WILTSHIRE-based athlete Alice Wilson heads back to Yeovil on Saturday (May 1st) aiming to build upon her solid start to the new season.

The 15-year-old Team Bath AC athlete from North Wraxhall, near Bradford-on-Avon, opened her summer campaign at the same Somerset venue last weekend tackling the javelin and the high jump.

The latter event was hampered by technical issues largely due to the blustery and cold wind so her height of 1.46m was well below her lifetime best of 1.57m.

But if the meeting was less about results than in just getting used to the competitive arena again after six months of solid training after the indoor season was cancelled.

“It was an opportunity to see where we are and for sure we’ll know even more after this weekend when Alice will compete in the 80m hurdles, 2000m and the shot,” said coach Julie Alexander.

“She had problems with her run-up in the high jump while it was the first time she has thrown the javelin. In training she throws 30 metres regularly so 24.41m was down to some technical issues and a few nerves. She’ll be throwing a lot further soon.”

Wilson made a breakthrough in March last year when she won the silver medal in the under 15 girls’ pentathlon at the England Athletics Combined Events Championships.

This summer she will move up in the under 17 women’s heptathlon and, if all goes well, will be focusing on the South West and English Schools’ Combined Events Championships in June and September respectively.

Also in the high jump youngster Ciara Galvin cleared a personal best of 1.51m while Eleni Francis was third in the long jump.

In the men’s events Sam Walker opened his season with a solid 45.57m to win the under 17 men’s javelin, his first attempt with the new 700g implement.

Keelan Tucker was runner-up in the javelin with 47.09m, which was just below his PB of 48.41m which he threw in his only competition last summer. Joel Mattacks of Southwick was seventh in the long jump.

A few days earlier Joel Mattacks leapt to a personal best in the long jump at the University of Birmingham Open meeting.

Mattacks smashed his two-year-old best of 5.43m with an excellent 5.92m, finishing just 22cms behind his clubmate Jake Burkey.

Burkey, a former student at Sheldon School, was competing on home ground as a student at Birmingham University and, coincidentally, was recently voted president of the university’s athletics club which represents quite an honour for him.