Gold for Lewis

England Athletics Under 15, 17 and 20 Indoor Championships – 2020

Report – Paul Bearman.

Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport played hosts to the cream of the UK’s young athletics talent, for the England Athletics Under 15, 17 and 20 indoor national championship over two days.

Unlike previous years only 4 Stratford AC juniors made the trip North, with 2 making their debuts in this level of competition and it was down to Lewis Byng, who was the hot favourite in the U20 Shot, to get the crowd roaring with a series of big throws.

Byng had started his season by breaking the British under-20 indoor shot put record with a throw of 19.18m in Loughborough earlier this month and was after the championship best performance record, which he duly achieved.

After peppering the 18m mark throughout the competition he produced his biggest throw to add 12cm in the junior men’s shot CBP with 18.69m, winning the gold medal by more than a metre.

Cole Williams has stepped up to the Under 20 hurdles this year and in an event stacked with top class hurdlers he finished in a comfortable 2^nd place in his heat in a time of 8.20s. In the final the eventual gold medallist Joseph Harding of Basildon AC stunned the other 7 athletes with an incredible start that almost left the others in their blocks and were left playing catch up throughout the race. Williams stayed with the pack until the last few strides, finishing 7^th in the same time as his heat 8.20s.

Afterwards Williams said “considering the quality of the athletes competing I’m pleased to get to the final but disappointed with my start in the final and the time but it’s good I’m still in my first year as an under 20 and now I’m looking forward to the outdoor season”

Multi eventer George Fox Rowe made his debut at this level in the under 17 60m hurdles and finished 5^th in his heat in a new personal best of 8.93s. His sister Poppy was also making her debut in the U15 800m and in her first race for 6 months she finished 5^th in her heat in a time of 2.29.30.

SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships.

In Glasgow Ollie Cresswell made his debut in a senior championships in the 60m hurdles and was disappointed that after he got a good start he hit every hurdle as the race unfolded and couldn’t recover and finished 7^th in a time of 8.84s.

In Madrid Andrew Pozzi completed his indoor season unbeaten, winning his heat comfortably in 7.55s and then rounding off his season with a seasons best of 7.48s. Afterwards Pozzi the perfectionist declared himself satisfied with “a pretty solid season and very pleased with the good consistent times but still feel I could have raced better in a couple of races”.

Hampton Court Half Marathon.

Report – Phil Brennan.

Fast, flat and scenic, taking in the grounds of Hampton Court and the banks of the Thames, this is a favourite race for Kate Sergent, Stratford’s international Masters marathoner. This year, despite the strong wind she described as “shocking”, Kate felt strong, and maintained a steady pace throughout. She still enjoyed it enough to finish second in her age group. Her 2:14:16 was just 22 seconds slower than her time two years ago. Kate is currently ranked in the top 25 for her age group in the UK