Epsom & Ewell’s international high jumper Julia Machin returns to the annual Surrey county outdoor champion-ships at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday after an absence of two years.

Machin, formerly Julia Bennett, will be competing in the senior women’s high jump (11am) and the long jump (3pm).

She goes into the meet in good form, having set a UK age group indoor record for over-40s at Lee Valley in March, clearing 1.78m.

Now 40, she last competed in the outdoor championships in 2007, when she took gold in the senior high jump and silver in the long jump.

She also won the high jump at the indoor championships at Sutton in 2007, 2009 and in March this year.

Machin has been competing in county championships for almost three decades, having made her debut as an 11-year-old at Wimbledon Park in 1981, when she finished ninth in her U13 girls’ 800m heat.

She reached her first final in 1983, finishing fifth in the U15 girls’ high jump, and came 10th in the long jump.

Her first medal came in 1985, taking bronze in the U17 women’s high jump at Motspur Park, with her first title coming three years later, when she won the women’s heptathlon at Woking.

Also in 1988, Machin won the first of many high jump gold medals at Tooting Bec, with a then-personal best of 1.70m.

In all, she has won the county outdoor title 11 times and the indoor championship four.

She boasts a high jump best of 1.92m, set in winning the English women’s indoor title at RAF Cosford in 1990.

Tomorrow’s programme at Kingsmeadow starts at 10am.

The final event, the U15 boys’ 400m, is due off at 5.25pm.

l The first Rosenheim League east division match of the season takes place at Battersea Park next Wednesday, starting at 6.45pm.