DEVIZES athlete Will Scammell seems to be quickly finding his form after a delayed start to the season due to injury, writes KEVIN FAHEY.

A back problem prompted an enforced break but the 14-year-old Lavington School student made up for lost time in spectacular fashion in the second YDL Lower Age Group match at Hereford.

Scammel soared to an emphatic victory in the U15 boys’ long jump with a personal best leap of 5.90m, which added 21cms to his previous best set last year.

Moreover, the mark was also an English Schools entry standard and put him second in the South West rankings this year. It also puts Scammell within realistic touch of the six-metre barrier which would elevate him into the top 10 in the UK for his age group.

“That is my first real competition at the long jump having not been able to train properly so I wasn’t expecting that at all,” said Scammell.

“I would like to jump six metres before the end of the season and one of my main aims is to finish higher in the English Schools’ Championships than I did last year.”

His victory completed a good week for Scammell as the previous Monday he won the junior boys’ pentathlon at the Wiltshire Schools’ Championships held at Marlborough College Scammell’s performance was the individual highlight of Team Bath’s victory which made it two wins out of two and puts them within touching distance of qualifying for the end-of-season play-offs.

“I was so pleased with the team's performance in difficult conditions on a wet and windy day in Hereford on Saturday,” said team manager John Webster, who lives Malmesbury.

“As with the opening match we finished convincingly in first place and have strengthened our position at the top of the division. We were hit by injuries and this was a match not only of winning individual performances (of which there were plenty ), but also of gritty, hard-fought performances, sometimes in relatively unfamiliar events for some athletes , which kept the scoreboard ticking over, increasing our lead.

“We are aiming to qualify for the Premier League Play Off match in July and now have a very good chance of competing in that match and, although this would provide the most difficult test for our young athletes, I feel the team is developing a team spirit to match their talent and endeavours and they deserve to get there and go up.”

Scammell was ably backed up by Kiran Carter who won the B event with 5m02.

Further maximum points came in the high jump with Ransford Ako'Nai, of St Augustine’s College, and Carter both clearing 1.60.

New boy Peter Adeosun made an impressive league debut, winning the U15 boys 200m and 80m hurdles A events in 25.1secs and 12.5secs respectively and also finishing 3rd in the 100m in 12.5secs.

Other track A winners were Mia Bates of Sheldon School in the U15 girls 300m in 45.4, Hardenhuish School’s India Ibbotson in the U15 girls 800m in 2.31.4, Enya Maylor in the U15 girls 1500m in 5.04.2, Ellie Mount in the U15 girls 75m hurdles in 12.1 and Dylan Stoneman in the U13 boys 1500m in 513.7.

The sole field event A winner was Sophie Harrison, who marked her first league appearance for the club with victory in the U15 girls shot with 8m25.

The relay teams were also dominant with wins for the U15 girls 4x100m team (53.5secs), the 4x300m team (3.11.4), the U15 boys 4x300m team (3.00.0) with second places for the U13 boys ( 60.9secs) and U13 girls (60.3secs).

From the B events there were wins for Ben Game (U15 boys discus, 15m05 and javelin 19m66), Imogen Leakey (U15 girls 100m, 13.0secs), India Ibbotson (U15s 300m, 46.0secs), Eva Porter (U15 girls 800m, 2.39.6), Katie Robinson (U15 girls 1500m, 5.13.7), Mia Bates (U15 girls 75m hurdles, 13.5secs) and Josie Rucker (U13 girls 150m, 22.6secs).

Second A places went to Alex Parson (U15 boys 1500m in 4.27.1), Tabitha Gallen (U15 girls 100m in 13.0), Abby Rucker (U15 girls 800m in 2.58.8), Imogen Leakey (U15 girls high jump with 1m45), Dylan Stoneman (U13 boys 75m hurdles in 15.2), Dominic Murray (U13 boys high jump with 1m30), and Eleni Francis (U13 girls 150m in 21.90.

Overall scores: 1Team Bath 540.5; 2 North Somerset 485; 3 Rhymney Valley 455; 4 Forest of Dean 437.5; 5 Neath Harriers 347; 6 Hereford & County 335; 7 Newport Harriers 285.