WEYMOUTH athlete Serita Shone gained praise from two-time Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson after winning the senior girls' heptathlon title at the prestigious ESAA Sainsbury's Combined Events & Race Walk Championships in Exeter.

The 18-year-old, who attends Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester, improved her personal best tally by 539 points and was never out of the top two, setting further personal bests in the high jump, 200m and 800m.

Shone said: "This has been an awesome weekend. I had high hopes for myself given the amount of training I have done but you never know what's going to happen in these sort of competitions.

"I am so pleased I have managed to win after doing this for five years. I improved my 800m personal best by more than seven seconds, which hurt a lot but it was worth it.

"A big thanks must go to my coach who has put in a lot of effort to help me get past my injuries and set me the right training to win heptathlon gold."

Thompson, who is an ambassador for Sainsbury's and the English Schools Athletics Association, said: "Being a multi-eventer myself, I see these championships as an excellent springboard for young athletes looking to make a name for themselves.

"Serita should be delighted with the gold medal but for all the winners this should be seen as only the start - what I will be particularly looking out for is how these athletes develop in the coming years.

"The ESAA Sainsbury's Championships are all about learning how to compete and how to win. Most of the successful athletes in this country, myself included, first made our name in these events and they really give you a taste of what it feels like to win gold."

Fellow Thomas Hardye pupil Ellie Burn and Poole's Maria Seager also put on encouraging performances in the senior girls' heptathlon, finishing in 21st and 23rd respectively to land Dorset second place in the team event.

Dorset also finished runners-up in the senior boys' decathlon where Poole trio James Ozanne, Abu Abioye and Ed Moyce all excelled. Moyce ended the competition 15th overall, Abioye came 21st and Ozanne came 23rd.

Alex Lee was another individual that showed potential at the championships.

The Poole athlete finished 16th in the junior boys' pentathlon.