A SUPERB victory in the under-17 girls' heptathlon at the English Schools Multi-Events National Championships has kept Witham star Jessica Hopkins as the UK's leading all-round athletics star in her age group.

The Maltings Academy pupil is now ranked number one in the UK in the under-17s age group for heptathlon after her triumph at the Bedford International Stadium when a score of 5,127 earned her the gold medal and another England team call-up.

It was not a great start for the Witham youngster, though, as a time of 12.12 seconds in the opening 80 metre hurdles was a disappointment and placed her 18th, but she bounced back in style with a 1.68m clearance in the high jump to set a new personal best (PB) as she moved up to fifth overall.

Next was shot putt, one of her strongest events, and Hopkins managed a distance of 13.90m to gain 787 points that put her into first place before the last event of the opening day.

In the 200m, which she admits is one of her weaker events, the Witham youngster was able to run a PB time of 26.36s and while it wasn't enough to keep her in first spot, she was only 40 points behind the leader heading into the second day of competition.

Day two did not start well again, though, as a disappointing long jump performance saw her manage 5.23 metres as she dropped back to third and put the pressure on for the javelin.

Hopkins said: "Although on paper, javelin is my strongest event, for the past year I had not been throwing to my full potential due to a back injury and I only had a season's best of 33.62 metres in a heptathlon.

"However, I was able to throw a huge PB of 42.14 metre which put me in the lead by 20 points.

"This gave me a slim margin of just 1.5 seconds in the 800 metres if I wanted to remain in first place.

"Going into the 800 metres, the girl in second place - Abigail Pawlett - had a PB of two minutes 30 whereas my PB was two 35, however I was able to stick within 0.1 seconds of her due to my sprint finish, to get a two minute 35.25 seconds finish that saw me retain first place with an 18-point lead at the end.

"My performance throughout the weekend, means that I have gained the opportunity to compete for England for the third time.

"I would like to say a massive thanks to my sponsors Mark and Julie Benterman from Back on Form and Chris Branch from Forte Physical Health, for getting me back on track and ensuring my body was fit for competing after prolonged injury.

"Also to my outstanding coaches, Steve Mitchel and Sarah Besford, for their dedication and guidance, and last but no means least, I would like to say thank you to my family who, without their support and time, I would not be able to compete at all."

Hopkins also thanked the Chelmsford Athletics Centre, the Essex Community Foundation and the Rob George Foundation.

The Witham star will compete for England in a Home Nations international on November 3 in Glasgow against teams from Wales, Scotland and Ireland.