This weekend saw the prestigious English Schools Championships take place at Gateshead International Stadium. Herts phoenix had a record 21 athletes selected for the Hertfordshire Schools team and after a weekend of highs and lows they did themselves and their County proud, bringing home 4 Gold medals and 2 silver and racking up many other fine performances. Click here for a full set of results results. The gold medals were won by Peta Lundgren of St Albans in the Senior girls Javelin, throwing exactly 43m to beat the nearest rival by over two metres and add the ESAA title to her South of England title won in June. This is yet another fantastic achievement by Peta to add to her GB international vest from last summer.
Next to claim top spot on the podium was Katie Caulfield of Monks Walk who lived up to her billing as favourite by taking the Intermediate girls Long Jump in her first year in the age group. She jumped 5.66m to beat the second placed athlete by a mere 2cm in a tense and exciting competition. Katie was over the moon to win the title having won a bronze medal at last year’s championships.
On Saturday afternoon two of the clubs star sprinters, Laura Wake and Jodie Williams, brought home gold medals.
Laura, of Presdales, won the Senior girls 200m final in a tight race and lead from the gun. In the home straight she showed great strength to hold off the challengers and belie the fact that her preparation had been hampered by injuries this year. Laura won her heat comfortably and in the final, coming to form at just the right time, she maintained her finishing speed to win a gold medal in 25.05s to add to the bronze she took in the Intermediate girls category last year.
Laura’s brother Nathan, a favourite for the Intermediate boys 400m title, had to withdraw on the eve of the championships due to a hamstring injury, thus wrecking any chances of a family double.
Jodie, of Queenswood School, continued her fine run of form by dipping under 12 seconds in the heats and running a blistering personal best time of 11.78s in the final – a time that would have won her the gold medal in either of the two higher age groups – a remarkable achievement. Jodie adds this to the gold medal she won last year and is looking forward to the National Championships in August where she is set to contest the U17 age group 100m in order to test herself against older athletes and judge her place in the sprint rankings in competition conditions.
Later that afternoon Stephanie Gaynor contested a dramatic Senior girls 100m Hurdles final. There were two false starts recorded by Rose Reynolds of Berkshire, who was disqualified, which frayed the nerves of the spectators – but not Steph. She remained composed and when the race got underway worked her way through the quality field to take the silver medal in a personal best time of 14.07s – only a few hundredths behind the winner, Lauren Dewdney. This was yet another medal at these championships for Steph who then raced off to Birmingham to accept an invitation to compete at the National Senior Championships and Olympic Trials on Sunday afternoon. Steph did not progress from her heat but thoroughly enjoyed the experience even though she was more than a little tired after such a busy weekend!
The final medal was won in the 4 x 100m relay where the team of Emily Stevens, bouncing back brilliantly from having earlier failed to qualify from her heat of the 400mH, Laura Wake, Steph Gaynor (all HPX) and Bunmi Awokoya of Stevenage and North Herts AC took a marvellous Silver medal in one of the last races of the day. Bunmi, who ran the anchor leg, closed down on the eventual winners but just ran out of track before she could catch them.
Elsewhere there were other noteworthy performances with debutant Andrew Walshe of Monks Walk, making the final of the Junior boys 400m. Andrew ran personal bests in both the heat, where he finished second, and final, 52.82s, where he finished 6th to cap a brilliant first appearance.
Hannah Lloyd of Bishops Girls, Hatfield, exceeded all expectations, having come into the championships ranked 21 in the country at the U17 girls 300m Hurdles, to progress through the heat to the semi-final and eventually make the final, running personal bests along the way of 46.13 and 45.94s. In the final Hannah finished strongly in a close race to come 6th and show just how far she has progressed in her first year at this event.
Hannah’s training partner Rebecca Hore, did not progress from her heat, when, having run a strong race, she clipped the last hurdle to fall and spoil her chances of progressing to the semi-finals along with Hannah.
In the Intermediate girls 300m there were mixed fortunes for Deborah Willis and Nina Edwards. Deborah ran a strong heat and recorded a superb season’s best time of 41.65s to progress to the semi-final but unfortunately she could not maintain the improvement required and did not progress to the final. Nina succumbed to an injury which she had sustained in qualifying for the final of the Eastern Counties Championships the previous weekend and could not find the speed to progress from her heat.
Claire Humphries, a finalist two years ago at these championships in Gateshead, found herself in a strong heat of the intermediate girls 80mH and, despite running a season’s best time of 11.77s missed out on the final by hundredths of a second – being 9th fastest.
Claire’s brother, Richard Humphries, found himself in a high quality field of the Intermediate boys Hammer final and in worsening conditions of wind and rain, making throwing very awkward, was below his best recording just over 45m. This left him two thirds of the way down the field but he will be better for the experience and has another year in the age group.
Francis Slater, making her debut ran strongly in her heat of the junior girls 200m but could not progress to the final, recording a time of 26.55s. Charlotte Cullen, also on debut in the Intermediate girls 100m could not shake off the effects of a recent bout of tonsillitis in time to run well enough to progress from her heat, recording a time of 12.9s which is well below her best. Both Frances and Lottie will be hoping to run well next year and repeat the experience, being wiser for this year’s appearance.
Sarah Miller on debut in the Junior girls Discus, throwing in a wet and slippery circle, made the top eight despite the inhospitable conditions. She managed one good throw of over 26m and will look forward to better weather next year as she is determined to gain selection again.
In the Intermediate girls Javelin both Katie Grehan and Eloise Meakins were also affected by the cold wind and rain and both threw below their recent best. On this occasion Eloise just pipped Katie with them throwing 35.71m and 34.29m to finish 7th and 8th respectively – fine performances on their first appearances at the Championships.
Jumpers Ian Tobin, Long Jump and Danielle Currie, Triple Jump, were below their usual high standard, Danielle having missed recent training due to a foot injury. Both failed to repeat their strong performances of last year but enjoyed the experience of competing against the best young athletes in the country.
Despite some athletes exceeding expectations and others disappointed by failing to meet their own high standards, it must be remembered that these championships are of an exceedingly high standard, bringing together the top athletes in the country. Many of the past competitors here have gone on to be international athletes and World and Olympic medal winners and to achieve the required standards to be selected to be part of this experience is a remarkable achievement in itself.
Those who achieved will be keen to maintain their rankings and those who fell short will be even more determined to train well and improve their performances as the season continues.
The club hopes and expects that this year’s success in terms of selection and medal winners will be repeated for years to come due to the structures and coaching resources in place available to the athletes within Herts Phoenix. John Humphries |
