Kettering Open Meeting
It was a day of much activity from many KTH members/ parents/ coaches & officials which contributed to an outstandingly successful open meeting which is a huge testament to all the hard work put in. The Bright (If chilly) weather also contributed to the record number of entries and there were some terrific performances from all quarters of the Kettering Town Harriers athletes.
Middle Distance
The first of the middle distance events was the 800m with many good early season performances to start the 2015 season. The fastest Harrier of the day was Liam Kirk who competes for KTH & the RAF who set a swift 2:05.3 and never looked troubled in his heat fastest for the women was U17 Ella Palmer making her solo debut over the distance after switching to MD and she set a 4 second PB to record 2:24.2 and showed enough quality to suggest she will go significantly quicker after a few more races. Abbey Coleman looking to do more 800’s this season opened with a solid 2:33.2, and Rebecca Hughes recorded an opener of 2:41.9. In the U13 AG there were encouraging runs from Ethan Nellis who went quickest with a new PB of 2:40.5, with Sam Harrison also setting new lifetimes best of 2:47.9 & Josh Geddes also running well with 2:55.9. For the girls Skye-Lilly Kay went the quickest on the day with an excellent run to record 2:50.1, with Natalie Short & Millie Toseland next quickest with 2:50.8 & 2:51.0 running her very close. Also recording new PB’s with great runs were Millie Houghton (2:58.0) & Millie Webb (3:00.7) both within the magical 3:00 marker.
In the younger U11 age groups there were some terrific performances in the 600m with Jamie Lake & new recruit Alfie Frayne having a superb battle in their race, with Alfie losing one of his shoes on the opening 200m, he make a fantastic late surge at the finish but was just edged out by Jamie at the finish with both setting new PB of 2:05.8 & 2:06.0 respectively.
Most of the squad had elected to run the 1500m where there were a total of 23 athletes competing. U20 Jed Hayes looked majestic in the fastest race of the day to record a solid new PB of 4:16.2 and he looked comfortable sitting in behind Leicester Coritainian Jamie Short until 500m to go where he kicked hard to open an 8 second gap. Ethan Mehmet was next home cruising to a PB of 4:34.1 followed by Jake Trent debuting at the distance with a respectable 4:39.2. U13 Dylan Bowley ran a super new PB of 4:53.0 with U15 Henri Codling setting a solid opener of 4:50.0. Bottom year U13 Oliver Read making his debut at the distance led his race after 300m to finish well ahead of the pack and record a solid 5:29.7, with Josh Cannell also setting new figures of 5:12.1.
For the girls bottom year U15 Emily Williams was the standout performance with her first sub 5:00 clocking, and fastest women on the day with a superb 4:59.4, proving that the decision to race in the final and fastest race of the day was a solid one. U20 Fran Ashworth & U17 Claudia Nevett both opened with a solid 5:04.2, & 5:07.9 respectively, with Hannah Winstone looking in inspired form to crush her 2013 PB by nearly 30 seconds with 5:16.2 to show she has really improved over the XC season. Sophie Moss (5:29.5) Chloe Hearne (5:30.3) Dani McCann-Gaskill (5:30.9) Elana Albery (5:32.4) & Amy Robinson (5:37.3) all finished together to record solid openers for 2015.
Please note the performance have yet to be confirmed as official for Power of ten rankings
Sprints (Coming soon)
It was a fantastic advert for KTH and in our first event following the Chairman & Committee restructuring there was plenty for everyone to feel positive about. I would like to extend thanks to everyone who helped make this a superb opening fixture for 2015.
Photographs from an external photographer can be viewed/ purchased on www.fotoccompli.com/sport/150418/150418.html