GOLDS for Amber Valley AC duo Ryan Newton and Michael Bosworth topped the highlights on a medal-laden day for Derbyshire at the Aviva Sportshall UK Finals in Birmingham.

Newton and Bosworth raced to victory in the eight-lap Paarlauf race at the flagship junior athletics development event of 2009.

Newton added a bronze in the two-lap race, while a string of county athletes came home with silver medals on a day when the East Midlands was represented by Derbyshire teams in all four categories – boys' and girls' under-13 and under-15 age groups.

Suzzi Palmer took the only under-15 girls' medal of the day when she came second in the standing long jump.

Palmer was also close to a medal in the shot, finishing fourth, but the promising all-rounder was disappointed with a stumble in her two-lap race when she might have finished higher than the creditable sixth place she managed.

Ripley's Tom Bridge, who took gold in the shot last year, claimed silver this time.

Chellaston's Jonathan Heath pulled out the stops to come second in the under-15 boys' standing triple jump.

His medal-winning effort came with his third and final jump after two no-jumps.

Bridge, 14, said: "I can be happy with second. The boy who won was amazing. He threw nearly 15m and my best is 13.53m.

"I can definitely improve and, hopefully, win an event like this soon. I'm moving to the top-end of shot."

Newton, 15, received his award from Beijing Olympic heptathlete Kelly Sotherton, as did many of the day's medal-winners, and is convinced his meeting with Sotherton will drive him on to bigger and better things

"Meeting Kelly Sotherton was definitely the highlight of the day because she is a real inspiration," said Newton.

"I really enjoy athletics. It's good fun and I find it quite easy.

"It's great just seeing how fast you can go and who you can beat.

"I had a brilliant day out and got a medal to top it all off.

"I think just getting here is about as happy as I've been about any achievement."

In the team event, the under-13 girls performed best on the day, finishing third of the 12 county teams.

Chesterfield's Sarah Sanders was among the first to win a medal, taking silver in the standing long jump, an achievement matched later by her team-mate Kat Scott in the standing triple jump.

Sanders and Scott then landed another silver when they teamed up with Amber Valley pair Megan Bruce and Imogen Cresswell in the 4x1 lap relay race.

The under-13 boys' team finished sixth overall, with Derby's Reevan Harrison adding to the silver tally in the high jump.

Harrison just missed out on gold on countback after matching the best leap of the day, 1.54m.

In the under-15 events, the boys' team came seventh overall and the girls 10th.

Derbyshire's medal tally was completed by bronze-winning efforts from Molly Mee and Katherine Molyneux (under-13 girls' eight-lap Paarlauf) and Jamie Turner (under-15 boys' four-lap race).

The Derbyshire medal winners' names join Sotherton herself in the Sportshall athletics records. She tasted success at the event in 1992.

"It's a massive platform for young athletes and there are a lot who have come through this and gone on to bigger and better things," said Sotherton.

"I won it in my last year, when I was 15 – and that same year I started my international career, so it's a great platform for kids to participate in.

"It helped me go on to the next level and I'm sure a lot will do the same in the next few years.

"It's a fantastic stepping stone for people to go on and get themselves England vests and Great Britain vests and these are the ones who will be doing that in the future."

Aviva Sportshall is part of Aviva's commitment to giving every child in the UK the opportunity to participate in athletics, creating a long-term legacy for the sport and unearthing future champions. To find out more about Aviva grassroots schemes, visit www.aviva.com/athletics.