HIGH-JUMPER Poppy Lake won her first national indoors title in Birmingham on Sunday – and then admitted she will have to start rethinking her ambitions this summer.

Lake cleared 1.70m at her second attempt to take the under-17 women’s title on countback from Reading’s Georgina Westwood.

The Southend High School for Girls pupil was delighted with the win and her form, which she says has given her belief she can get close to 1.80m when the summer season comes around.

“I’ve been working really hard this winter,” said Lake, 16. “I’ve gone back to my old coach, Phil Sergeant, and he has got me enjoying jumping again.

“I’ve been doing a lot of weights and conditioning work at the Excel Gym, in Southend, and that is really paying off.

“I was not looking to jump as high as I’ve done so early in the season.

“I was so close to clearing 1.73m (Lake’s personal best set last summer) in Birmingham and that’s given me real belief and made me rethink my targets for the summer.

“I want to be jumping consistently over 1.70m and reaching up towards 1.80m.”

Lake will have plenty of opportunites to do that, including one at the Olympic Stadium in May when she takes part in the UK School Games, which is being used as a test event for the main Games.

“I was told after the weekend that I had been selected and that’s going to be so exciting,” she said.

* Stanford-le-Hope’s Hayley McLean was sixth in the under-20 women’s 60m hurdles final (8.79s), while Benfleet’s Georgia Green-Muid ran 10.36s in the heats.

Rayleigh’s Mitch Etheridge was seventh in the men’s under-20 pole vault.