4 Medals for Niamh and 1 for Bradley along with other great performances
14 Harriers took to the track in the NIA at the Annual Midland Indoor Championships last weekend. With ages ranging from U13 to Senior there was all ranges of ages competing for their chances of glory. The competition results in 5 medals for the Harriers, 2 Silvers and 3 Bronzes.
Day 1 – 9th February
The first day of the Midland Champs saw some experienced athletes in the shape of Niamh Bailey, Bradley Fox and Tom Carvell competing alongside some relative indoor debutants from the U13 Boys age group, those being Lewis-Morgan Barton, Joshua Curtis, Diarra Layne and Jack Pepperell. All of the athletes performed well in what for some was their first outing of the year. First up in the day were the Under 13 Boys in the High Jump. Their Quadrathlon consisted of High Jump, 60m, Long Jump and the Shot. All athletes performed consistently well with all of them achieving at least one PB. The overall positions were as followed, Lewis (10th), Josh (17th), Diarra (18th) and Jack (21st). A long with the U13B the three U20’s were in action. Tom Carvell competed in the 200m, his first appearance indoors and he was handed a very tough heat which included two of the finalists. Niamh and Bradley were again competing in a handful of events with 3 events each on the Saturday. Bradley kicked the day off with a SB in the Long Jump (6.09m, 5th) It wasn’t long after this event that Bradley was back out on the track competing in the High Jump. Bradley managed to equal his PB (1.75m) on his first attempt narrowly missing out on a new PB finishing the competition in 6th. His last event for the day proved to be quite a shock for Bradley. He managed slot himself into bronze medal position early on in the competition (9.71m) which he held on to, this was Bradley’s first competition at the new shot weight of 6KG, he will look to build upon this and improve further. Finally, Saturday proved to be a beautiful day for Niamh. Her three events were the High Jump, Long Jump and the 200m. The high jump resulted in Niamh jumping a SB (1.60m) and achieving the Silver Medal position. Her second event of the day was the Long Jump. Niamh was consistently over 5m with her furthest jump being recorded at 5.15m giving her 3rd Position and a SB. Niamh’s final event proved to be even better for her as did not only run an electronic PB (25.54: 25.83 in heat) but she also ran the qualifying time for the English Schools Championships. Niamh ran a very exciting race, which was at the same time as her Long Jump, where she finished in 2nd position. All of these performances are up on the position of where Niamh was this time last year which looks very promising for her this season. So after Day 1 the harriers had a total of 4 Medals with the promise for a potential medal the next day.
Day 2 – 10th February
Similarly to day 1, day 2 kicked off with the Quadrathlon but this time the combined events competition was taken on by the clubs U13 Girls. The four to take on this challenge were Demi Fox, Erin Healy, Megan Slinn and Ellie Loake. Like their male counterparts all athletes achieved at least one personal best with some achieving more, also like the boys this competition was a new format for most of the girls and it provided a new experience for them. All girls performed well with the positions as followed: Demi (9tH), Erin (=13), Megan Slinn (31st) and Ellie Loake (32nd). Tom Carvell and Bradley Fox were in action again in the second day both running in the U20 Men 60m Heats. Tom ran a PB of 7.70 with his first 60m indoors finishing 6th in his heat. Bradley also ran a PB of 7.48 in a very fast heat to finish 5th. Bradley looks to improve upon this at the England Indoor Age Group Championships in a few weeks time. Newly turned U15 athlete Freya Marlow had a busy day with the 60 hurdles and Long Jump achieving two very respectable early season results which she will hope to build upon. There were also two 400m performances from two very experienced athletes. Firstly U20 Ed Cherry ran a well timed race to run a SB (52.60) and finish 5th in his heat. The other 400m runner was Senior Woman Gemma Elliott. Gemma, running her first indoor 400m since 2010 ran a tactical heat (61.26) to make the final, she then went on to finish in a very credible 4th position. Finally, the final medal of the championships came from Niamh Bailey in the 60m. After an extremely long wait Niamh got off her campaign off to a good start running a solid 8.04 in her heat giving her a good lane for the final. In the final Niamh pulled out an even faster time running 7.96, just off of her PB, to finish in 3rd position capping off a very good weekend for her and the harriers.
Both Niamh and Bradley alongside Jack Reed will look to improve upon their early season performances in two weeks when they both compete in the England Age Group Championships in their respective events.
For live updates and general information about competitions follow the harriers on twitter @ktharriers1
Write up by Bradley Fox