Sussex scored a hat-trick of victories in the England AAA track and field championships at Bedford.

A fine discus throw from Brighton and Hove's Claire Smithson and a cracking 5,000m walk by Steyning's Sophie Hales made it three of the best.

Sam Redd, of Brighton and Hove, had already won the javelin title on the first day with a splendid personal best of 47.66m.

Then on day two Smithson chalked up a unique third discus crown, while Hales romped away with the walk title.

Smithson, who is still only 18, gets three bites of the cherry in the under-20 age group because she was born in August.

She took full advantage to retain her title with a good throw of 53.01m.

The competition was held in conjunction with under-23 event, and her winning effort, and most of her six throws, were better than those by the athletes contesting the older competition.

And they included her close rival, Emma Carpenter, from Exeter, who will be throwing in the Commonwealth Games with the Sussex youngster.

"It was a bit windy," said Smithson, "but I am more than happy with the result and my series.

"Because the events were combined, the competition took more than two hours to complete, but I managed four throws of over 50m."

Smithson's winning effort was more than 10m further than the second-placed athlete.

Hales was equally dominant, recording a winning time of 25min. 18.56sec. which saw her finish nearly two minutes clear.

Tim Bayley, from Wooding-dean, who races for Belgrave, had a disappointing third place in the under-23 400m in 49.55 sec., nearly 2sec. below his best this season.

It is turning out to be a topsy-turvy season for the leading Sussex clubs in the Southern Women's League.

Crawley continued their push at the top of the Division One at Basildon, where they placed second, but Horsham struggled in their home match and now look destined to drop down.

Worthing, who looked the most likely team to survive in Division Two, had a depleted squad at Portsmouth and could manage only fifth spot.

Brighton and Hove, who were at home without the services of star throwers Claire Smithson and Samantha Redd, and Hastings, who were at Bromley, both finished third.

All three teams are likely to find themselves in the danger zone when the league tables are published later this week.

The outstanding performance of the weekend came from Jenny Bliss, who leapt 11.14m with her first long jump and decided that was enough.

She was right because she not only won the competition but also added 3cm to the Sussex under-17 and under-20 records.

Bliss also swept to a convincing victory in the 400m in 58.8sec. in only her second outing over the distance.

Once she gets a little more experience in this event, she looks certain to duck well inside 58.0sec.

She completed a hat-trick of victories with an impressive 80m hurdles victory in a personal best time of 12.0sec., which is the fastest time recorded by any Sussex athlete this season.

There was another hat-trick at Portsmouth where Worthing's Emma Perkins won the 80m hurdles, equalling her season's best time of 12.3sec., and then soared to 1.70m to win the high jump 5.37m to take the long jump.

ENGLAND AAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men Under 23: (at Bedford) Sussex highlights: 400m 3 Tim Bayley (Brighton) 49.55sec. 5,000m 3 Gavin Thompson (Crawley) 14min. 31.78sec.

Under 20: 1,500m Ed Prickett (Crawley) 4min. 06.3sec. (3min. 54.0sec. in heat). 5,000m 9 Jack Vail (Brighton & Hove) 15min. 49.7sec. 110m hurdles 7 Duncan Rogers (Horsham) 15.61 sec. (15.27sec. in heat) Discus 4 Josh Lamb (Crawley) 48.17m.

Women Under 23: 400m 3 Sarah Tomlins (Horsham) 55.91 sec.

Under 20: 1,500m 3 Charlotte Best (Crawley) 4min. 33.73sec. Shot 3 Claire Smithson (Brigh-ton & Hove) 13.20m. Discus 1 Smithson 53.91m. Javelin 1 Sam Redd (Brighton & Hove) 47.66m. 5,000m walk 1 Sophie Hales (Steyning) 25min. 18.56 sec.

SOUTHERN WOMEN'S LEAGUE
Division 1: (at Broadbridge Heath) 1 Stevenage 202pts; 2 Walton 188pts; 3 Aldershot 168pts; 4 Thames Valley 153 pts; 5 Horsham 98pts.

Horsham highlights: 100m 3 Sarah Tomlins 12.3sec. 200m 3 Tomlins 24.8sec. 3,000m 3 Eloise Lee 11min. 32.4sec. 4 x 100m relay 3 Horsham 51.7 sec. Shot 3 Candace Schofield 9.39m. Discus 3 Schofield 30.17m. Javelin 2 Schofield 36.65m. Under 17: 80m hurdles 3 Hayley Morton 13.0sec. Under 15: 100m 3 Katharine Gid-dings 13.4sec. 75m hurdles 3 Giddings 13.0sec. Shot 2 Kim Randall 8.05m. Discus 2 Randall 20.46m.

Division 1: (at Basildon) 1 Radley 195pts; 2 Crawley 180.5 pts; 3 Basildon 179pts; 4 Haringey 175.5pts; 5 Team Solent 105.

Crawley highlights: 100m 3 Elaine Wells 12.5sec. 400m 2 Charlotte Best 56.9sec. B 1 Wells 58.3sec. 800m 1 Best 2min. 12.5sec. B 1 Georgina Riddiough 2min. 21.2sec. 1,500 m 3 Hayley Stanton 5min. 10.6sec. B Sam Webb 5min. 20.1sec. 3,000m 2 Webb (no time). B 1 Kirsty Fenn 12min. 34.8sec. 400m 1 Natalie Christ-mas 63.9sec. Shot 3 Claire Pal-mer 9.54m. Discus 2 Palmer 27.94m. Hammer 1 Mandy Robertshaw 20.60m. Under 15: 100m 3 Vicky Burling 13.8sec. 800m 1 Hannah Brooks 2min. 21.3sec. 1,500m Dannielle Christmas 4min. 48.0sec. B 1 Leanne Best 5min. 21.9sec. 75m hurdles 2 Burling 12.6sec. High jump 1 Nicky Caxton 1.43m. Long jump 2 Brooks 4.65m. Shot 2 Hannah Sargant 7.95m.

Division 2: (at Withdean) 1 Hertford & Ware 215pts; 2 Plymouth 158pts; 3 Brighton & Hove 148.5pts; 4 Medway 136.5pts; 5 Thurrock 131pts.

Brighton & Hove highlights: 100m 3 Florence Ray 13.1sec. 400m 1 Jenny Bliss 58.8sec. B 1 Ray 59.4sec. 3,000m 2 Esme Jalla 11min. 23.4sec. B Kathy Quinton 11min. 48.1sec. 4 x 100m relay 2 Brighton & Hove 50.8sec. High jump 2 Sarah Fielding-Smith 1.55m. Pole vault 2 Holly Weaver 2.00m. Triple jump 1 Bliss 11.14m (Sussex under-20 record). Un-der 17: 80m hurdles 1 Bliss 12.0sec. B 2 Nicki Cumber- land 13.0sec. 300m hurdles 2 Weaver 50.1sec. Under 15: 100m 2 Laura Hitchman 13.2 sec. 200m 2 Hitchman 26.8sec. 800m 3 Hayley Moore 2min. 48.2sec. B 1 Vicki Woolcott 3min. 00.8sec. 75m hurdles 1 Stephanie Cramp 12.7sec. 4 x 100m relay 3 Brighton & Hove 55.1sec. Long jump 3 Jessica Daltrop 4.34m. Javelin 2 Rachael Comer 20.12m.

Division 2: (at Bromley) 1 Blackheath 240pts; 2 Colch-ester 173pts; 3 Hastings 148 pts; 4 Huntingdon 137pts; 5 Windsor 119pts.

Hastings highlights: 100m 2 Fran Gregory 13.3sec. B Deb-orah Davis 12.8sec. 200m 2 Gregory 27.8sec. B Davis 26.9 sec. 400m 3 Meike Howell 58.8 sec.1,500m 2 Jeanette Hard-wick 5min. 30.4sec. 3,000m 2 Hardwick 11min. 42.7sec. 100m hurdles 3 Alison Collie 19.7sec. 4 x 100m relay 2 Hastings 52.4sec. Long jump 3 Katy Sumner 4.43m. Hammer 1 Pam Coombs 33.32m. B 1 France O'Gorman 31.50m. Under 15: Shot 2 Kelly Coombs 8.78m. Discus 3 Combs 20.52m. Javelin 1 Coombs 21.90m.

Division 2: (at Portsmouth, no points available) 1 Reading; 2 Chelmsford; 3 Southampton; 4 Bromley; 5 Worthing.

Worthing highlights: High jump 1 Emma Perkins 1.70m. Long jump 1 Perkins 5.37m. Triple jump 3 Caroline Garratt 8.09m. Shot 3 Garratt 8.62m. Discus 1 Garratt 29.40m. Ham-mer 1 Donna Southgate 31.24 m. Javelin 2 Garratt 32.97m. Under 17: 80m hurdles 1 Emma Perkins 12.3sec. Under 15: 100m 1 Lisa Meek 13.0sec. 200m 1 Meek 27.3sec. 800m 3 Sarah Garrett 2min. 33.7sec. Long jump 3 Meek 4.36m. B 1 Jan Carpenter 4.36m. Shot 3 Emma Hooper 7.32m. Discus 2 Hopper 20.79m.