TROWBRIDGE high jumper Tom Gale is celebrating his first England title, writes KEVIN FAHEY.

The 18-year-old Great Britain junior international has already achieved much in his short career but victory in the England Athletics Indoor Championships U20s event in Sheffield at the weekend was a landmark moment.

“I am really happy to win my first national title,” said Gale, who finished eighth on his British Indoor Championships debut last month.

“Last year, I won my first national medal with a silver behind (Warwickshire’s) Rory Dwyer but he has since moved out of the age group and now I am the one being chased.

“But I think this competition is one of the most enjoyable I have ever done, not just because I won but also because I felt so comfortable and the run-up worked really well.”

Gale, who is a student at John of Gaunt School, secured victory with a leap of 2.13m, which was just four centimetres below his indoor best set in the Czech Republic last month.

“I am reasonably happy with 2.13m but I would have liked to have gone closer to my PB,” added Gale.

“But it is good that I am consistently jumping over 2.10m now, whereas this time last year, I was only jumping over 2.00m, so that is a good measure of my progress.

“The pressure is on my shoulders now and I guess people will be looking to see how I cope with it.”

The Howorth brothers, from Hilperton, were all in action at the two-day event in Yorkshire and also produced some outstanding results.

Twins Robert and John are bottom of the U20 age group and yet both ran personal bests, with Robert clocking 1min 58.19secs in the 800m and John 4:05.36 in the 1,500m.

Then running his first 1,500m of the winter, younger brother Rory shaved a further 0.23secs off his PB with 4:10.07 for sixth place in the U17s final.