WILTSHIRE athletes Jenna Blundell and Jake Burkey joined forces for England to ensure a grand finale to their brilliant indoor seasons.

For 17-year-old Staverton athlete Blundell, the U20 international match in Cardiff was the perfect end to a brilliant winter campaign which has exceeded all her expectations, while 19-year-old Burkey, from Chippenham, was just thrilled to pull on the England vest for the first time.

Both athletes will be hoping that the success they enjoyed indoors will be a happy omen for the summer ahead, with Blundell, in particular, daring to dream that she has a good chance of qualifying to represent Great Britain at the European Junior Championships.

But for now, there is just the feeling of satisfaction and pride at a job well done, with all-rounder Blundell thrilled at the progress she has made in the 60m hurdles, in which she competed on Sunday, clocking yet another personal best of 8.48secs to go third in the UK Rankings for U20 women.

“That was my eighth personal best in a row and I feel like I have been on a high since January,” said Blundell.

“This indoor season has been the craziest, most satisfying and enjoyable season ever for me and I really like where I am at the moment.

“I have won my first GB vest this winter, improved my national bronze medal to a silver last week, and now ended the season in an England vest with another PB – and all within the space of four weeks.

“It has been a great season and this has given me such confidence looking ahead to the summer.”

Consider that when the indoor season started, Blundell’s best stood at 8.88secs, so to improve by 0.4secs represents a big step forward.

In addition, the former St Laurence School student has also notched up PBs at 60m (7.93secs), high jump (1.69m), long jump (5.93m), shot (10.17m) and senior pentathlon (3,757pts).

“I am very proud of myself that I managed to stay patient while I had all the injuries a few years ago and now it is coming good,” added Blundell.

“The hard work is paying off, but now I can take a little break before starting the hard work to prepare for the summer when hopefully I will enjoy similarly good results.”

Long jumper Burkey couldn’t match the PB of 7.25m he cleared to win his first national medal the previous week, but he was satisfied with his 7.05m for second place.

“It was a brilliant experience,” said Burkey.

“The whole experience was brilliant and hopefully it is just the start.

"In the England team meeting before the event they told us that this competition should be seen as a springboard for the future and I certainly will be looking to get selected for bigger events in years to come."