Braintree and District Athletic Club’s Joe Nourse was delighted to claim a new personal best as he made his senior debut for Essex at the Southern Counties Inter-Counties match at Crawley.

This was his first senior call-up, despite being much younger than most of his rivals in the 3,000 metre steeplechase event.

However, he rose to the challenge, taking third in the B string in a new personal best time and helping Essex to overall victory.

Nourse said: “I was overwhelmed to get my call up because I haven’t had a great season with all the revision and exams I have had to do.

“The race was of a very high standard and I am pleased to have got my first Essex Senior cap when I am still five years younger than most other competitors.

“I am looking forward to the future and have high expectations for myself.”

Nourse wasn’t the only Braintree and District Athletic Club member to be in action, though, as he was joined in the senior Essex team by twin brothers Charlie and Richard Shingleton.

Richard took B-string gold in the 200 metres in 23.01 seconds and long jump bronze in the B string with a 6.08m leap, while Charlie took B string third places in the triple jump with 12.21m and the 400m hurdles in 67.82s.