Mandar girl Priyanka Kerketta is the new junior national long jump champion with a record leap of 6.30m.

The 19-year-old trainee from Sports Authority of India, Ranchi, eclipsed the 2002 meet record of 6.25m set by Ruta Patkar of Railways in Mumbai in the junior girls' section of the 15th Federation Cup athletics championship, which concluded at P.A.C. Stadium in Lucknow on Monday.

Priyanka, who was also adjudged the best athlete of the championship, received a pat from none other than her idol and ace long jumper Anju Bobby George, who was present at the venue.

That was the icing on her cake.

"Anju's presence inspired me a lot. I was determined to win gold. I think I had a good start and that helped me leap to that distance. A good start always matters," Priyanka, who also picked up a triple jump bronze, said over telephone from Lucknow.

Priyanka, who is from Mandar, added she was confident of coming up with a good show at the national meet. "I trained hard and focused on the job of winning gold," she said.

Besides Priyanka's two, Jharkhand slotted home five more medals thanks to Gumla's Anurupa Kumari (100m hurdles, gold and 400m, silver), Ramdeo Tigga (Simdega, triple jump, silver) Ramgarh's Sapna Kumari (100m hurdles, silver) and Vijay Lakra (Simdega, javelin throw bronze).

Jharkhand team manager Sikandar Mahto said Priyanka was in excellent form and the presence of Anju Bobby George pepped up her spirit. "Priyanka was already high on confidence and performed as expected. We are also happy with the overall performance of the team which picked up seven medals," he said from Lucknow.

Jharkhand Athletics Association (JAA) president M.K. Pathak said the boys and girls performed way better than they were expected to. They admitted they were expecting three-four medals. "I congratulate Priyanka and the entire team for bringing laurels to Jharkhand," he added.