KTH Spring BH Open
In near perfect conditions Kettering’s Spring Bank Holiday Open was an ideal chance for the Harriers to put down some early markers for the upcoming season and for some to race over different distances.
For the Middle distance squad there was a superb 22 PB’s set during the meeting.
Tiggy Guthrie –Brown produced one of the standout performances of the meeting with a brilliant race going toe-to-toe with fellow squad member Alex McMurtrie she produced a 5 second PB of 2:33.14 to move to UK number 4 for a bottom year U13. U15 Maggie Gancheva produced a new PB and her first sub 2:20 clocking and close in on the English Schools Qualification mark with a gutsy run in her opening race of the season to clock 2:19.95. U13’s Harlee Hooker & Clara Booth sliced 7 & 11 seconds respectively with 2:33.82 for Hooker & 2:49.88 for Booth. PB’s were also set for U13 Rafferty Davey (2:35.71), U15’s Evie Brooker (2:37.83) & Keris Hooker (2:58.49), and U17 Lucas Rogers also set a new best with 2:03.59.
Tiggy Guthrie-Brown superb run over 800m with of 2:33.14 and a 5 second PB
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In the 1500m there were a number of breakthrough sub 5:00 min clocking’s for the squad, with Zachary Scott slicing a further second off his PB with 4:57.51, this was followed in race 2 with U17 Ellis Johnson with a 7 second PB to record 4:56.18, a huge 28 second improvement for U15 James Clutton with 4:57.74, and a 12 second improvement for U15 Finley Brooker in 5:01.88. U15 George Sharp ran his first ever 1500 to record a fine time of 5:03.42, & U15 Iona Ellwood recorded a 13 second PB with 5:15.32.
There we some good performances in the shorter sprints with Senior Woman Erin Healey recording a marginal WA personal best of 12.50 her best ever opener, and she went on the set a fine 200m opener of 26.67. U13’s Clara Booth (16.68), Oliver Smith (15.75), & Harlee Hooker (14.81) all setting new best over 100m. In the 200m U15 Keris Hooker (33.69), U13 Rafferty Davey (33.90), U13 Tiggy Guthrie –Brown (32.87) & U17 Lucas Rogers (24.71) all running new PB’s. Ben Brooker sliced 0.7 sec off his 400m time with a fine opening race in 51.78.
Erin Healy with her fastest ever opening 100m a marginal wind assisted 12.50
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Watford Open Graded meeting.
With the return of the Watford Open meetings at the start of the season there were good opportunities for the MD squad to post some fast times in what are some of the best open races around, and a track which consistently produces fast times. On the night There were some outstanding performances, with Alice Bates & Alice Bennett taking the spotlight.
Alice Bates competing over 3000m produced a brilliant opening race to slice over 6 seconds from her indoor PB in February with a brilliant paced race to record 9:41.15 and close in on her early season target of 9:38, the European U18 Championships Qualification standard. Bates set out at a comfortable pace over the first 2 km, and wound up her pace over the final 600m to storm home and win her heat. Bates next races in a week at the BMC Birmingham gold standard race eyeing up a quali time.
Alice Bates with a brilliant opening race to head to 3rd U20 in the UK
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Alice Bennett, yet to race over her main 800m distance this season, has been in sparkling form setting good PB’s at both 1k & 300m, and she made this a hat-trick with a superb race over 1500m to record a new PB of 4:33.57 and move to UK 6th. Bennett raced cautiously and will certainly have more to offer at this distance later in the season, sitting in behind Crawley AC’s Wormley Twins until she kicked with 100m to go where she eased past them with her trade mark finish. Bennett now looks to race over 800m, her first outing will be the BMC Birmingham Gold Standard in 1 week where she is looking to set a European U18 Championship qualification mark of <2:08. Also in the same race was SW Emily Williams who is making great progress in getting back to her best form, finishing just behind Bennett she recorded her fastest 1500m time in over 2 years with a SB of 4:35.80.
Alice Bennett on her way to a season opening 4:33.57 over 1500m and UK 6th ranking
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U13 Jess Lamb opened her season with a spectacular 1500m dipping below 5:00 for the first time with a great 9 second PB and a 4:57.49 clocking which sits her 5th in the UK. Also dipping below 5:00 mins was U15 George Sharpe who sliced 10 seconds from his opening race at the distance 2 days earlier with a great run for 4:53.35, while Chelsie Locker making her 1500m debut ran a fine 5:04.29 and will look to dip below 5:00 mins later in the season.
Jess Lamb with her first sub 5:00 clocking for 1500m, and UK ranked 5th
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U15 Jemima Davey was just outside her 1500m PB with a fine opening race of 4:49.21, her fastest opener ever and a top 20 UK ranking. Senior woman Steph Lawrie ran an excellent race, pacing herself to perfection to slice 3 seconds off her 2021 PB with 4:42.25, while U20 Demi Locker opened her season with a solid 4:53.73, despite a superfast first lap which no doubt affected her over the final 600m. Also running well on the night U15 Dylan Ranson with a season opening 4:48.97 & Lucas Mansell over 3k with a season opener of 9:50.46.
Well done to everyone who ran.