Joe Waller made a recordbreaking return to action at the Sussex Track and Field Championships - with a little help from Steve Backley.

Waller missed the majority of last season with an elbow injury but proved he is fully recovered by smashing the championship best in the javelin to win gold.

The 19-year-old launched his javelin - which was given to him by former European champion and world record holder Backley - 61.65m at Crawley's K2 Centre on Saturday to add more than four metres to the previous record set by Simon Kearney ten years ago.

The stunning effort also put him third on the Sussex all-time list behind Keith Beard and John Trower.

It was not a one-off either as all five of the Horsham Blue Star Harriers athlete's throws flew over the 60m mark to lift him to second in the national under-23 rankings.

Waller now has his sights set on becoming the UK No. 1 this summer as he attempts to follow in the footsteps of his mentor Backley.

He said: "It was only my second competition of the year so I was quite pleased with the way it went.

"The elbow injury kept me out almost all of last season and it was down to Steve that I got it sorted out.

"I've known him since I was part of the English throwing squad a couple of years ago and he was the coach. He has been a massive help to me over the years and even gave me the javelin I use at the moment.

Problems "He knew I was struggling with an injury last year and arranged for me to see his physio who worked out what was wrong straight away because Steve had suffered the same problems during his career.

"It's the second time I've had the injury but hopefully I'm over it now and can push on. To beat my previous personal best (58.92m) with all my throws and break a record as well was great.

"I could have thrown even further if it hadn't been for the wind and my next aim is to break 65m.

I'm second in the rankings now but I want to be No. 1 and I'm confident I can do it. It's only early in the season and I don't usually peak until halfway through the summer."

Leanne Buxton capped a stunning weekend by setting a new championship best to go with her haul of five gold medals and a bronze.

Buxton triumphed in the high jump, shot putt, 100m hurdles and long jump but saved her best performance for the 400m hurdles where she climbed to second on the Sussex all-time list with a time of 61.7sec.

The 29-year-old said: "Things are going really well at the moment and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.

"It's only my second event so I was pleased with my performances.

Obviously I was delighted with the hurdles and I was only four centimetres short of my PB in the long jump too.

"I came third in the heptathlon at the UK Championships last year but if I can build on this form then I hope to improve on that."

Rachael Ogden shrugged off an Achilles injury to complete a middle distance double - and then set her sights on qualifying for the World Championships.

The Worthing and District Harrier won the 1,500m in 4min.29sec on Saturday and followed it up with victory in the 800m in 2min.9.1sec yesterday.

Ogden, 27, said: "It was my first competition of the season so it was good to blow away the cobwebs even if the times were pretty atrocious.

"I've got to run a lot quicker if I am going to get anywhere near the World Championships but once I get this injury sorted out I feel I can really start getting my times down."

Kelly Denyer, of Worthing and District Harriers, beat Sussex record holder Carley Wenham in the 200m on her way to a sprint double in the senior ranks while Brighton and Hove City's Laura Hitchman went one better in the under-20 age group by clinching gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m.

Chichester's Simon Cooke took time out from revising for his final exams to add the county discus title to the British Universities gold he won last week, although he was disappointed with a best throw of 45.92m.

Gavin Selway won the senior 200m and 400m while Worthing decathlete Craig Baker kept himself busy, winning gold in the 110m hurdles, silver in the 200m, long jump and shot putt and bronze in the pole vault and discus.

Jake Scanlon celebrated a hattrick in the under-20 throws with victory in the hammer, discus and shot while Kayley Alcorn was even more prolific by claiming gold in the javelin, high jump, triple jump, 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles along with silver in the long jump and bronze in the shot putt.