HEREFORD and Worcester boasted their biggest presence at the English Schools’ Athletic Association Combined Events Championships' Midlands round in recent years.

Sixteen teenagers competed in five age groups and for four teams at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

They faced athletes from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Four made it through to the National Schools’ Combined Events Championships in Exeter in September.

Danielle Hopkins, of The Chase School, was the most experienced for the two counties in the senior girls' age group in her fifth Midlands Championships.

She set a personal best points score of 3,994 for third overall and earned a place in the national finals for the fourth time.

Hopkins will be joined in Exeter by Abigail Rickard, of Hagley High, Louis Upton, of Bromsgrove School, and Patrick Morgan, of Fairfield High, Hereford.

The joint best team display came in the intermediate girls' age group where Hereford and Worcester finished third behind Warwickshire and Derbyshire.

Hannah Sahota, of Bromsgrove School, was their highest points scorer in fourth with a PB of 3,802 to narrowly miss out on the nationals.

Ella Dew, of Stourport High, was eighth, Amber Hopkins, of The Chase, Malvern, 10th and Nikita Gottardt-Mills, of St Augustine’s, Redditch, 11th.

Dew and Amber Hopkins enjoyed their first year in the age group with Gottardt-Mills doing her first heptathlon competition.

Another third-place team finish came in the junior girls' age group with all four at their first ESAA combined events contest.

Maya Stewart, of Blessed Edward Oldcorne College, Worcester, was third after three events but an injury during the long jump forced her out of the competition.

But Rickard stepped up to secure the runners-up position and a nationals place.

Libby Oliver, of Bewdley High, and Amy Hughes, of King’s Worcester, scored consistently throughout.

In the junior boys' pentathlon, Upton qualified for the nationals with a PB of 2,420 points to finish third nearly 300 ahead of fourth place.

Upton recorded an English schools’ entry standard time in the 80-metre hurdles.

Tom Annis, of Bewdley High, and Ollie Hill, of King’s Worcester, ensured the team finished fourth and both have another year in the age group.

The two counties' intermediate boys all made their competition debuts.

Morgan, George Harrhy, of John Kyrle High, Ross-on-Wye, Sam Annis, of Bewdley High, and Alex Harman, of St Augustine’s, secured the fourth team position with 9,823 points.

Morgan was sixth in the individual competition and his high points total secured a wild card slot in the national finals.