By Owen Morgan

Swansea Harrier Lauren Williams broke the Welsh Junior 400m hurdles record and set a huge personal best at the European Athletics Championships curtain-raiser in Berlin.

The Bath University student was competing for Great Britain U-20s in an international match against Germany and France at the city’s Olympic Stadium.

The managing and marketing student won the 400m hurdles in a time of 58.09s – knocking more than a second off her previous best time of 59.21 set in June. The time improves her standing at the top of the British Under-20 rankings.

Another Welsh athlete in the GB team excelled in the javelin where Bethan Rees finished second with a throw of 46.97m.

It was a good weekend for the Welsh overseas as Jake Heyward put in another excellent performance in what has been an outstanding season.

The Cardiff AAC athlete finished a narrow second to American Paris Simmons at the Meeting voor Mon event in Belgium with a time of 1:49.30.

At the same meeting Amman Valley Harrier Jade Williams clocked a season’s best time in the 1500m when she finished fifth in a time of 4:17.17.

There was also a second place for Jenny Nesbitt, of Worcester AC, who recorded 9:18.74 in the women’s 3000m.