Three of the Harriers Young athletes have gained selection for the prestigious English Schools championships, from the Middle Distance squad, Emily Williams competing in the Inter Girls 1500m, will be joined by two athletes just beginning their journey into top level competition, Junior girls Hammer Katie Gibson & Sprinter Cynthia Ike in 100m. All three had to meet challenging qualification times and impress selectors at the recent county schools & Mason trophy schools championships.
Emily Williams the 2017 800m champion, currently on international duty at the European athletics U18 championships will switch events to contest the 1500m, an event she is focusing on this season to gain championship race experience. Williams is the UK No1 ranked athletes at 1500m, and will make a final decision if she is able to compete immediately after the U18 championships are concluded.
For two athletes, Katie Gibson & Cynthia Ike this is the first time they have been selected for the premier athletics championship in England and both were delighted to selected.
Katie Gibson a bottom year junior athlete currently ranked 4th in the UK will gain valuable experience competing in her first major championship, and stated that she “Is very excited to be selected for English Schools she is looking forward to competing for Northamptonshire against the very best under 15’s in the country for Hammer throwing”.
Katie Gibson looking forward to competing against the best U15's in the Country
Throws coach Matt Bell, a former English schools winner who competed on 6 occasions at all 3 age categories in the Hammer, was delighted his protégé was following in his footsteps. Matt commented, “I am extremely happy to see Katie continuing the tradition for the county to have a hammer thrower entered into the competition”.
Sprint Coach, Ann Inniss-Haycox, was also proud to have guided Cythia Ike to her first English Schools Championship “I’m so pleased that Cynthia has been selected for the County team. Her selection is thoroughly deserved. She has ran the entry standard a couple of times so far this season, and has been doing some consistently good performances in league meetings. I know she will represent the County Schools very well in her debut at this meeting”.
Cynthia Ikelooking forward to competing at her first English Schools Championships
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The ESAA National Championships are the 4th largest athletics event in the World... staged each year and organised entirely by volunteer teachers, bringing together the best athletes in each County in England to compete for the honour of being the best athlete in the Country at their event. Nearly all the UK Olympic Athletics team members have featured in the ESAA Championships.
The 88th ESAA Track & Field Championships will be held at Birmingham Alexander International Stadium on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th July 2017, and is considered to be the best athletic competition for U15-U20 in the UK, so KTH is rightly proud to have three athletes selected for this premier event, and we wish them the best of luck.