Strong performances from Sprint Squad

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS, CORBY

Some of the sprint squad athletes who competed at the County Championships

This year’s County Championships saw some outstanding performances from the club’s sprinters. A total of 24 medals were won by the squad during the meeting. It was also good to see a new crop of athletes from the Harriers and other local clubs, competing to maintain the Championship’s status in the athletic calendar.

Day 1 saw athletes in the U11 age group competing in time trials over 150m. Lucie Cleaver won the bronze medal with a personal best time of 25.3, while Matilda Abbott ran 25.4 to finish 4th, just missing out on picking up a medal, despite also running a PB.

Matilda Abbott and Lucie Cleaver - PB’s in all their races

Athletes in the older age groups competed in the 200m. The U13 athletes were first to compete. Billi Robinson won her heat in a time of 31.34 before picking up the bronze medal with a run of 31.2 in the final. Meanwhile, Zane Cooper eased through his heat to win in a time of 27.7 before winning the final in an untroubled race in the same time.

In the U15 age group, there was drama in the heats of the girls’ race when Elizabeth Reading stumbled within a metre of the finish line, having led the race by a large margin. She managed to cross the line, but not before other athletes had passed it, meaning that she unfortunately did not qualify to run in the final.

Culley Cleaver and Lulu Mowforth both qualified for the final in heat 1, with runs of 30.4 and 31.4 respectively, however, Lulu was unable to compete in the final due to a knee injury. Ellie Warboys won her heat in 29.3 to also advance into the final. In the final, Ellie made a remarkable push for the finish line to finish in a time of 30.0 to snatch the bronze medal. Culley ran a time of 30.5 to finish 5th.

William Rawcliffe was the sole representative from the squad in the U15 boys. Winning his heat in 25.5, he qualified for the final, but in a close run race in which he ran 25.3, he just missed out on picking up a medal as he finished 4th.

Athletes in the U17 age group were lucky enough to only have to run in a straight final. The girls race was a close run affair towards the end of the race, with Harriet Cleaver stumbling over the finish line in 26.3 to be given the nod for gold over Northampton AC’s Shanice Ighalo. Finishing in 3rd place was Jasmine Anderson who ran 27.9, with Sonal Rathod finishing 4th in a PB of 28.3, and Scarlett Maxwell-Munn and Holly Abbott finishing 5th, and 6th respectively.

The boys race was also closely run, with Ryan Amesimeku having an outstanding run and just pipped on the line having run a personal best time of 22.8 to secure the silver medal. Picking up the bronze in a time of 24.1 was Luke Riches.

The U20 men’s race was also a straight final. Their race was combined with the Senior men, and saw Cole Sinnott, with his trademark strong finish, pip Senior athlete, Jordan Spence of Corby on the line to win the gold in his age group. Also competing in the U20 age group was Jack Abbott, who ran 24.6 to win the bronze medal.

Wilika Carr, competing in the Veteran Ladies age group, ran 29.7 to win gold. This was the 2nd time that she had competed over that distance at a County Championships, having won the gold in 2018.

Day 2 saw the U11 athletes competing over 75m while the older athletes competed over 100m. Time trials were once again used to determine the medalists in the 75m. Lucie Cleaver and Matilda Abbott both missed out on medals despite running personal best times of 12.3 and 12.4 respectively.

In the U13 age group, Billi Robinson ran a time of 15.3 to finish 3rd in her heat and qualify for the final. However, she unfortunately missed out on a medal as she finished 4th, running the same time as in her heat. In the boys race, Zane Cooper was once again untroubled in either his heat or final, winning the gold medal with ease in 13.1 to equal his PB.

Zane Cooper - double gold medalist in the 100m & 200m

Athletes in the U15 age group once again had to run heats. Culley Cleaver ran 14.9 to finish 3rd in the first heat, while Elizabeth Reading showed how resilient she was by winning her heat to blow away the disappointment of not qualifying for the 200m final the day before. She was followed by Ellie Warboys, who ran 14.2 to finish 2nd. All 3 girls qualified for the final, which was won by Northampton AC’s Savannah Morgan in 12.9, with the silver medal going to Elizabeth in 13.3, a PB, and the bronze medal going to Ellie, who also ran a PB of 14.1 seconds. Culley Cleaver ran a time of 14.9 to finish 6th. In the boys race, William Rawcliffe ran 12.7 to finish 2nd in his heat, and in the final, showed a determination to succeed, and ran a PB of 12.4 to win the bronze medal.

In the heats of the U17 boys race, Ryan Amesimeku breezed through his heat in 11.3 to win. Luke Riches ran 11.9 in the same race to also qualify for the final. Ryan’s acceleration in the final couldn’t be matched, and he ran 11.2 to win the race. Luke ran a strong race to equal his PB of 11.7 to finish 5th, despite suffering from a chest infection, a creditable performance.

In the girl’s race, which was a straight final, all of the medals were won by a athletes from the squad. Winning the gold was Harriet Cleaver who ran 12.8 in her smooth, relaxed style. Silver went to Jasmine Anderson, who ran 13.3 to put the frustration of a foot injury behind her, and bronze went to Sonal Rathod who ran a PB of 13.7 to win her first County medal. 4th place went to Scarlett Maxwell-Munn, also from the squad. Her time of 14.2 was just outside her PB. Also competing, was Holly Abbott, who ran 15.1 to finish 6th.

Harriet Cleaver - double gold medalist

The U20 women’s race, a straight final, was won by Berny Kwei-Tagoe, who ran a time of 13.3 despite only resuming training for a short period time. The men’s race saw 4 athletes from the squad competing in a straight final. Logan Reid, returning to the track where he first broke 11 seconds, had his usual trademark start to secure his 2nd County gold, this time running 11.0 seconds. In 2nd place was a fast improving Cole Sinnott, who just edged out Max Mowforth on the finish line, with both athletes given the same time of 11.4 seconds. Also, competing in that race was Jack Abbott, who ran 12.0 to finish 6th.

Logan Reid - on his way to securing a second County title

In the high jump, U15 girl Ellie Warboys secured the silver medal with a jump of 1.35m to equal her PB, while Toni Robinson jumped 1.30m to win gold and also equalled her PB. Both athletes are coached by Pete Mills & Canisus Alcindor. Meanwhile, In the 70m hurdles, Sophie Panther, ran a time of 16.8 to secure a bronze medal in her debut in the event.

In the U17 girls long jump, Scarlett Maxwell-Munn finished 3rd with a jump of 3.75m, while in the triple jump, Natalie Short finished 2nd with a jump of 9.55m. Both athletes are coached by Dave Folgate who has done a brilliant job of improving their technique this season.

Natalie Short & Scarlett Maxwell-Munn - coached by Dave Folgate

A huge congratulations to all of the athletes who competed at the Championships. Whether you won a medal, did a PB, or just gave it your all, you did a great job of representing the club and squad!

KETTERING OPEN MEETING, 3RD AUGUST

Despite a busy weekend competing in the County Championships, the athletes still managed to pull out some decent runs at this meeting.

U11 athletes, Matilda Abbott, and Darci and Lucie Cleaver all had boundless energy, with all 3 producing personal bests in the 75m and 150m. It was Darci’s first time competing over 150m, and we can look forward to seeing some more exciting races from this age group before the season ends.

In heat 1 of the 100m, U13 boy, Aidan Hooks, held off U13 girl, Billi Robinson to finish 2nd in a time of 14.70w, to Robinson’s 15.08w. Heat 2 saw Culley Cleaver, U15 girl, finish 2nd in a time of 14.48w, ahead of U20 woman, Toni Robinson, who ran a time of 14.67w to finish 3rd. A fast improving Lionnel Karolcik, U13 boy, finished 5th in 14.87w.

Caleb Corstin, U20M, won heat 3 in a personal best of 12.90, with U17 girl,Sonal Rathod finishing 2nd in a personal best time of 13.62. Also producing a PB in that race was U15 girl, Ellie Warboys, who ran 14.03 to finish 7th. Holly Abbott, U17 girl, ran 15.81 to finish 8th. Heat 4 saw U15 girl, Elizabeth Reading, run a PB of 13.36 to finish 5th.

In heat 5, U17 girl, Harriet Cleaver, ran 12.80w to finish 4th, in preparation for her 100m race at the England Championships. Meanwhile, U13 boy, Zane Cooper, finished 6th in 13.15w. Both athletes were double gold medalists in the 100m and 200m at the County Championships the previous weekend.

Joshua Wenje and Jack Abbott battled it out in heat 7, with U17 boy, Wenje, just edging out U20M, Abbott to finish 3rd and 4th respectively, in times of 11.99 and 12.09. Heat 8 saw U20M, Max Mowforth competing in a close race & winning in a time of 11.41w.

Max Mowforth - in good form with another win

U17 boy, Ryan Amesimeku, was the youngest in his race, and was running against athletes who all had PBs’ in the 10 second range. He, however, gave a good account of himself to finish 6th in a personal best of 11.07 in preparation for his weekend race at the England Championships.

The 200m races saw less athletes competing. The stand out performance came from U15 boy, William Rawcliffe, who ran a personal best of 24.97 to win his race. Also, running a PB was U15 girl, Elizabeth Reading who ran a time of 27.58 to finish 2nd in her race. U13 boy, Aidan Hooks, who was debuting at this event, ran a time of 31.23 to win comfortably.

U20 athlete, Cole Sinnott, fresh from competing in the shorter sprints at the County Championships, stepped up to the 400m at this meeting. He ran 52.01, his 2nd fastest time over the distance, to finish a creditable 3rd in his race.

Cole Sinnott - a strong finish in the 400m

ENGLAND U15/U17 CHAMPIONSHIPS

U17 athletes Harriet Cleaver and Ryan Amesimeku travelled to Manchester to compete in their first England Championships over 100m. Conditions on Saturday were cool with rain, which wasn’t ideal for sprinting, however, both athletes competed well on the day and gained valuable experience of competing at that level of competition.

Harriet, currently ranked 34th in the 100m in the UK, was first to compete on the day. Drawn in heat 2, she ran a strong race to finish 3rd in a time of 12.78 behind Emmanuella Quaye of Enfield & Haringey, who won in a time of 11.99, and is ranked 7th in the UK. In the semi final, Harriet finished 8th in a time of 12.86w behind Trezeguet Taylor of Trafford AC, who ran 11.69w, and went on to win the final. Taylor is ranked 3rd in the UK.

Ryan, currently ranked 17th in the 100m in the UK, was drawn in heat 1. He had a blistering start and was in a close race that saw him finish 3rd in a time of 11.15w behind Dean Patterson of Larkhall AC, who won in a time of 10.96w. In the semi final, despite having another a good start, he faltered at about 60m when he felt a strain in his hamstring, finishing 7th in a time of 11.13w. The race was once again won by Dean Patterson in a time of 10.74w. Patterson went on to finish 2nd in the final, and is ranked 9th in the UK.

Ryan Amesimeku highly credible performance in the English National Championships