Massive congratulations to Erin Healy & Emily Williams who both secured English Schools qualification times on a super weekend of competition in the Heart of England league/ BMC Corby/ Midland league. Erin equalled the 100m qualification time of 12.8 in a super race at the HOE, and Emily Williams dipped 0.6 seconds below the 800m 2:19 qualification time with her opening 800m race at the BMC Corby meeting.
Middle Distance squad round up
In the Middle Distance squad there were some outstanding PB’s and performances on a gloriously sunny day at the Kettering track which was hosting a Heart of England match for the first time. U11 Alfie Frayne again extended his U11 club record for the Howler to 41.7m in winning the competition, and he also won the 600m race setting an impressive new PB in of 1:52.6 winning in style to slice over a second of his lifetime best and edge closer to the club record held by club colleague Dylan Bowley.
The squad 800m runners were in good shape with U15 Dylan Bowley, who is in scorching early season form, following on from his impressive 1500m PB from Watford a few days earlier, slicing over 4 seconds off his PB to easily win the A race in 2:10.1, and U15 Henri codling also enjoyed a great opening race in completing the double in easily winning the 800m B race in 2:16.7, in the U17M 800m Thomas Jawad run a superb opening 800m to show real class and knock an incredible 14 seconds from his PB to finish in second place in the A race with 2:08.3, and U17 Alex King followed up with a terrific run to win the B race in 2:12.5. There were also new PB’s for U17 Harriett Jolley (2:32.9), U15 Natalie Short (2:37.5), U13 Mia Watts (2:59.1) who all finished in 3rd place, U15 Alice Gammon making her KTH track debut 2:40.1 in 2nd place, and u13 Ben Brooker who finished in 4th place in 2:47.4.
In the longer sprints the harriers MD squad also showed their pace with u15 henri Codling looking impressive finishing in 2nd place in a new PB of 42.3, U20 Hannah Winstone in 45.4 U15 Blainne Conway 48.9 in 4th place & U15 Natalie Short in 45.3 for 4th place.
In the 1500m there were also a number of PB’s set, U13 Macy Crick 6:16.3, U15 Daisy Robinson 5:42.7, U17 Sophie Moss 5:24.0, & U15 Ben Holborow 5:20.1
In the BMC, meeting held on the same glorious warm, if not gusty afternoon at Corby a number of the squad were in action seeking fast times at the paced BMC meeting, and U15 Emily Williams was successful in securing an English Schools qualification time for the second year running in her opening 800m at the same venue/ event with a solid opening race of 2:18.39 and she will look to build on this on route to her second ES championships (if selected). U17 Jake Trent went sub 2:00 with his opening race with a fine 1:59.11, which could well have been quicker if he had not split in a scorching 56 seconds, showing that he should be able to achieve the ES quali time of 2:18 in the next few races, as will U20 Ella Palmer who was also just over a second of ES quali with a fine opener of 2:17.84.
Making her 800m debut Krisztina Kurucz, the squads latest recruit from Hungary, ran a fine race to challenge club colleague dannielle McCann Gaskell to the line with seasons opener of 2:33.37 to show she will have much more to give as she gets back into hard training from a 2-3 year break, with Danni setting a SB of 2:33.22.
In the 1500m, both Elana Albery & Bethan Lewis set new PB’s in their opening race to show they will be challenging to magical 5:00 barrier this season, with Elana running a fine race for 5:13.57, and Bethan in 5:18.32 finishing strongly in the closing stages, just behind her club colleague.
There were two harriers in action in the 3,000m race, and the windy conditions took their toll with Josh Cara setting a solid opener of 9:17.6, and Fynn Batkin slightly disappointed with his 9:26.38 following his PB set at the super-fast Watford open a few weeks earlier.
The final action over a busy weekend was with the small squad who travelled to Stourport in the opening Midland league and a chance for the squad to race over less familiar distances, with Thomas Jawad showing his raw speed endurance with a fine new PB of 55.9 following on from hi big 800m PB the day earlier, Josh Cannel also setting new PB’s for 800 (2:38.8) & 400m (63.8), and Krisztina Kurucz also setting a UK PB of 65.2.
Edward Cannell ran a 5k in brutally hot conditions and did well to finish in 18:06. Claudia Nevett was the only KTH win of the day when she easily won the women’s 1500m.
Well done to all who competed over the weekend, the County Championships are the next challenge with many of the squad likely to be competing for medals!
Sprint Sqaud
Athletes in the sprint squad put in some fine performances on the day, recording PBs', club records, and climbing up the national rankings.
Some excellent sprinting by Erin Healy saw her record an English Schools qualifying time of 12.8 when she won the U15 girls 100m. She then followed this up with a win in a season best time of 26.4 in the 200m. The time was just outside the English Schools qualifying time of 26.3 which she is sure to achieve very soon. Both runs raised her ranking in the UK to 23rd in the 100m, and 20th in the 200m.
In the U15 girls 100m B race, Annabelle Clotworthy won in a personal best time of 13.5. Ellen Smith also won the 200m B race, recording a personal best time of 27.8.
U15 boys Dylan Mukhtar, Lewis-Morgan Barton, and Josh Gray all recorded PBs' in their events. Dylan recorded times of 12.4 and 25.2, winning both races, while Lewis-Morgan won the 200m B race in a time of 26.0, and Josh won the 100m B race in 12.5. The trio, joined by Henri Codling from the middle distance squad, then went on to win the 4 x 100m relay.
Tyrese Parris-Smith and Niamh Monaghan represented the sprint squad well in their events in the U17 age group. Tyrese, who prior to this season, last competed in a sprint event in 2012, lowered his PBs' to 12.0 & 24.2 when he finished 4th in both events. Meanwhile, Niamh also ran PB times when finishing 5th in the 100m in a time of 13.9, and 6th in the 200m in a time of 28.7
Max Mowforth continued to impress in the U13 boys 100m and 200m. He won both races, recording personal best times of 12.6 and 26.4. Both performances were club records and have increased his UK ranking to 2nd in the 100m, and 4th in the 200m.
Cole Sinnott recorded a personal best of 13.7 in the U13 boys B 100m, while Sam Harrison equaled his personal best of 27.7 in the 200m B race. Max and Cole later both joined forces with twins Ryan & Brandon Raulia to win the 4 x 100m relay.
Multi event report
In the Under 11 age category newcomers Aaron Holloway and Oliver McAllister both gained PBs in their events 600m, 75m, howler and long jump. In the girls only Ruby McLeod and Kate Nelis of those selected were available. Both performed really well in their 600m, 75m and long jump. Alfie Frayne excelled himself with new PBs in the 600m and howler for a massive club record of 41.7m. The mixed relay team finished in 4th place.
In the U13 category unfortunately in the girls team a few athletes failed to attend and therefore there were some last minute call ups for Alice Barton and Nicole Mukthar to the relay team who with Mille Webb and Jessica Williams came 5th which was a great effort. Jessica Williams made a fine debut in the league in the 70m hurdles, long jump and 200m. Scarlett Maxwell Munn also made a great debut in the 70m hurdles and a very fine high jump clearance of 1.25. Millie Webb also ran just outside her best in the 200m and the long jump.
In the U13 boys Twins Ryan and Brandon had busy days both performing very well in the 75m hurdles for 1st and 2nd, with the same positions in the javelin and Ryan 3rd in the high jump. Both were also involved in the relay team with two outstanding sprinters (see sprint report). Sam Harrison and Cole Sinnott better known for their sprint ability also did extremely well in shot - 1st place for Sam - shot and long jump a pb for Cole for 2nd place.
In the u15 Girls category the ever dependable Matilda Braithwaite had a busy day and performed well in the hurdles, shot and a pb in the javelin as well as filling in with the relay team. Bertie Kwei-Tagoe jumped a fine 1.30 in the high jump for 4th place in a high quality field. Olivia Knibb also, always willing to take part for points ran well in the 800m as a guest and helped score points in the shot and javelin.
In the U15 Boys Joshua Gray back from a long injury ran exceptionally well in the hurdles for 1st as well as a 1st in the B 100m as well as long jump for 4th and also was part of the winning relay team. Lewis-Morgan also won the B hurdles and 200m as well as the high jump in a new pb of 1.57 as well as a 1st in the relay.
In the u17 category numbers were slightly low and with some changes to the Rules which prevents Senior Ladies from competing in any throwing events, no competitors covered these events. Chloe Hearne kindly offered her skills in the high jump for 4th and long jump (b) for 3rd and Esther Owewsa, a last minute entrant in the long jump (a) for 3rd
The were no competitors in the multi events in the u17 Boys category. Looking at the results it would be very easy to score useful points in the throwing events as the number of competitors are low and the standard not too high.