FOR some of our young athletes, this weekend’s English Schools Championships will be the pinnacle of their careers, while for others it will be just another step on the way to a successful career in the sport.

But either way the championships, this year being held in Gateshead and again being screened live on Sky Sports, is one of the biggest events on any teenage athlete’s calendar.

As always seems to be the case, there are plenty of youngsters from south Essex who will head to the meeting with realistic chances of winning a medal.

Among the contingent heading north will be four current English Schools champions – Jessica Judd, Kaylee Dodd, Sophie Riches and Poppy Lake – and plenty more with realistic medal hopes.

Judd, 16, from Canvey, will be defending her intermediate girls 1,500m title and will be the odds-on favourite to add to the two English Schools titles she already owns.

“It’s my favourite event of the year, I love it” said Judd, below. “I do feel the pressure going into events like this where so much is expected. I get really nervous on the start line, but once I start running I really enjoy it.”

The nearest challenger to Judd in her age group over three and three-quarter laps this year is her Chelmsford AC team-mate Riches, but last year’s junior girls 1,500m winner has instead chosen to run the 800m this time round.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said the 15-year-old from Rayleigh. “But the competition in the 800m is going to be really strong.

“You train all year to try to peak at this time of the season and hopefully I’m coming into some good form at the moment.”

Riches’ main challenger in the 800m will again come from south Essex, with Basildon AC’s Kaylee Dodd, the holder of the junior girls 800m title, likely to be the favourite.

Dodd, 15, from Wickford, has the fastest time in the field (2m 8.32s) and can’t wait to race.

“The whole experience is great,” she said. “Travelling up there as part of the team is fantastic.

“I feel I’m going well at the moment. I ran well to win at the Essex Schools and hopefully that will continue.”

Dodd’s coach Jacqui Childs added: “Last year’s win was the biggest of Kaylee’s career and she’ll probably be the favourite again. We know all the girls she will be up against and we know Kaylee has got the finish to beat them. If she is within 30 or 40m of someone at the finish, she will catch them. She just has to be in the mix.”

The final of our four defending champions is high-jumper Lake, who at 15 might be the bottom age in the intermediate girls category, but who has a great chance of medalling again.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Lake, who is from Hockley and attends Southend High School for Girls. “I’ll be up against older girls, but I’ve had a good season and am ranked in the top three in the country, so I’ve got as good a chance as anyone.

“I have been looking at my main competitors form and they have not been jumping as well as me recently, so it’s looking quite good to hopefully medal.”

Elsewhere, a trio of FitzWimarc School pupils fancy their chances of winning medals in the field.

In the intermediate boys pole vault, 16-year-old Mitchell Etheridge, from Thundersley, goes into the competition ranked second in the country, but he fancies his chances of a gold medal.

“I’m hoping to go there and win it,” said Etheridge. “The person ranked above me has only jumped higher indoors. I’ve jumped higher than anybody outdoors this summer so I’m hoping I can do it again when it matters.”

In the junior boys discus, Josh Prentice, 14, from Eastwood, is another looking to go one better than his national ranking of two.

“I’m quite confident I can go there and win,” he said. The top guy has thrown just over 43m this season and my PB is 41.60m, but anything can happen in an event like the discus.”

The final member of the FitzWimarc trio ranked inside the top three nationally is high jumper Daniel Stratton, 14, also from Eastwood. Stratton has a personal best of 1.81m which puts him joint third in the junior boys rankings.

“Anywhere in the top three on the actual day I would be pleased with. It would be great to win but I’d be happy with second or third as well.”

l The English Schools Championships will be screened live on Sky Sports 2 tomorrow, from 2pm until 6pm.