m in difficult conditions to set another new record.

The blustery conditions caused havoc with performances on the track with many running much slower than they are really capable of. In the junior age group Dominic Burnham clearly won both the 100m and 200m.

Elliot Holland impressed with a 54.8 secs 400m. Ashley Waterson front ran the 1500m and will surely go much faster in the national championships at Gateshead.

Perhaps one of the most remarkable performances came from Callum Brown in the senior boys hammer event.

After competing in the national U20 championships at Bedford in the morning he dashed back to Norwich to throw the outstanding distance of 71.08m late in the afternoon. Elsewhere in the field Megan Rushmore threw a very promising distance of 39.18m in the U17 girls hammer.

Lucy Brice put the shot out to 10.11m in the U15 age group and new to the sport Isaac Lacey put the shot out to 13.38m in the U17 age group.

The Norfolk Schools championships have been open to athletes from all schools in the county who have qualified through area events.

The event has been running since well before the second world war and there were upwards of 300 athletes taking part this year.

Winners at the Sportspark will be selected to represent Norfolk in the Anglian School championships at Peterborough next weekend.

A problem, however, is the lack of entries in the senior age group. The drop-out of competitors from a number of sports in the 16 to 18 age group gives great cause for concern.

Among the athletes competing at Bedford in the national U20 championships was Sophie McKinna from Great Yarmouth.

She won the shot put with a meeting record and a new personal best of 16.16m.

This is a performance that should guarantee selection for the World Junior championships in Barcelona next month.

Another athlete who will almost certainly be selected for the Barcelona event is Michael Painter who threw the 6kg hammer out to a huge distance of 72.34m.

It was clearly to his advantage to miss the Norfolk Schools event. Callum Brown threw a bit below par with 67.21m but as mentioned returned to Norwich to throw much further.

Another outstanding performance at Bedford came from Chris Baker. After setting a record of 2.10m in the county championships in May he won the national U23 championships with the excellent height of 2.14m.