COACH Erik Little reckons Wildern schoolboy Adam Jones is more serious about his athletics than he likes to make out.

Jones, a talented all-rounder who ranks No1 in the UK for the under-17 men’s high jump, has given up multi-eventing for the time being because the distractions of exams, socialising and looking for Sunday job have left little time to train.

But even though the 6ft tall 16-year-old says he doesn’t see himself “as a big high jumper”, he has regularly been scaling two metres-plus this year and has already bagged himself the Hampshire County and Hampshire Schools’ crowns at Portsmouth’s Mountbatten Centre.

Having successfully cleared 2.02 metres at the Schools’ Championships on Saturday, he set his sights on bettering his personal best of 2.04 by an extra centimetre but failed in three attempts at 2.05.

“I reckon I could do it, but I’m not used to jumping such big heights and I don’t really see myself as a big high jumper,” Jones shrugged afterwards.

His Canadian coach Little thinks athletics means more to Jones than the talented teenager lets on.

“Adam keeps his seriousness inside, but you can tell it’s there because he yawns when he’s getting ready to jump and that’s one way of keeping anxiety in check,” he said.

“Adam likes the fun of it as well and could basically pick his events.

“He’s got good athleticism in power and speed, but he’s not fond of the endurance events.”

Jones finished fifth in last season’s English Schools’ Championships as a first-year intermediate last summer and will be looking to break into the high jump medals at Gateshead next month (July 10/11).