The County Championships produced a fantastic return for the Harriers over the traditional 2 day of competition at the Corby Triangle track, where nearly 60 medals were won, 21 gold!
Middle Distance Squad
There were some brilliant performances over the weekend, with the squad returning a magnificent 11 Gold medals, with a total return of 26 medals (6 silver/ 9 Bronze), which is a superb result.
One of the standout performances from the weekend was a magnificent double Gold medal for the classic 800m/1500m for U13 Jacob Asher-Relf who produced a breath-taking run in the 800m almost 80m ahead of second place. Front running from the Bell Asher-Relf set a new Championship best performance by over 3 seconds with 2:12.7 just a fraction of his 2018 PB, and he now sits Number 2 in the UK rankings and with much more to come from the exciting youngster. The following day Asher-Relf ran his season opening 1500m and it was an almost identical result, taking the front from the start he controlled the pace throughout and finished powerfully 60m ahead of the field to show there is also much more to come over this distance as well. Asher-Relf comfortably won the Gold with a 4 second PB in 4:40.1 to move to third in the UK rankings.
Brilliant championship best performance by Jacob Asher-Relf in the U13B 800m
There were some strong performances in the 800m, a typical strong event for the Harriers, who secured x4 county titles in total in the event. With Jacob Asher-Relf taking the U13 B title, Harrier Dylan White secured a fantastic silver medal with a terrific race with R&N Arthur Tilt to set a great new PB of 2:25.3. U15 Ben Brooker who is making great strides in the event, swept all aside with a majestic performance to win his first county title in 2:10.7, his third PB in a row. Brooker ran a great race leading from the gun to tape to show the hard work he is putting in training is paying dividends. Lucas Rogers finished just out of the medals in 4th but set a new PB with 2:24.9.
The U15 girls showed their strength over 800m as well with bottom year U15 Alice Bennett running an excellent tactical race, sitting in behind the fast starting Silson athlete Emily Hinton, Bennett made her move with 300m to go with a powerful finish which never looked in doubt as soon as she hit the front to finish in a fine 2:20.3 to take the gold medal in style. Club colleague Alice Bates ran a fine opening 800m of he season just outside her PB to take a fine Bronze in 2:25.9 behind Hinton. U13 Magdalena Gancheva also ran a good PB in her race for 5th place in 2:44.5.
The final 800m Gold was won by Vet 45 Tony James who cruised to another fine victory in 2.11.0 with a strong run. In he same race Tom Jawad secured a bronze medal in the U20 Men’s race with 2:08.4, with U17 Dylan Bowley also securing a Bronze medal in an exciting U17 Men’s race which saw a royal battle to the line between three athletes, with Bowley just tiring 15m out and unable to hold off the eventual winner, Corby AC’s Archie Parkinson. Idayi Jumbe ran well for 7th place with 2:08.4 but he is still perhaps lacking the endurance over the final stages, and Calum Cox running his first 800m set a respectable 2:12.8 for 9th.
The squad also delivered 2 medals in he 5000m with Josh Cannell setting a fine new PB of 17:09.8, with Jack Watson also setting a new PB of 17:40.7 to claim a fine Bronze.
Day 2 for the squad was an even stronger day with squad winning 10 medals including 3 county titles ust in the longer sprints (300m/ 400m).
U15 Adam Jawad ran a superb race to take the 300m Gold in 39.5 just holding off R&N Elliott Powell who ran an identical time. In the same race Ben Brooker secured his second medal with a fine Bronze medal in 40.3. U15 Alice Bennet competing in her first ever 300m as a speed test showed her terrific raw pace with a superb silver medal in a highly respectable 43.4 , her second medal of the championships! The final medal over 300m saw Nicole Tenney grab a Bronze medal in the U17 W race.
There were 6 medal won in the 400m as well with a quite brilliant 1,2,3 in the U17 M 400m with Idayi Jumbe putting on a powerful display on 1 lap running winning the Gold in 55.6, with Josh Geddes bagging a fine Silver in 56.2 and Ryan Raulia the Bronze in 56.3. In the same Race Croatia bound Emily Williams enjoyed a sharpener with a fine run to take the U20 W Silver in 58.9. Tom Jawad not to be outdone by his younger brother stepped up to win the U20/SM 400m and take the Gold in a SB of 53.3.
300m/400m Golden trio Adam Jawad, Tom Jawad & Idayi Jumbe
In the 1500m, the squad produced a strong return with the previously mentioned Jacob Asher-Relf winning his second Gold starting the ball rolling in the U13 B race. Alice bates who by her own high standard was a little disappointed to take the bronze in the 800m n day 1 returned in the 1500m to put on a master class of dominant 1500m. Bates took on the race from the start with Silson’s Emily Hinton, who defeated her in a very close race to the line in 2018, paying close attention behind her. Bates continued to force the pace and after 800m Hinton slipped away to leave Bates to run against the clock, where she produced a fine performance to slice a further 2 seconds off her PB with a superb time of 4:50.8 and close in on an ES quail time of 4:48.
There was a magnificent 1,2 in the Boys U15 1500m race with Rio Carr and Luke Cole both leading from the gun to dominate the race, this continued until the final 100m when Cole just out-sprinted Carr to take the Gold. Both record impressive new PB’s Luke 4:36.4 & Rio 4:37.0.
Edward Cannell was right back in form with an inspired race in the SM 1500m to take his first County track Title, Cannell ran a new superb new PB of 4.22.9 to take the Gold. Younger brother Josh Cannell feeling the effects of the previous days PB in the 5,000m, bagged a fine Silver, his second of the weekend, in the U20 1500m, with Jack Watson, who had also ran a PB over the 5,000m & an earlier 400m, securing his second Bronze of the weekend.
These were the medal winning performances, there were many other impressive performances with PB’s set by many of the squad with a quite brilliant 2 days of competition, probably one of the squads best returns.
Sprint squad
Day one of the County Championships saw the sprint squad collect one gold medal, five silver medals, and three bronze. A total of nine PB’s were also achieved.
The U17 boys 200m was the race of the day with all five of the squad members in that age group qualifying for the final. Joe Bradley went on to win the race after running an outstanding bend, equalling his personal best of 23.2 seconds, the time that he also ran in his heat, which he also won. Max Mowforth picked up the silver medal with a run of 24.1 seconds, after producing a PB in his heat in which he also finished 2nd behind Joe. Cole Sinnott, just missed out on picking up the bronze medal, finishing 4th in a time of 24.3 seconds. In the heats, Oliver Laskey and Jack Abbott both produced PB’s with times of 24.5 seconds and 25.2 seconds respectively.
U17M 200m 1,2 with Joe Bradley taking the Gold & Max Mowforth the Silver
In the U17 girls age group, Cynthia Ike was untroubled, winning in a time of 26.3 seconds, having ran an excellent bend that saw her 3-4 metres up on her opponents coming off the bend. The time was just outside her PB of 26.2 seconds. Training partners Natalie Short and Annabelle Udo both ran PB’s in the same race, finishing 5th and 6th, in 28.1 seconds and 28.4 seconds. In 7th position was Matilda Braithwaite who ran 29.8 seconds. She also competed in the high jump where she picked up the silver medal, equalling her PB with a jump of 1.45 metres.
The U13 boys 200m saw William Robertson winning the silver medal in a time of 28.8 seconds. He later competed in the long jump where he also finished 2nd with a PB of 4.31 metres. Joining him in the 200m was Dion Martin who finished 6th in the final, after producing a PB of 31.4 seconds in the heat in which he finished 2nd. The U13 girls race saw Georgia Coker-Agar and Lulu Mowforth both qualify for the final, finishing 4th and 7th respectively in times of 29.9 seconds and 32.2 seconds. In the heats Lulu produced a PB of 31.6 seconds.
Both athletes in the U15 boys 200m qualified for the final, with Dawud Forbes just missing out on a medal, finishing 4th in a time of 26.3 seconds, having ran a PB of 26.2 seconds in his heat. Daniel Short meanwhile produced two PB’s on the day, running 28.1 seconds in his heat, and 27.5 seconds in the final. The U15 girls race was a straight final and saw Jasmine Anderson pick up the bronze medal in a time of 29.2 seconds. Finishing 4th was Scarlett Maxwell-Munn in a time of 29.7 seconds, and 5th was Sonal Rathod in a time of 30.1 seconds. Scarlett also competed in the high jump where she produced a jump of 1.35 metres to win gold.
U20 men, Achim Loibl and Dylan Mukhtar picked up silver and bronze medals in the 200m in times of 23.8 seconds and 24.1 seconds. In the women’s race, Alex Beale won the silver medal in a time of 27.5 seconds. Veteran man, Nick Breeze picked up the bronze medal in his race in a time of 26.4 seconds. He followed this up with a leap of 4.95m in the long jump.
Day two was just as successful as the previous day with athletes winning two gold medals, three silver medals, and four bronze. A total of nine PB’s were also achieved.
The outstanding race of the day was once again came from the U17 boys age group in which Logan Reid ran a blisteringly fast 100m to win his race in a PB of 10.9 seconds. This not only equalled the Championship Best Record, but also lowered his club record that he had set the previous week, and placed him second in the UK U17 rankings. The race produced a hat trick of medalists with Logan’s training partners Joe Bradley winning the silver medal in a time of 11.5 seconds that equalled his PB, and Max Mowforth winning the bronze in a PB of 11.7 seconds. Jack Abbott also ran a PB of 12.1 to finish 6th in the final, while Oliver Laskey ran 12.6 seconds to finish 10th.
Logan Reid 100m Gold, equal Championship Best Performance & UK No2 ranking
U13 girls Georgia Coker-Agar & Lulu Mowforth both ran well in their 100m heats with Georgia qualifying for the final. The U15 girls saw Jasmine Anderson collect the bronze medal in a time of 14.1 seconds, with Sonal Rathod, finishing 4th in a PB of 14.1 seconds. Scarlett Maxwell-Mann, U15 girl, stepped up to the 300m for the day, finishing in 5th place in the final in a time of 48.9 seconds, after running 48.2 in her heat.
In the U13 boys age group, William Robertson, won the gold medal in the 100m in a personal best time of 13.5 seconds. U15 boy Dawud Forbes picked up the bronze medal in the 100m in a PB of 12.6 seconds. Finishing 4th was his training partner Daniel Short who also ran a PB of 13.2 seconds.
Cynthia Ike, U17 girl, equalled her season best of 12.7 seconds in the 100m to win the gold medal, the bronze went to Natalie Short who ran a PB of 13.3 seconds. In 5th position was Annabelle Udo in a time of 13.9 seconds.
The U20 age group saw Alex Beale win the silver medal in the women’s race in a time of 13.2 seconds. Lewis-Morgan Barton, U20 man, ran a PB of 11.4 seconds to win the silver medal, with Achim Loibl picking up the bronze medal in a time of 11.7 seconds, and Dylan Mukhtar finishing 5th in 12.2 seconds. Veteran, Nick Breeze, won the silver medal in the 100m in his age group, in a time of 12.9 seconds.
The Senior men’s 400m saw Chris Johnson finish 5th in a time of 57.0 seconds, while in the U20 men’s 400m hurdles, Josh Gray won the gold in a time of 62.6 seconds
Throws Report
The Hammer Competition was depleted this year but did not fail to impress with U15 Katie Gibson breaking her County & the Club Record and attaining a new PB with a throw of 45.43m, to win the Gold and set a new Championship Best Performance and storm to no2 in the UK rankings. Senior Matt Bell struck Gold with a throw of 44.78m and Vet Lorna Barlow threw a new PB with 29.6m.
U15 Katie Gison with a superb Gold in the Hammer & Championship Best Performance
In the U15 Girls Shot Sophie Barlow maintained current form collecting a fine Bronze Medal with 7.33m.
Personal best performances were on display in the U17 Girls Shot with Matilda Braithwaite 8.65m and Annabelle Udu 8.76m.
In the Veteran women’s Shot Lorna Barlow took bronze with 6.55m whilst Wilika Carr impressed with a throw of 6.6m.
Wilikia Carr took to the Javelin runway on Sunday and showed fine technique of this recently learnt event to throw 14.64m and taking away a gold medal.
Middle Distance runner Jack Watson made his yearly outing to the throws circle to retain the U20 Discus title with 12.76m.
Well done to all the athletes who competed, many more set fine new PB's, and will look to feature in the medal winning performances in future years!