CATHERINE Hall-Jones has become an indoor sensation this season.

The Dr Challoners pupil announced herself on the indoor circuit with silver in the Southern Championships a month ago and last weekend raised the bar again against the best in the country.

Running in the National Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Hall-Jones set a new personal best time of 8.88 seconds to win her 60m hurdles heat.

Another personal best saw her come through her semi-final before a third consecutive lifetime best of 8.79 seconds took her to the silver medal in a hotly contested final.

Hall-Jones, who had only qualified in fifth, actually shared the lead to the second hurdle and dipped at the line to take silver ahead of third-placed Amy Wakeham, who recorded the exact same time.

Hall-Jones is now in pole position to represent the region in the UK Schools Games, a mock Olympics for the most talented young athletes in the country taking place in Bath in the summer.

Her WSEH team-mate Leah Barrow was also in fine form, qualifying from a 300m semi-final that also included Victoria Ohuruogu, sister of world champion Christina.

A personal best time of 41.02 seconds in the heats took her through the semi-final, when another individual record of 40.88 seconds saw her come home second.

Leah equalled her heat time in the final to finish fourth, but had no answer to Katrina Thompson, who won her third gold medal of the championship after recording the second fastest indoor U17 300m time ever.

Also rising to the challenge, Chloe Mays produced the run of her life to finish third in the 60m with a time of 8.16 seconds.

In other events, Adam Medcraft claimed a personal best of 51.72 seconds in the 400m and Daniel James finished the U20 60m in 7.33 seconds.

Vicky Fouhy was making progress to the U20 800m final when she had to withdraw with a hamstring injury.