The second KTH evening open of the season saw athletes from all of the squads setting great new PB’s with a total of 28 set on the night, 17 from the middle distance squad and 11 from the Sprint squad, no mean feat with headwinds affecting performances negatively.
In the sprints sqad there were wins were recorded by Abina Soares Da Gama, U17, Aaron Ampofo, U13, Robyn Evans, U13, and Sophie Burnes. Abina’s came in the 100m in which she ran into a headwind of minus 1.0, winning in 13.28 seconds. She followed this up later with 3rd place in the 200m, in a personal best of 27.25 seconds into a headwind of minus 0.2 metres per second. Aaron’s win came in the 200m, running into a headwind of minus 0.2, and recording a time of 28.03 seconds. Earlier in the evening he had finished 2nd in his 100m race in a time of 13.81 seconds, into a minus 1.0 headwind. Robyn made her debut over the 100m distance, winning in 14.98 seconds, into a minus 2.2 headwind. Sophie’s winning streak continued with a superb run in the 150m race. Leaving her opposition in her wake, she ran a time of 22.35 seconds, her 2nd fastest time over the distance so far this season.
Abina Soares Da Gama fine runs in the 100m & a new PB in the 200m
Setting personal bests in both their 100m and 200m races were Jackson Ahmadu, U13, Neng Yang, U15, Lulu Mowforth, U17, and Esther Chapman, U15. Jackson finished 4th in his 100m in 14.56, into a minus 1.0 headwind, and 5th in his 200m into a minus 0.2 headwind, in 30.92 seconds. Neng, who is making good progress since joining the squad in late winter, finished 5th in the 100m and 200m in 12.83 and 26.25 seconds. Both runs were into headwinds of minus 0.7 and 0.3 metres per second respectively. Lulu is seeing her hard work in training come to fruition in her performances. Her runs of 14.73 and 30.71 saw her finish in 3rd and 4th positions, with her 100m time showing that there are more good performances to come from her in that event, as she was running into a minus 2.4 headwind. Esther, who has just joined the squad, posted times of 15.70 and 32.22 seconds, finishing 2nd in both of her races.
Also setting a personal best in the 200m was Matilda Abbott, U13, who ran a time of 32.93 seconds to finish 3rd in her race. Harriet Cleaver, U20, ran one of her fastest races so far this season in the 100m, posting a time of 13.31 seconds to finish 7th in her race.
U20 athlete, Zorhann Giraud, was in one of the most exciting races of the night. Competing in the 200m, he was in a close run race with Senior athlete, Jack Nicholls of Cambridge & Coleridge, with Nicholls just pipping him on the line to win in 24.17, to Zorhann’s 2nd place run of 24.20 seconds. Earlier in the evening he had finished 3rd in his 100m race in 12.12 seconds.
The previous evening, Cole Sinnott, U23, competed in the Invicta East Kent AC Open Meeting in Canterbury. He set a new personal best of 11.31 seconds in the 100m, finishing 2nd to Cambridge Harrier’s U20 athlete, Jevon Sutherland, who won in 11.18 seconds. Cole managed to turn the table around in the 200m, running a strong bend to lead his opposition from the 50m mark and all the way home, winning in a season best of 22.55 seconds to Sutherland’s 22.94 second 2nd place.
The Middle Distance Squad are getting into their stride now and the KTH evening open saw some terrific performances with thjree of the Harriers youngsters going below the magical 5:00 mins threshold for the 1500m in the same race. U13 Rafferty Davey ran a remarkable race to slice 9 seconds from his PB with a 4:54.61 clocking to secure a UK ranking of 36, with U13 Oliver Smith also dipping below the barriers with a 7 second PB with 4:59.28 (UK 58th) underlining his big improvements this season. U15 Harlee Hooker also went sub 5:00 with a 4:59.05 PB clocking. Rio Carr won the race comfortably with a fine race and new 4 sec PB with 4:11.50, while U17 George Separovic in a rare outing also sliced 8 seconds from his PB with 4:38.05.
Rafferty Davey with a superb 9 second PB to move to 36th in the UK rankings
In the 800m races there were some outstanding improvements as well with U17 Evan Willis slicing 20 seconds from his PB with a 2:09.82 clocking, and U15 Zachary Scott in a rare outing over 2 laps slicing 14 seconds from his PB with 2:12.89. There were also PB’s set for U13 Sabina Lawton (2:34.21), U13 Harris Ellwood (2:54.87), U15 Freya Allitt (3:00.40) U17 Ellie Separovic (2:51.65), U17 James Clutton (2:26.99), & U11 Callum Johnson (2:51.31)
Some of the squad were doubling up with some speed work and V45 David locker ran a superb 400m & 200m double setting a new SB in both events with a clocking of 55:36 (UK 9th) and 25.66 (UK 22nd), with new PB’s ran over 200m by U20 Ben Brooker 24.14 (4 sec PB), U15 George Sharp with 27:10, and U17 Chelsie Locker with 28.98 (4 sec PB) & a SB for U20 Alice Bennett with 27.42.
V45 David Locker with some excellent speed work in the 200m (UK ranking 22nd) & 400m (UK ranking 9th)
In the 5000m Joe Young ran a fine debut in the event with a 17:09.69 clocking looking like he will go much faster later in the year.
In the first BMC Gold standard there were a number of the MD squad performing with Birmingham based U23 Josh Geddes clocking a new half sec PB in the 800m with 1:55.74, with U20 Alice Bennett again narrowly missing a Sub 2:08 clocking to set a Commonwealth Qualifier with a clocking of 2:08.24 with Bennett tiring in the last 100m. U23 Emily Williams opened her 2023 outdoor season with a fine race to set a SB of 4:24.18 and again smash the SW Club Record with her fastest time since 2019, and on this evidence she will be eying up a new PB during the season.
Well done to everyone who ran.