Mike Strange reports on another action packed weekend of indoor T&F.
The past weekend saw a gold medal in the Welsh Indoor Championships and brilliant club records for 60m Hurdles (Under 17 Women) in the London Games at Lee Valley and 3,000m (Over 65 Men) at Sheffield.
In Wales, Owen Garrett - recent recipient of the Tony O’Neill Young Thrower of the Year Award - was at his magnificent best in the U15 Shot winning with a fine PB of 11.06m. Owen won his contest by almost a metre from the 2nd placed athlete to increase his status as a formidable Welsh thrower and set himself up well for the UK Champs in two weeks time.
Exciting HCA signing Charlie Husbands again went for glory in the High Jump and must have been slightly disappointed to fall back from his 1.99m clearance of 2 weeks ago to finish 4th with 1.95m as his best jump.
Under 17 Pole Vaulter Nyree Perry entered for the Senior Championships and cleared a respectable 3.01m before failing out after 3 close attempts at 3.11m.
HCA multi-event athlete Jordanna Morrish covered some of her Heptathlon events with good runs at 60m (8.56), 60m hurdles (9.42s) and she then threw a season’s best Shot with 9.99m.
Eleni Francis is still recovering from a nagging ankle injury but ventured to Cardiff to test things out. She was understandably down on her best at her main event Long Jump but did manage to leap a reasonable 4.91m. Eleni then went on to the 200m where she just failed to make the final with a very good 27.58 clocking.
Josh MaggsU20 set out to improve his pick up after a promising time of 7.20 secs last week. He moved his PB on to 7.18 this week in his heat to show progress, making the ‘B’ final in these Senior Championships. Making his mark in the big league Josh consolidated his time in the final with a 7.22 clocking. Next week in the U20 Championships Josh should feature in the ‘A’ final and make his mark amongst those of his own age group. Newcomer Craig Pike also featured in the 60m and should be happy with his inaugural time of 7.70 secs.
Another fresh new athlete Llwela Kenyon U15 ran in an event often avoided as ‘a little too far to sprint’ by youngsters, the 300m and posted an excellent 47.03 secs. Yusef Hussien is based at Swansea University so used his Welsh accreditation to enter these Championships and clocked a creditable 24.06 secs for his 200m.
The 800m saw imminent HCA signing and specialist 400m hurdler & 3000m Steeplechaser Ben McIntye test his season’s preparations. Ben ran well in the ‘A’ race to clock a respectable 2:06.07.
At Lee Valley, London young hurdler Mayalee Osola excelled by surpassing Sandra Whhite’s 1980 club record of 8.9 secs for U17 60m hurdles and moved up to be 3rd ranked in the UK this year. Mayalee approached that record with a fine 9.14 sec run 2 weeks ago at the London venue and then closed in on the record with a 9.09 clocking in her first run. Then in her second run Mayalee ran a resounding 8.88 secs to consolidate her name in the club’s record charts. Apart from Sandra’s previous club best, this also surpassed another great run of 9.0 secs by International Hurdler Heather Ross which shows the quality of Mayalee’s run.
Following Mayalee’s race her friend Tamara Jackson, who competed at hurdles for the first time this year, twice ran 9.40 secs to also establish herself as a leading UK contender. Tamara always starts cautiously each year so there is great expectation toward her future achievements at this event. The only regret here was that their training partner Rivie Bate was prevented from competing due to COVID19.
Under 17 sprinter Ryan Brady clocked 7.28 twice in his two races to consolidate further the 7.28 that he ran two weeks ago. Ryan must be due a breakthrough soon, perhaps in two weeks time at the National Championships where he will compete along with Mayalee and Tamara. Tamara is better known for her sprinting prowess, but also threw the Shot 10.04m to demonstrate her all round abilities and Mayalee also ran 8.23 secs for her 60m flat race.
In Sheffield I note that U23 Cally Walder inched back to form with an improved Pole Vault performance of 3.11m and evergreen Dave Bedwell, now over 65, set a truly remarkable club age group record 3,000m time of 11:41.94.
Finally over in the USA, Ben Jefferies continues his season of great performances with a UK ranked top 20 run of 21.97 for 200m following a tasty warm up 6.97 secs for 60m.
Mike Strange 31/01/2022