WITHAM athlete Jess Hopkins has reclaimed her national championship crown.

The 17-year-old was in stunning form at the National Combined Events Championships, in Manchester.

Competing in the under-17 women’s heptathlon, she finished in first place and was crowned national champion for the third year in a row.

Hopkins' heptathlon consists of the 80 metres hurdles, a high jump, shot put, 200m sprint, long jump, javelin and an 800m run.

Day one started with the hurdles where she ran 11.98 seconds - a great start as it was a new personal best (PB).

It put her in third place.

The next event was the high jump, where Hopkins managed to equal her PB of 1.68m.

After this was the shot put, her strongest event, where she managed to beat her previous PB and throw a distance of 14.13m.

This propelled her into first place.

The last event of day one was the 200m sprint, where she managed to retain first position by running 27.27s.

At the end of day one, it was extremely close between the top three competitors, with second place just four points behind and third place 59 behind.

Day two began with the long jump, where Hopkins managed to jump 5.38m, which was a season's best (SB).

It was closely followed by the javelin, where she managed to throw another SB of 33.62m.

It gave her a 70-point lead before the 800m.

Although being her weakest event, she was able to run a solid race to get a new PB of two minutes and 35.15 seconds.

It kept her in first place and secured the title of national champion for the third year in a row.

"I was completely overwhelmed with the result as I hadn't done a multi-events competition in nine months due to illness and injury," said the Chelmsford Athletics Club member.

"I wasn’t expecting anything, so to come away with first place and a national title was an amazing feeling.

"I'm so grateful to have such an amazing team around me, to get me back on track to where I want to be.

"I'd like to say a massive thank you to Julie Benterman, from Back on Form, and Chris Branch, from Forte Physical Health.

"Their continuous treatments got me on the road to recovery.

"I'd also like to thank my incredible coaches, Steve Mitchell and Sarah Besford, for all their guidance and encouragement, and most importantly my family for always supporting me and getting me to where I need to be.

"Without this impeccable team, I wouldn’t have been able to compete at all.

"Chelmsford Athletics Centre has also been a great help, supporting me with everyday training, and the staff are always happy to help, making it a great place to train and grow as an athlete."