The Scottish U20 record, for the 6 kilo weight, was bettered by an astonishing 1 metre 20 cm, as former Haute Vall?e and Highlands student Stevenson threw in the company of the world’s top performers.
Stevenson, a medal winner for Jersey at Island Games and Jeux des Iles, as well being a multiple schoolboy national champion for both England and Scotland, was delighted with his putt of 17.76m.
Now under the wing of former Olympian Geoff Capes, Stevenson has clearly made good progress since taking up a scholarship at Loughborough and has been exceeding 18 metres in training.
His aim for 2008 is to qualify for the World Youth Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in July.
The Jersey Spartan and Sportingbet CIAC thrower will need to throw 19 metres to compete at such a high level, but that now looks within his reach, particularly with the level of competition he is now getting.
A training session with World senior champion Reese Hoffa of the United States yesterday will certainly serve him well ahead of the South of England indoor championships and Irish Nationals, next month.
Stevenson, 18 this month, is only a few days too old to appear for Jersey in the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India, but qualifying for the Worlds would be more than ample compensation for this towering talent.
