ddd

The City of Portsmouth athlete won the under-20 shot put crown at Bedford.

It was a dominant performance from the 17-year-old and the manner of it impressed her coaches.

She won with 14.70m – a new outdoor personal best with the 4k shot.

Southampton’s Samantha Callaway finished second (12.87) with Havering’s Alexandrea Adeniji taking the bronze medal (12.86).

Winning the competition was nice and importantly a good positive step for the Great Britain international who has been battling back from an injury which had disrupted her training.

Even hampered she’s been able to continue her winning form during the outdoor season so far with success in the Hampshire Championships, the World Schools Under-18s and now the South of England Championships.

But she needs to be fit to achieve her targets in terms of distances and other competitions ahead.

Coaches Andrew Vincent and Bronwin Carter are looking out for the details in her performances.

Dad Andrew said: ‘For Bronwin and I, the performance from Serena at Bedford was the most important thing.

‘The personal best was a bonus, excellent groupings before a great fifth-round throw.

‘Serena is bouncing back from a slight injury which meant she had been unable to train properly for the last four weeks, so being crowned under-18 world champion and Hampshire champion in that period were big plus points.

‘And although she is possibly a couple of weeks behind where she wanted to be at this time of the season, the 14m 70cm throw at Bedford, an outdoor personal best, showed she is very much back on track.’

Serena’s best throw with the 4k shot so far came indoors at 14.83 in Sheffield and that puts her second in the country in her first year in the under-20 age group.

On Saturday the Hampshire Schools’ Championships take place at the Mountbatten Centre.

For many athletes it will be the next step on the journey towards the prestigious English Schools’ Championships.