HER mum finished seventh in the discus in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada – and it looks like Sam Callaway is a chip off the old block.

Sam, 14-year-old daughter of former English record holder Debbie, showed exactly why she is ranked number one under-15 girl in the country with another powerhouse performance in Saturday's Hampshire Schools’ Championships at the Mountbatten Centre.

Her winning throw of 35.27 metres set her a class apart from the rest of the junior girls’ field and smashed the previous championship best of 34.70 set by Southampton’s Jane Curtis in 1975.

It did not, however, go down as a personal best for Callaway, a pupil at Romsey’s Hampshire Collegiate School.

Last month she launched a monster throw of 36.90 in the under-18 competition at the Bedford International Games.

With many of Britain’s elite athletes competing at Bedford, some of that stardust rubbed off on young Callaway who rose magnificently to the occasion.

“There were older people throwing quite far that day and it felt good to be in a serious competition,” she smiled.

Mum Debbie, who threw 58.56 in her prime, is hoping Sam can reproduce some of that Bedford magic at next month’s English Schools’ Championships in Gateshead (July 8/9).

As a first-year junior, she finished fourth in 2015 with 33.23, but has come on in leaps and bounds since then.

“We’re going there to win it, but it just depends what other people do on the day,” said Debbie.

Sam’s personal best was set in the fourth round at Bedford – a luxury she and her fellow throwers were not afforded on Saturday where throws were restricted to three rounds.

It is something dad Dave Callaway, a former throws international-turned-coach, would like the schools to address.

“Cutting the number of throws from six to three is terrible for some of these kids,” he said. “I’ve seen two or three of them walk out in tears today.

“They’re trying out a big competition, but if they have a bad first throw they go into the second one under pressure, knowing they need to get something in.

“Luckily Sam managed to get a good throw in the last round, but some of them didn’t and my fear is that these kids might get disheartened and retire. It’s not a good bridging stone for them.”

Sam was not the only Callaway on the Hampshire Schools' winners’ rostrum. Older brother Matt won the senior boys’ discus with a personal best 45.21. The Peter Symonds College student finished sixth at English Schools last year.