The opening track & field fixture of the 2019 season saw the Harriers hosting their traditional Spring Open which saw record numbers of Entries with a very strong showing from the Harriers. The day was dry, but a cold easterly wind kept temperatures below the average, with conditions reasonable rather than ideal.
Middle Distance Squad
One of the star performances of the day saw 10 year old Jemima Davey making her first 1500m debut smash the 2003 U11 Girls club record by over 12 seconds with a remarkably strong & well-paced run to finish in second place in the B race in 5:23.85, behind Northampton AC’s Zineb Zbirou. Davey, who has only just returned from her 2 week winter season break, set about her task well with a strong opening lap and gradually stretching away from Corby AC’s Zennor Coombs as the raced progressed. She looked full of running to the finishing line, and on this evidence her new club record will be short lived as she comes into full fitness later in the season! In the same race Magdalena Gancheva also produced a fine run to slice 11 seconds from her PB to finish in 4th place in 5:37.59, with Olivia Knibb & Niamh Sinnott also setting new bests in 6:22.80 & 6:49.02 respectively.
10 year old Jemima Davey broke the U11 1500m club record by 12 seconds
The traditional Middle Distance squad season opener of 2000m saw some outstanding performances with 12 of the 13 competing producing a PB. U17 Dylan Bowley who led from the bell in the A race, produced an impressive display of front running to slice 8 seconds from his PB with 5:50.59. U20 Emily Williams got her track campaign off to a flying start & was the top female finisher competing in the same A race she finished in a splendid 4th place overall to slice almost 6 seconds from her PB with 6:21.83. U15 Alice Bates who was also competing in the A race finished in a fine 7:11.39 with a strong run, the second fastest female time on the day. For the boys Josh Cannell was third in the race with 6:19.49 with a strong run, with U17 Idayi Jumbe running well opening his track account in 5th 6:32.52. U15 Luke Cole ran well for 6th place (6:40.08) & U15 Rio Carr just behind in 6:41.48 in 7th. U17 Callum Cox perhaps paying for his fast start, struggled in the final km to finish in 8th place in 6:41.11, with U20 Tom Jawad in 9th (6:52.75), U17 Joshua Clutton 10th with a 15 second PB in 6:55.47 & Lucas Rogers 11th (7:03.83). The B race saw Vet 55 Simon Rowe & Vet 45 Rob Cole finish in 7:38.18 & 7:45.08 respectively, the only other girls in action was U15 Josie Crick who ran a very respectable 8:24.29.
Dylan Bowley front running to a new 2k PB, Emily Williams sliced 6 seconds off her 2k PB
In the 800m Ben Brooker was 4th in the A race to slice 4 seconds from his PB with 2:16.13, with Jack Watson just outside his best in 2:15.12 & Izabella Brockway slicing 4 seconds from her best in 3:08.93.
In the long sprints, Josh Geddess set a new 400m PB to easily win the A race in 57.65, and in the 300m Ben Brooker showed his recent increased raw speed to knock an impressive 4 seconds from his best in 41.96, with Adam Jawad slicing a second from his best finishing in 40.23. U17 Nicole Tenney made her debut in the 300m with a respectable 55.38 & also ran well in the 200m with a fine 32.58. U17 Bozena Calite also made her KTH debut in the 200m with a fine 33.22.
Other performances on the day saw a fine win for U20 Josh Cannell in the 1000m with 2:54.92. and some good performances in the 1500m with older brother Edward Cannel opening his season with 4:41.57 for second place in the a race, with U20 Jack Watson 6th (4:51.71) & a fine 1500m debut for U13 James Clutton (5:52.52)
It was a tough race for U23 Jack Hope as the sole competitor in 2000m Steeple Chase, and in less than ideal conditions Jack ground out a respectable opening race in 6:15.08 in his preparations for BUCS.
Sprint Squad
The sprint squad also started their track season at this meeting.
The outstanding performances on the day came from U17’s Joe Bradley and Logan Reid. Joe lowered his personal best in the 100m to 11.50 seconds to finish 4th in his race, and then went on to lower his automatic time in the 200m to 23.49 seconds, finishing 2nd in that race. Meanwhile, Logan also lowered his 100m to 11.51 seconds when he won his race, and in his debut over 200m, recorded a time of 23.67 seconds.
Joe Bradley (98) powering his way to a new PB, along with Logan Reid (99) & Josh Gray (100)
Some fine performances were also achieved by athletes in the 100m – U17 Max Mowforth, 12.07 seconds, U20 Josh Gray, a PB of 12.14 seconds, U17 Cole Sinnott, PB of 12.43 seconds to win his race, and Oliver Laskey, PB of 12.44 seconds.
In the 200m, U17 Oliver Laskey went on to smash his personal best in a time of 25.31 seconds to win his race. Personal bests were also recorded by U17 Jack Abbot, 25.57 seconds, and U15 Dawud Forbes, 26.64 seconds.
U13 Gracie Stevens lead the way amongst the girls with a wind assisted run of 14.89 seconds over 100m to finish 3rd in her race. She followed this up by lowering her automatic timing for the 200m to 32.71 seconds. U17 Natalie Short also produced a PB of 13.70 seconds in the 100m. She was joined by u17 Annabelle Udo who also recorded a PB of 14.29 seconds.
The performances of all athletes in the squad have shown that there is the potential for some exciting times to come this season.
Field & U11’s.
There was a good win for KTH’s U15 Hammer thrower Katie Gibson, throwing just under her PB with 44.31m. In the discus U15 Samuel White threw 27.14m, and in the shot he also threw 8.12m. Also in the shot was U17 Annabella Udo (8.10m), U17 Matilda Braithwaite (8.00m), U15 Sophie Barlow (7.55m) & vet 45 Ross Brown (7.13m).
For the U11’s there were a number of Harriers competing for the first time U11s Freddie Ward in the 600m (2:05.61), 75m (11.92), with Finley Brooker in the 600m (2:08.90). In the 75m Sprints and showing good early potential there were good performances for Dale Graves (11.72), Treni Owolabi (13.11), Sophie Panther (13.39), and Charlie Rawliffe (13.28) with U13’s Kayenne Pryce running well in the longer sprints of 200m (30.06) and Jack Pratt in the 150m (23.13).
A special mention for Mike Herring aged 78 who competed in the long jump, 2.66m, high jump 1.00m and 100m 19.88, truly remarkable performances and an inspiration to all the athletes that athletics is a sport for life.
Well done to everyone who competed.