RISING Witham ace Jessica Hopkins showed her athletic talents off to the full as she triumphed in her first-ever heptathlon at the ESAA East Anglian Schools' Combined Events Championships in Bedford.

The 15-year-old Maltings Academy pupil set a number of personal bests (PBs) on her way to claiming first place in the intermediate girls' competition with an overall score of 4,910 that put her 14th on the all-time list of heptathlon totals for under-17 women.

Hopkins said: "It was a fantastic experience and a great outcome for my first heptathlon.

"I'm learning more about how important nutrition and rest are through the guidance of my coaches Steve Mitchell and Sarah Besford.

"Also a big thank you to my sponsor Julie Benterman for helping me recover."

The first event of Hopkins' weekend was the 80 metre hurdles and she made a great start as she finished with a new PB of 11.9 seconds.

It set the tone for the rest of her events for the Witham youngster.

She continued with the high jump where she leapt 1.66 metres - just one centimetre under another PB - but she was back on the trail of PBs in the shot putt with a throw of 14.05m and she closed the opening day with another new best in the 200m with a run of 26.7s.

Day two was started with the long jump where Hopkins won again with a 5.29m leap and a javelin throw of 33.71m put her 400 points in front of the rest of the field before the final event - the 800m.

Her time for the 800m was two minutes 38 seconds to give a total score of 4,910 points and victory by 360 points.

Meanwhile, Jessica's younger sister, Maegan, has also been displaying her athletic prowess as she has been selected for the Essex in the Inter-Counties Championships in the shot putt where she currently ranks second in the Eastern region at under-13s level.

Jessica is also hoping that the efforts of her coaches Steve Mitchell and Sarah Besford are rewarded as they tackle a 100-mile charity bike ride.

She added: "I'd like to shout out that my coaches are doing a 100 mile bike ride at the end of July to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

"It's something really close to home as I lost my nan to cancer four years ago and would greatly appreciate it if we could get more donations on their fundraising page."

The fundraising page is at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/steve-mitchell20