HARD work paid big dividends for one of the area's most dramatically improved athletes at the Hampshire AA Track & Field Championships.

Emma Duck's surge up the national women's 400 metres hurdles rankings has been nothing short of astounding - particularly when you consider she is combining eight or nine punishing training sessions per week with a full-time job at the Royal South Hants Hospital.

Spurred on by Team Southampton training partner Sian Scott, 24-year-old Duck lived up to all expectations at Portsmouth's Mountbatten Centre, winning senior women's gold well inside the 58-second qualifying mark for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

It's still early days, but her time of 57.06 seconds was the fastest in the country this season and blitzed the existing Hampshire Championship best, set by Simone Gandy 18 years ago, by more than two seconds.

Although Duck has been prominent on the local scene ever since her schoolgirl days with Southampton City, the Townhill Park girl's rise from promising club athlete to the fringes of national recognition defies belief.

It was only towards the back end of last season that her persuasive coach Todd Bennett convinced her to step up from the sprint hurdles. Incredibly, Sunday's one-off Hampshire final was only her fifth competitive outing over the distance.

The real mark of her credentials will come at Loughborough this Sunday when she expects to face a strong national and international field for the first time ever.

Duck's success story has unfolded so fantastically fast that she now finds herself in a tricky predicament.

As an assistant manager of a busy outpatients' department, she works more than 40 hours a week, but will now be competing against full-time athletes.

She said: "I was considering giving up my job to concentrate on athletics last winter, but I thought it was too much of a risk in case I came out and didn't perform.

"Hopefully there'll be some sort of funding available for me now if I want to cut down my work hours, but because I'm over 23 I'm classed as an elite athlete and I need to run 56.1 to get full funding, which is tough."

At just 21, Bournemouth-based Scott is also an outstanding prospect. Running as a guest competitor at Portsmouth, she pushed Duck all the way to finish second in 58.35.

"Having Sian around is a big bonus because we train really well together," said Duck. "We're good friends too - off the track!"

While Commonwealth Games relay silver-medallist Melanie Purkiss sat out the Championships with a minor back/hamstring problems, another of Bennett's thriving sprint group, Robert Tobin, won the senior men's 200m in 21.85 seconds, having won his heat in a less windy 21.74.

The Basingstoke & Mid Hants one-lapper, who now runs second claim for Team Southampton, has been hampered by a sensitive nerve in his leg, but the 21-year-old should be fit to tackle his first 400m of the season at Loughborough on Sunday.

Isle of Wight strongman Andy Frost (Woodford Green) produced another of the weekend's top-notch performances. His winning hammer throw of 70.30 was a county record as well as a championship best, setting him up for a mouthwatering showdown with Commonwealth champion Mick Jones at the Inter-Counties Championships at Bedford (May 29-30).

Team Southampton javelin thrower Katy Watts also threw a senior championship/ personal best of 50.37, not far short of England's Commonwealth Games standard of 52 metres.

FOR MORE PICTURES FROM THE HAMPSHIRE TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS - SEE TODAY'S DAILY ECHO.