Kettering's Peyton Almond become the 9th Harrier in the last 10 years to win an English Schools medal at a National Championships in the most unlikely of circumstances. Almond who is a middle distance athlete, was drafted into the mixed 4x 100m relay team and she grasped her chance to help secure a brilliant Bronze Medal for Northants Inter's at the English Schools National T&F Championships.
Peyton Almond (second from the left) part of the medal winning Inter-Mixed 4x100m team
Left to right, Kieran McBeth, Peyton Almond, Jasmine Jessamy, Issac Lloyd Uzoegbu
In her main event, the 1500m, Almond had struggled in her heat on the Friday with a below par performance, a combination of the effects on a week long virus and the brutal 30 degree heat. Almond although disappointed but perhaps not surprised with her performance, remained positive and was expecting to be a spectator on the sideline on the Saturday. Enter the call for her to compete for the 4x100m mixed relays for the U17 (Inters), which included three recognised sprinters all with high UK rankings. Almond stepped forward despite short sprints not being her main event, even though she enjoys good rankings for the longer sprints of 200m/ 300m/ 400m. Despite this, the prospect of running the opening leg in a 100m relay with zero experience in the most high profile championship of the season would fill many with dread.
Peyton Almond (57) in action in her 1500m heats
Almond opening leg with the team of Jasmine Jessamy (2nd leg), Issac Lloyd Uzoegbu (3rd leg) and anchor Kieran McBeth stormed through to the final with a superb second place in their heat for automatic qualification in 45.68 in a close battle with Avon (45.71). Northants were 7th fastest team in the final.
With no expectation for a podium finish, the quartet lined up for the final, with a nervous Almond starting the relay race with starting blocks, with just a short session of block starting in preparation for her first ever 400m just a few weeks earlier.
The Northants Mixed Relay team delivered a gutsy and composed performance overcoming drama on and off the track to claim a superb bronze medal. Almond on the lead leg got the team off to a great start, showing her natural speed and fantastic composure to hand over in strong contention with the leading pack. Jessamy on leg 2 held her nerve and closed in on top three, keeping Northants firmly in the medal hunt. The drama unfolded during the leg 3/4 changeover, as a rival team dropped the baton—opening the door for the Northampton pair of Lloyd Uzoegbu (leg 3) and McBeth (leg 4) to surge through. McBeth powered home to secure what looked to be a well-earned third place finish, or was it.
Celebrations were initially cut short when the team were agonisingly disqualified, for an infringement, with Almond experiencing a full range of emotions in just a few short minutes. An appeal from the Northants team manager confirmed that a track judge mistakenly recorded the wrong number via radio communication and the team were reinstated. Sadly with the delays during the appeal the team were denied their moment of glory on the podium, which is a massive shame for the quartet, especially as Northants had also secured Bronze medals in both the other mixed relays (Juniors and Seniors). None the less this was a brilliant team effort, full of character, precision, and determination, and for Almond a rich reward for stepping forward to compete in an event well outside of her comfort zone.
For the other x5 Harriers competing at the championships there was mixed fortunes, with all sadly failing to progress through to their finals in the caldron of the UK’s premier championship.
Marianna Owen, ran a super race in the JG 1500m, in the seeding she was the 4th fastest in her heat and with just 4 to qualify she knew exactly what she needed to do in order to progress. Sadly this did not materialise despite a fantastic effort from Owen, who maintained a prominent top 4 position throughout the race running confidently. On the final lap with 250m to go she was closed down and she had nothing to give in return eventually finishing in in 6th place just 3 seconds from the 4th place finisher in 4:49.26. Owen was disappointed not to progress but with the brutal conditions perhaps playing their part, she will take heart that she gave it her best finishing 19th out of the 41 athletes competing.
Marianna Owen (57) with a superb effort in her 1500m heat, just missing out of automatic qualification
Clara Booth experiencing her first ES Championships as a JG over 800m was in an impossibly hard position with 5 heats and just the winner and 3 fastest losers progressing she had no illusions as to her task ahead of her. Booth gave it a great go in heat 3, running a positive race and making the right moves throughout, she was in contention to win her heat with 100m to go in 2nd place, with 6 athletes all mounting their final challenge. Booth was unable to produce her final kick, and she faded in the final 50m to 6th place in her heat, finishing in a very respectable 23rd out of 43 athletes competing, and she will take this experience with her for future years.
Clara Booth (9) with a fantastic race in the JG 800m but sadly missing out on qualification to the final
Sprinters, Harry Smith and Aaron Ampofo were competing at the championships for the first time. On the Friday, Harry competed in the Junior Boys 300m. He was seeded to compete in heat 1, the toughest of the 3 heats, which saw 4 of the athletes from that heat progress through to the final. He had a strong run from lane 6 in the first two phases of the race, but sadly he was only able to finish 6th and, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to progress through to the final. His time was a creditable 38.01 seconds.
Harry Smith with a strong run in the JB 300m but in a tough heat he was not able to progress to the final
Aaron was seeded in heat 3 of the Junior Boys 200m, and had the slowest PB going into the race than his other competitors. Also drawn in lane 6, he was able to remain reasonably close to the other athletes in the race, and also finished 6th, lowering his automatically timed PB to 24.32 seconds. His performance was hampered by a flare up of growing pains that affected his back.
Aaron Ampofo finishing 6th in his heat with a new electronic timed PB
Both athletes thoroughly enjoyed their experiences at the championships, representing the squad extremely well. They have also already expressed a determination to work hard in training to put themselves in a good position to be selected next year. For Harry, this year was his final year competing over the 300m distance. He will transition to the 400m next season. Their next major meeting will be the England U15 Championships in Birmingham on 8th-10th August.
In the throws, George Mills performed well in the Inter-Boys Javelin, throwing 48.14m in his first throw, just short of his seasons best to finish in a respectable 15th place.
George Mills with a very respectable 15th place finish in the Inter-Boys Javelin
Well done to all the Harriers who represented the club and county with distinction in the most prestigious competition of the year.