JOSH Ricketts is celebrating a record-breaking achievement at the Wiltshire Schools’ Championships.

Competing on his home track in Swindon – Ricketts is also a member of Swindon Harriers – the 17-year-old Ridgeway School student broke the senior boys’ record in the hammer with a winning throw of 46.40m.

“It is always nice to get a record and hopefully by next year, I can improve that to closer to 60m,” said Ricketts.

“I was aiming to throw closer to 50m, so now I will have to try and do that at the South West Schools’ Championships.

“I did have one throw that felt close to 50m but it was a foul."

Ricketts has already thrown a PB of 47.58m this summer, which puts him 16th in the UK rankings for U20 men and second best in the South West.

The clash between the pair at the South West Schools' Championship in Exeter on Saturday looks like being one of the highlights in the field and Ricketts is optimistic of another big throw.

“I like the Exeter throwing circle and it seems like every time I have thrown there before I have got a personal best so I am looking forward to that,” added Ricketts.

Ricketts will also be competing in the discus, having won that event last weekend with a throw of 32.84m.

The Ricketts family name was also to the fore in the junior boys’ hammer as younger brother Harry finished runner-up.

He started favourite to lift the title by virtue of his PB of 47.34m at last month in a UK Youth Development League meeting for the Harriers at Worcester, which had put him top of the South West Rankings.

But Chippenham rival Owen Merrett upset the form book to take the title with a PB of 46.02m, with Ricketts taking silver with 41.08m.

Harry Ricketts will be looking for swift revenge when he and Merrett join forces in the Wiltshire team this weekend.

Another Swindon athlete to impress at the championships was St Joseph’s Catholic School sprinter Teresa Iannetelli as she scooped double gold in the senior girls’ 100m and 200m.

A year ago she finished seventh in the 100m and sixth in the 200m at the South West Schools’ Championships, but having already recorded PBs of 12.68secs and 25.8secs this summer, will be looking to improve upon that.

Harriers’ clubmate and sprinter Delleah Belgrave was another double gold medallist as the Lydiard Park School student won the junior girls’ 200m and the long jump.

In the latter, Belgrave improved her PB from 4.78m to 4.85, while her 200m time of 27.2secs was outside her PB of 26.8secs.

In the inter girls’ 300m hurdles, which is a new event for her this season, Kingsdown School student Hannah New raced to victory in 49.7secs.

Matt Smith only broke 53 seconds for the first time last month and the 16-year-old Ridgeway School student, from The Lawns, showed that was no fluke as he won the inter boys’ 400m in 53.0secs.

Fellow Swindon Harrier and Royal Wootton Bassett School student Max Sockett won’t forget his victory in the inter boys’ 3,000m as he smashed his personal best by 14 seconds with a time of 9mins 38.2secs to lift him into the top 10 in the South West rankings.