AMY Williams was at the forefront of a strong display by Chester athletes at the Cheshire Schools AA Track and Field Championships.

The 14-year-old Queen’s School pupil struck gold in the junior girls long jump at Macclesfield on Saturday, rewriting the history books along the way.

Amy’s 5.81m effort was a new championship record for the junior girls age group – and, amazingly, it also bettered the existing records for older athletes in the intermediate and senior categories.

The giant leap was a season’s best for any female under 15 long jumper in the UK and it edged Amy closer to her target of 6.05m, which would qualify her to represent Great Britain at next year’s European Junior Championships in Italy.

Saturday’s jump, achieved in miserable weather conditions, secured Amy a place for next month’s English Schools Championships at Gateshead, where the Dee Banks resident will be aiming to win gold for the second year in a row.

There were plenty of other gold medal displays by athletes on the Chester team in Macclesfield.

Newly-crowned Chester-based cou- nty champions include: Olly McCormick (junior boys 80m hurdles), Nicholas Mitchell (inter boys 400m), Chris Goodwin (senior boys 800m), Michael Bailiff (senior boys high jump), Amy Hinchly (junior girls 1,500m), Charlotte Williamson (junior girls 75m hurdles), Amy Odunaiya (inter girls 200m), Kelly Baker (inter girls shot), Amy Hargreaves (senior girls 800m) and Danielle Erskine (senior girls long jump).

Stephen Jones, from Neston, won the senior boys 400m title while Helsby’s Liam Renton raced to victory in the senior boys 3,000m.

The first two finishers in each event in Macclesfield qualified to represent Cheshire this weekend at the inter-counties Mason Trophy competition in Stoke.

A full list of results from the Cheshire Schools Championships can be found at: www.esaa.net.