There was a brace of medals for the Harriers in the final championship event of a long season, the Midland Counties U15/U17 Championships, which saw the Harriers secure three Gold medals, and two Bronze.
Lara Turner led the way with a fine double, winning the U15G 800m Gold which was a straight final, and also winning the 3000m Gold the following day when she ran in the boys race as the only competitor in the start list. In the 800m Turner was one of the top seeds, and she decided to run her normal front running style to make it a hard race, leading from gun to tape she set a half second PB to power her way to her first regional championship win in 2:18.27.
Lara Turner first Championship win in the U15G 800m
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The other Gold secured from Hammer thrower Katie Gibson who secured her third Midland Counties title with a fine win with a throw of 44.47m from Hereford & County A.C’s Charlotte Colbert.
Katie Gibson secured her third Midland Counties title for the U17W Hammer
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For the sprint squad who were out in force with 11 athletes from the squad competing over the two days. It was the first time competing at this meeting for the majority of the athletes. On the Saturday, the girls competed in the 200m, while the boys competed in the 100m.
The U15 girls were the first to compete in the 200m on Saturday. Elizabeth Reading finished 2nd in her heat in a time of 27.66 to qualify for the final. She then ran a PB of 27.44 to finish 5th. Also competing in this age group was Culley Cleaver, who, unfortunately, did not progress to the final, having struggled with a niggling foot injury for most of the season. She ran a time of 30.90 to finish 5th in her heat.
In the U17 girls 200m, Harriet Cleaver won her heat in a time of 26.38, and went on to have a superb run in the final to win the bronze medal. Sonal Rathod and Holly Abbott also competed in this event, finishing 6th and 7thin their heats in 28.39 and 30.56 respectively.
In the U17 boys 100m, Ryan Amesimeku powered through his heat to win in 11.02, a PB. In the final, in wet conditions, he faltered at the start, but recovered well to finish in 11.22 to win the bronze medal. Luke Riches, and Joshua Wenje also competed in this event and finished 4th and 5th in their races in times of 11.65 and 12.15 respectively. Luke’s time was a personal best.
Ryan Amesimeku and Harriet Cleaver - two well deserved bronze medals
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William Rawcliffe was the sole representative from the squad in the U15 boys age group. He finished 5th in his heat in a time of 12.56 to progress to the final in which he ran a time of 12.60 to finish 7th. Former squad member, Kaiden Ramsay, who relocated to live in Derby and now competes for Burton AC, ran a PB of 12.13 in the final to finish 4th.
On the Sunday, ill health unfortunately prevented Harriet Cleaver from competing in her favoured 100m in the U17 age group. Sonal Rathod and Holly Abbott did however compete, running 13.93 and 15.20 to finish 7th and 8th respectively.
Elizabeth Reading gave a good showing of herself in the U15 girls 100m. Finishing 2nd in her heat in 13.45 she progressed to the semi final and ran 13.41 to finish 4th. In the final, she ran 13.41 to finish 7th. All 3 runs were creditable performances for her first time competing at this meeting. She also competed in the high jump over the busy weekend, jumping 1.31m to finish 5th.
Ellie Warboys, Culley Cleaver, and Lulu Mowforth also competed in this age group. Culley finished 6th in her heat, while Ellie and Lulu both finished 7th in their heats in 14.16 and 15.30 respectively.
U17 boy, Luke Riches, who has had an outstanding first season in the sport, produced a PB of 23.52 in the 200m. He was the only athlete from the squad to produce two PBs’ over the weekend, and is proving to be one to watch for the future. William Rawcliffe, U15 boy, was lucky enough to only have to run a straight final in the 200m. He ran 25.04 and finished a creditable 5th.
Meanwhile, sticking with the Midland Counties theme, U17 Lucas Mansell competed for the first time in the Midland Counties vest as part of their U20 team entered for the Cardiff Race for Victory 5k and he ran a suburb race to set a new PB of 16:27 to finish in 79th place out of the 904 entered in the men’s race.
Lucas Mansell making his debut representing the Midland Counties
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