DORSET'S athletes warmed to the King's Park weather with a remarkable 25 meeting best performances at the County Track and Field Champion-ships.

Dorchester AC celebrated a host of success at the event, winning 26 medals.

In the under-13 girls' category Beth Letherby took the 1,500m title, silver in the 800m and 70m, and bronze in the discus.

Holly Butt, on her return from injury, bagged silver in the 100m, Charley Fox-Gibson won bronze in the high jump while Honor Slade claimed bronze in the shot.

Phoebe Beer took bronze in the javelin and the 200m (under-15 girls), Hayley Rooks won gold in the shot and silver in the discus (under-15 girls), Rosie Smith finished second in the 1,500m (under-17 women) while Hannah Jeanes (under-20 women) grabbed gold in both the 400m and 800m and picked up silvers in the 100m and 200m.

For the boys, Alastair Tuck took gold in the hammer and silver in the discus (under-15 boys).

Not to be outdone by her brother's performances, Megan Tuck threw 32.36m to win the under-17 women's discus followed by silver in the hammer.

Weymouth's Serita Shone, of Bournemouth AC, claimed five golds while recording three under-20 Dorset meeting bests with 26.5secs in the 200m, a 1.55m high jump and 11.00m in the shot.

Shone's other top spots came with a 15.7secs 100m hurdles victory and a 5.38m long jump success.

Bournemouth AC's Nicholas Hunt claimed an amazing six gold medals in the under-13 group.

His championship best double - 1.61m high jump and 32.25m discus throw - is sure to extend his lead in the national rankings for those events. His 5.03m long jump, 10.81m shot putt and 26.2secs in the 200m will also rate highly. Hunt completed his medal haul with a 30.09m throw in the javelin.

Dorset's fine tradition in the women's javelin continued. Louise Watton's senior gold medal effort of 45.71m was just slightly down on last year but under-20 competitor, and Weymouth resident, Jemma Tewkesbury (39.46m) responded with a championship best to also take gold.

Poole AC dominated the girls' distance events. Melissa Courtney gained three under-17 golds, while Lauren Welch, Grace Howie and Shelby Haysom shared out the under-15 spoils.

Kirsty claims five medals * EMERGING prospect Kirsty Wickham further highlighted her potential when she returned with five medals from the County Championships.

Competing in six events over two days, the versatile 12-year-old athlete also recorded three new personal bests.

Wickham, who trains with Dorchester Athletics Club, triumphed in the long jump, with a personal best, and the shot putt in the under-13 girls' section to claim gold and become county champion in both disciplines.

The Beaminster School pupil ran a new fastest time in the 70m hurdles to win silver, a medal she also emulated in the javelin.

A bronze and a personal best in the 200m accompanied her successes, and although Kirsty didn't win a medal in the 100m, she still finished a creditable fourth against top athletes from across the county.

* PORTLAND'S Sean Atkinson bagged two medals at the County Championships.

Atkinson, who represents Poole AC at under-13 level, won silver in the 100m with a time of 14.3secs and followed that with a bronze in the long jump thanks to a last round effort of 4.21m.

These medals add to the gold that he won at the Somerset/Dorset County AA Combined Events Championships held at Millfield School in Somerset.

During these events, the Portlander set a new personal best in the 100m of 14.21secs, which helped to seal a gold medal winning performance over four events (100m, long jump, shot putt and 800m).

As well as representing Poole, Atkinson is also a member of the Team Dorset entry into the National Young Athletes League and will continue a busy summer schedule with forthcoming events at Yeovil and Exeter.