TENDRING Technology College had two medallists at the British Schools Individual Championships, in Sheffield.

Year 12 student Alana Taylor Weeden added another gold to her collection and Henry Spooner, from year ten, also reached the podium with a silver.

Strong performances by Kacper Lesnieski (fifth), Evelyn Silvester (seventh) and Nathan Elmer backed up the medallists to put Tendring an amazing fourth overall in the points table.

For Taylor Weeden, it was the second time she has been crowned British Schools champion.

However, it certainly wasn’t a formality.

With one remaining contest, she had won all but one of her contests with some fantastic throwing and had to face the undefeated group leader.

A loss would mean she would head home with the bronze, but the win would keep the group open for the gold.

With two huge throws, her opponent was made to look very ordinary and the contest was won.

This meant a three-way tie at the top of the table, which meant a fight off between them and a nervy end to the day.

This is where Taylor Weeden showed her class, controlling both contests and disposing of the other two contenders with huge throws in 32 and 31 seconds respectively to take the title.

Having come close to the medals in previous years, it was a long overdue medal at this level for Spooner.

Excelling in his new age group, he was still going to need to raise his game for his first opponent - a Scottish national squad player who had placed fifth at last year's National Championships.

In a true battle, Spooner had to escape from a difficult hold, which he turned into a hold of his own and then a strangled which ended the contest with a submission.

This positioned him well for his coming contests and he finished top of the group to go on to the semi-finals.

With some well-drilled groundwork, Spooner turned his opponent over and held on for the win to take his place in the final.

In the final, he met an on-form player that was quick to take the lead, which Spooner was unable to match. However, he could not complain, taking the silver.

Year eight student Kacper Lesniewski had some good wins on his way through to the semi-finals but just missed out on the place in the final.

He was then edged out in the bronze medal contest by a narrow margin to come a creditable fifth.

Year ten student Evelyn Silvester was caught with a strangle in her first contest by the eventual silver medallist but bounced back with a huge throw in her next to put her back on course for a medal.

A tough contest against her next opponent saw her come close to winning, but it wasn’t to be on this occasion, finishing seventh.

All four train at Walton Judo Club and were joined by fellow club member Yousuf Evloev, who was representing Philip Morant, in Colchester.

He also picked up a medal, taking a bronze in the year six to seven under-42kg category.

Walton Junior Judo Club can now lay claim to helping four different players achieve six medals in the last four years at the championships, which is a remarkable achievement for a small club.

This followed the South of England Open the previous week, where the club were also well-represented, with Taylor Weeden taking a silver in the under-21s, Daragh Bucke taking a bronze in the under-12s and Yousuf and Ahmed Evloev taking silver and bronze respectively in the under-12s.