Curtis Stevens breaks Championship record on route to 2 golds; Emily Smith wins 2 golds & 1 silver

 

18 junior Harriers competed at the Somerset County track and field Championships at Yeovil Arena on Saturday, mostly as part of a strong combined Yeovil & Wells team, with a few others competing for their schools. They came away with 12 medals in total including 7 Golds and had a further number of athletes finishing 4th in the various events. Top billing goes to Shepton Mallet’s Curtis Stevens who ran the best run of his life to go 4th on the current national standings for 1500m for the u’13 boys. He ran 4.48.37 to break the Championship record set in 2004 by Nathan Young (4.49.10). Also achieving a fantastic time in the same race was his Monday training colleague Oliver Fox with a new personal best of 5.01.30 for 4th place. Oliver is a year younger than Curtis, and also now features high up in the national rankings. Curtis had earlier in the day secured his first gold medal in the u13 Long jump with a leap of 4.36m. Check out the Power of ten rankings to see exactly where they are. http://www.powerof10.info/

 

Best for the girls from amongst the Harrier’s Monday junior training group was Emily Smith, who came away with 3 medals when she won the u13 girls 800m gold, won the 70m Hurdles and gained the silver in the High Jump. Emily cleared 1.25m at the high jump and ran a new personal best of 2.35.8 for the 800m, and a nippy 13.55 for the hurdles. Team mate Roo Black won the High Jump in a new personal best of 1.40m only weeks after breaking her toe. Roo also won this event last year and that was part of a season which helped her to win the accolade as Harrier junior athlete of 2007.

 

In the u’13 girls 800m race Emily lined up alongside team-mate Vera Assis who also achieved a personal best of 2.37.07 and tried desperately hard in the final 300m to catch Emily who had opened up a big lead going into the final lap. Vera also gained the bronze in the sprint Hurdles with 15.35, and finished 6th in the shot putt with 5.73m.

 

Also competing for the u’13 girls was Abigail Gibbons who leapt out to 3.14m for 8th place early in the day and then had a long wait for the glory of running for a bronze medal in the 1500m at the very end of the day. Abi ran a well judged race to finish in 5.48.22, a huge personal best. Abigail is also young enough to compete in the same age group next year. Savannah Blower also had a good first championships, placing a little behind Abi with her long jump of 3.02m and then running a competitive 16.7 in her heat of the 100m sprints. For the u’13 boys Jordan Boobyer had an excellent shot put but finished just outside the medals in 4th place with 6.85m, just a whisker away from bronze.

 

In the next age group up, the u’15s, Josephine Douglas made her competition debut with two great runs in the 100m and 200m sprints with 15.37 and 31.65 timings. Josephine will have another year in this age group. Also competing for the u’15s team was Kayley Kennedy who virtually matched her personal best of the previous Monday night with 5.17.61 for the 1500m and 6th place. Kayley also has another year in this group.

 

For the u’15 boys, the Harrier’s 2007 junior athlete of the year Henry Brown had an excellent 12.71 in the final of the 100m, just 0.03 outside of the medals. The photo finish showed just how close he was at the line.  In the middle distance events, Tristan Goldsmid ran a good 2.29.90 (pb) to qualify as 7th fastest for the 800m final, and Marcus Gibbons managed a solid 5.13m for the shot put. Marcus was making his debut at the Championships. Also in this age group Reuben Whitcombe was just outside the medals in 4th place with 5.10.37 in the 1500m, with Callum Batten of the Harrier’s Tuesday training group just ahead in 4.57. Reuben’s time was an excellent personal best.

 

In the u’17 age group Natalie Parker competed in one of the first events of the day to claim gold in the 80m Hurdles with a fantastic time of 12.99. Meanwhile Isaac Whitcombe leapt out to 5.23m to achieve a great bronze in the Long jump. Like Isaac, Craig Bateman also made his championship debut here, doubling up in the sprints with 12.94 and 26.17 timings. In the 200m Craig finished an excellent 5th, and with a bit more training under his belt with the Harrier’s Monday sprint squad could no doubt improve on that as the season progresses. One of the final races of the day saw another gold medal won by Alex Wiltshire when he cantered home in the 1500m in a time of 4.25.34 easing up with a 100m to go.

 

Well done to all that competed and good luck in the next competition. Please contact Paul or Clive about further competition opportunities or the Yeovil & Wells Team managers via the Yeovil Olympiads link.

 

Many thanks again to David Cooke (Championships Secretary), the various race officials, including our own Clive Thomas as Official starter, and all the other helpers on the day at Yeovil Arena.