TEENAGE sprinter Owen Richardson continued his excellent season by reaching the 400m final at the English Under-20 Championships last weekend.

The 15-year-old made the final at Bedford by finishing second in his heat and third in his semi, beating athletes up to four years older than him.

He finished seventh in the final, clocking a new personal-best time of 48.41sec to extend his lead at the top of the UK under-17 rankings.

The previous week, Richardson was one of several Basingstoke athletes to win titles at the Hampshire Schools Championships. He secured a convincing win in the intermediate 400m, clocking 49.6sec to finish almost four seconds clear of his nearest rival.

Other Basingstoke and Mid Hants winners in Portsmouth were Luca Chiossone (senior 800m), Tobin Hatton-Brown (senior javelin), Charlie Sheridan (intermediate 800m), James Beeks (intermediate 1,500m), Lucy Wildash (intermediate 1,500m), Evie Wilcox (intermediate shot) and Mair Edwards (junior 100m).

Clere school pupil Holly Mills broke the competition record for the junior long jump, leaping 5.41m to win the competition.

Owen’s older brother, Myles, was also in action at the English Championships, finishing fourth in his heat of the 200m and sixth in his 100m heat.

The previous week, Myles travelled to Crystal Palace for the Southern Championships, returning home with a bronze medal from the under-20 200m and narrowly missing out on the 100m final.

Dean Showler-Davis finished second in the senior 200m, clocking 21.07sec.

Both Richardson brothers have been selected to represent Hampshire at the English Schools Championships next month. Owen will run the junior 400m and 4x100m, while Myles has been picked to race the senior 200m and 4x100m.

Basingstoke and Mid Hants sit fourth in the Southern League Division One table after finishing second, behind hosts Colchester, in their latest meeting.

Decathlete Ben Hazell was their top performer, winning four events, while the Down Grange club recorded victories in a total of 24 disciplines.