A Club Record, silver medal and 21 Personal Bests – not a bad start to the season!
Day 1 – 11th February
Minus 14 degrees, the Harriers set off on their way to the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham for the high quality competition of the Midland Indoor Championships. First up of the day was the U13 Boys Quadrathlon. Travis Bowley and Jack Pepperell were in action with Travis gaining 3 personal bests (Long Jump, Shot Put and 60m) and Jack gaining 4 (Long Jump, Shot Put, 60m and High Jump). Bradley Fox and Courtney Williams both gained personal bests in the 60m at 7.61 and 7.57 respectively. Last but certainly not least were the performances of Niamh Bailey. She gained a new personal best in the 60m Hurdles (9.82) and gained a Club Record in the Junior Ladies 200m (26.48), qualifying for the final in both. The Power of Ten stalker, Matthew Peleszok, aka Mr Oriental was also in action from his house seeing how much his athletes had improved.
Day 2 – 12th February
The first event of the 2nd day was the U13 Girls Quadrathlon. Freya Marlow and Katie Sutherland were the two representatives from Kettering. Once again both athletes gained a hefty amount of personal bests, Freya gaining 3 (60m, High Jump and Shot Put) and Katie gaining 4 in all events. The Gilbert Throwing Sisters, Daisy and Annie, were out in force as usual. Both throwing a new weight of shot, they gained respectable personal bests of 8.92 and 6.20. Gabrial Smith gained the only medal for Kettering with Silver in the U15 boys High Jump. He was also the only representative in any of the middle distance races, running the 800m in a time of 2:23.26. Bradley Fox and Niamh Bailey were back at the event for a second day. Bradley competed in the Long Jump with a reasonable distance of 5.62m and the High Jump at a height of 1.65m. Niamh eventually made the decision to take plunge and run the 400m in a personal best time of 61.35, she also gained a personal best in the 60m with a 8.06 clocking narrowly missing out on a medal by 0.06 seconds.
With a total of 21 personal bests, a club record and a silver medal gained by the 10 harriers, it is clear to see that a promising season is ahead for all. If dedication and commitment is applied, the success will continue throughout the season. The athletes would like to thank, Coach Caplis, Peleszok and Marlow for giving their time up to help guide their athletes throughout the competition. Also another thank you to the family of the athletes who came along to support. A final thank you goes to Sarah for arranging the bus and keeping us all sane over the weekend.
The club will continue to supply coach transport for all major competitions and league matches throughout the season.
Report written by Bradley Fox and Niamh Bailey.