The England Athletics Age Group Championships in Birmingham provided our young athletes the opportunity to compete at the highest level nationally, with seven of our athletes taking park having achieved the tough entry standards. For the first time ever the event was spread over 3 days, with Sadie kicking the weekend action off on Friday evening in the U17 Long Jump. Having finished 5th at the ESAA Champs here only 2 weeks ago, Sadie was certainly looking to upgrade to a place on the podium – but she delivered so much more than that! However, it was a nervy start, as Sadie began her competition with 2 no jumps. It wasn’t until round 4 that she really started to fly, moving into the lead with her longest jump ever – 5.75m. No other athlete was able to match this, allowing Sadie a pressure-free victory jump in the final round and she leapt out to a fantastic 5.79m, to become English national champion with a new lifetime best.
Saturday saw a full schedule of events, and there was excitement in the arena as Heptathlon World Champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson warmed up for the Olympics with a partial programme in the heptathlon. We only had two athletes competing today – Senna and Isla in the 300m hurdles heats. This was Isla’s first national championships, and she acquitted herself superbly, showing no nerves and attacking from the outset. She was in a strong position at the halfway point, although lost a bit of rhythm in the home straight. She did not progress to the final but 12th fastest overall was as fine achievement. Senna ran a sensible heat, finishing in 2nd to secure an auto-Q ahead of Sundays final. Sunday saw the busiest day of action, with 5 athletes looking to give it their all in the blazing sunshine at the impressive Commonwealth Stadium. First up were Hannah and Hollie-Anne who began their 200m campaigns in the same heat. Both girls produced strong runs, with Hannah finishing a few tenths ahead of Hollie who ran a 25.92s personal best. Both girls proceeded to the semi-finals as fastest losers. Next up was Abigail Huntly in the 80m hurdles. After a disrupted preparation due to injury, the goal for Abi was a clean race and gain experience ahead of further championships later on in the season. She absolutely delivered, running superbly and just a couple of tenths outside of her PB. Luke Pichler then commenced what was to be a hugely busy afternoon. First up he went in the first round of the 100m hurdles, safely winning his heat. From here, it was straight across to the long jump where produced the series of his life, with a brilliant leap of 6.78m enough to secure a new personal best and an England championship bronze medal. A superb performance! Back on track and Hollie and Hannah went in the semi-finals of the 200m. Both girls produced strong runs once again, but were unable to progress to the final. The scene was then set for Senna in the 300m hurdles final. Two weeks previous at ESAA championships, her race didn’t go to plan – she was determined not to let that happen again. Senna ran a fully committed race from the outside lane, and absolutely nailed her race plan. In the fastest 300 hurdles race in the UK for over 2 years, she pushed all the way to the line and was rewarded with a huge PB of 43.63s and bronze, her first English national medal. Luke was back in action in the hurdles semi-finals, and it was safe progression once again through to the final to conclude the weekend. In a race of the absolute highest quality, Luke gave it his all and in a blanket finish for bronze just missed out by the smallest fraction, but can be delighted with his new PB of 13.46s. So the weekend concluded with 3 medals, 5 personal bests, and lots of smiles. A very proud weekend for the club.
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October 2024
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