First day gold rush in Hants

Wednesday 14th May 2008, 2:29PM BST.

Sarah Mercier (foreground) set a new best of 4-43 in the under-20 1,500m. (Picture by David Griffiths, 0466556)

EIGHT golds, all arriving on day one, made for a satisfying haul for the young GIAAC track and field squad at this year’s Hampshire county championships in Portsmouth.

Upwards of 600 athletes competed in a variety of age groups ranging from seniors to under-13s, about a tenth of the total number coming from the Channel Islands.

And while Jersey came home with 55 medals to Guernsey’s 26, the Caesarean contingent was nearly double in size and the Sarnians did not send any of their big guns to an event which has diminished in importance for senior athletes in recent years.

There is, though, strong evidence of a new generation of island stars coming through the GIAAC ranks.