On a glorious weekend of athletics in near ideal conditions the Harriers from all the clubs squads who put in some wonderful performances with no less than 53 medals won, of which 27 were Gold, and from this 7 athletes secured double Gold winning performances and one winning a triple Gold, and there was also a championship best performance with U11 Alfie Frayne in the 600m.
There was strength in depth from the Harriers in all the disciplines with a strong showing in the Middle Distance events, many great performances from the Sprint squad, and lots of emerging talent in the Throws & Jumps events showing that a lot of hard work in developing these areas is starting to pay dividends.
Of the 7 double Gold medallists there were two that particularly stood out, with Emily Williams looking in imperious form to secure the 800m & 1500m titles with ease, and U13 Max Mowforth securing the 100m/ 200m sprint double with a powerful display of sprinting.
U15 Emily Williams a quality act with Gold medals in the 800m & 1500m
Max Mowforth with a powerful display of sprinting to win the U13B 100m/ 200m sprint double
Other double Gold medallist included U17 Jake Trent, U20 Ella Palmer & Senior Women Krisztina Kurutcz all securing the iconic 800m/ 400m double in a strong showing for the Middle Distance group. Henri Codling enjoyed a fine Championships with a double Gold in the U15 Boys Shot & Javelin and also picked up a Bronze in the 800m, and Lewis-Morgan Barton had a superb Championship with 3 Gold medals in the Long, triple Jump, and High jump, and for good measure he secured a fine Bronze in the 80m hurdles showing that he a very talented all-rounder.
U20 Ella Palmer, Krisztina Kurucz & U17 Jake Trent all with a 400/ 800m double Gold!
Other highlights included U15 Erin Healey who won the 200m Gold, and was narrowly run out of the Gold in the 100m by 0.1 of a second, with U11 Alfie Frayne winning the 600m Gold in a new Championship Best Performance of 1:51.7, and he also broke the old Championship Best Performance for the 1200m, but had to settle for a Silver medal. Dylan Bowley who was unfortunately run out of both gold in the 2015 championships, again had to settle for two Silver Medals in the 800/ 1500m this year, despite putting in two terrific performances.
U11 Alfie Frayne & U15 Erin Healy both won a Gold & Silver over the two day championships
Middle Distance Round up.
The squad put in terrific performances with no less than 11 Gold medals, including four double Gold medallists, and two further double medallists.
Emily Williams looked a class apart in her U15 800m time trial and she looked effortless in running 2:21.1 to win the Gold by over 4 seconds, and she returned on the Sunday to repeat the feat in winning the 1500m with ease, opening up a significant gap in the opening lap and then controlling the race, which she won in 4:51.5 by nearly 14 seconds. Emily will now look to find some fast races to improve her times for both 800 & 1500m leading to English Schools in July.
U11 Alfie Frayne showed his class in securing a double medal, a Gold for the 600m which he led from start to finish to win in a new Championship best performance of 1:51.7, and a silver the following day in the 1200m where he was just beaten by the 600m Bronze medallist Arthur Tilt in a sprint to the line in 4:10.3, with both athletes beating the old Championship Best Performance.
In the 800m a typical strong event for the squad there were further Gold medals for Jake Trent who won the U17 Men’s race comfortably in 1:59.1, as did Ella Palmer in the U20 women’s race in 2:21.1 both needing better quality races to help secure the all-important English Schools times in the next few weeks. Ethan Mehmet opened with a respectable 2:09.1 which was enough to win the U20 men’s race and secure Gold, and Krisztina Kurutz won the senior Women’s gold with a well timed finish. In the minor medals over 800m Dylan Bowley secured a silver in 2:14.2, bravely leading the race & setting a scorching pace to 600m, but was pipped to the Gold medal by R&N ben Hope (2:09.6), and in the same race Henri Codling secured the Bronze for the Harriers with a strong run in 2:21.1, and the final 800m was won by U13 Freya Batkin who won a Bronze in the U13 girls time trials with a new PB of 2:38.0 in her first 800 of the season.
The squad also showed their strength in the longer sprints, 300m & 400m, with a brace of Gold medals secured by the squad with Ella Palmer winning a second Gold with ease in a strong front running performance in 61.2 for her seasons opener, Krisztina Kurucz also securing her second Gold of the Championships with a well-paced race in 65.8 & Jake Trent also securing a fine double Gold with a controlled race to win in 54:0, with the much improved Thomas Jaward setting a PB to secure a fine Silver in 54.4. There was also a fine Silver medal from Harriett Jolley making her 300m debut finishing behind the sprint squads Niamh Monaghan in a respectable 46.0, with the winner finishing in 45.7.
In the 1200/ 1500m there were further medals from the squad with Claudia Nevett securing the U20 Women’s race comfortably in 4:53.5 with a strong run to secure a Gold, and Elana Albery also ran a fine race to win her first County track medal with a Bronze medal in a new PB of 5:10.5. There were two further Silver medals secured for U17 Fynn Batkin who ran a great race and sliced 4 seconds from hi PB with 4:23.4 and Josh Cara still not fully fit in the U20 men’s race in 4:15.2. The final medal success from the squad was with U13 Ollie Read running a fine race to secure a Bronze medal in 5:08.3.
Bethan Lewis, Claudia Nevett (U20 Gold) & Elana Albery (U20 Bronze)
Edward Cannell was the sole competitor from the squad in the 5,000m and he ran well to secure a silver medal in the U20 men’s race in 17:42.8 just outside his PB.
Sprint Squad
Day 1 of the Championships saw Erin Healy and Max Mowforth win their respective 200m races. Running into a headwind that hindered all performances on the day, Erin recorded a time of 26.7 in her heat and final in the U15 girls. Max meanwhile, ran 26.7 in his heat, and 27.2 in the final. Erin was joined by 4 of her training partners in the final, with the fast improving Ellen Smith, finishing in 3rd in a time of 28.2 to secure a Bronze medal.
Sprint squad out in force!
Competing with Max in the U13 boys 200m final, were Samuel Harrison and Cole Sinnott. Samuel finished 2nd to grab a silver equalling his PB of 27.7, while Cole just missed out on a medal when he finished 4th in a time of 29.3.
The U15 boys 200m were run as a straight final. Dylan Mukhtar finished 3rd in a time of 25.9, to secure a Bronze medal, and Lewis-Morgan Barton finished 4th in a time of 26.5. Niamh Monaghan, competing in the U17 women final, also won a Bronze medal in a time of 29.1.
An unfavourable wind was once again a feature on day 2 of the Championship. Max Mowforth completed a double in the U13 age group by winning the 100m in a time of 13.3, while Cole Sinnott secured 4th place in a time of 14.2.
The U15 girls 100m final featured was a sea of Red & White vests with 6 Kettering Town Harrier athletes, and Erin Healy led the way to secure her second medal of the championship by finishing 2nd in a time of 13.0 just 0.1 behind her R&N rival Mary Beetham-Green.
The U17 women 300m was won by Niamh Monaghan in a personal best time of 45.7 to secure a Gold medal in a close run race, and in the in the U17 men's 100m final, Tyrese Parris-Smith equalled his personal best when finishing 3rd to grab a Bronze medal.
Senior woman, Sarah Jacobs, was the final sprint squad athlete to run on the day. She finished 1st and recorded a time of 14.6 in her debut 100 race.
Throws & Jumps
There were some encouraging performances from the fastest growing area of the club, with Lewis-Morgan Barton securing a jump triple in the High, long and triple jump leading the way, with Cole Sinnott & Poppy Jones also winning a Gold in the U13 Boys high jump & U17 Women’s long jump respectively. Samuel Harrison also secured his second medal of the championship in the U15 Boys long jump. The Raulia brothers both won medals in the U13B high jump with a silver for Brandon and a Bronze for Ryan.
There was a double win for Henri Colding from the MD squad who showed his natural strength in winning a double Gold medal in the U15 boys javelin & shot, and also a Gold for Hammer, a first for many years, for Darren Foster in the U20 men’s’ competition, and a fine bronze for brother Samuel Foster in the senior men’s Hammer to show some encouraging signs in this event. U13 Sophie Toseland secured a fine Silver in the javelin and Matilda Braithwaite won a Bronze in the U15 girls Discus throw.
It was a fantastic weekend for the Harriers and testament to the hard work the athletes, coaches and parents put in to make these things happen, there were numerous other excellent performances, many setting new PB’s, and plenty of these who were not able to secure medals on this occasion will be forcing their way into contention in the following years.
Well done to all the athletes who competed.