By Owen Morgan

Two new national records were set on Saturday as Welsh athletes hit top form at home and abroad.

Competing at an international meeting in Portugal, hammer thrower Osian Jones broke his own senior Welsh record for the second time this season.

Meanwhile, Cardiff Athletics youngster Ben Reynolds set a brilliant new Welsh 1500m Under-17 record at the British Athletics League Premiership match in Birmingham.

Commonwealth Games competitor Jones had broken his existing Welsh record while competing at the Welsh Athletics International in Cardiff with a throw of 71.77m on July 24.

And on Saturday, the Liverpool Harrier, who is targeting a place at next year’s Tokyo Olympics, extended his record once again with a throw of 72.19m.

Jones’ performance earned him second place at the prestigious International Throwing Meeting at Leiria in Portugal, where fellow Welshman Jac Palmer, of Cardiff Athletics, finished fourth with 67.35

Back in Britain, Palmer’s club mate Reynolds was competing in the 1500m A race at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium.

Reynolds clocked 3:51.30 to slash almost three seconds off his own personal best and smash the previous record by two seconds.

The 16-year-old, who finished sixth in the high quality field said afterwards: “I’m really happy.

“It’s been my target all season after seeing Osian (Perrin) break the 3000m equivalent, it inspired me to try and do the same and I was lucky enough to get the ideal race to do it today.”

Reynolds’ performance was one of the few individual highlights for the Cardiff Athletics men’s team who were relegated from the British Athletics League Premier League after two seasons in the top flight.

The final league fixture of the season at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium saw Cardiff finish bottom of the eight teams on the day and bottom of the league table overall for the season.