Emily Smith set a new personal best when finishing just outside the medals at the Senior Girls 1500m steeplechase event at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham on Saturday July 6th. Another 5 of the Harrier team were competing at different events and all acquitted themselves well in the heat at these prestigious English School Championships. Earlier in the week there were also Harrier trained athletes competing in the English Schools Cup.
Emily’s time of 5.11.31 was a whisker inside her previous best and she was 5 seconds behind 3rd place. Emily is in a school year younger than the three ahead of her so she can be proud of her achievement. Emily started training with the Harrier’s Monday group when she was aged 8 and has made great progress at athletics whilst maintaining her interest in other sports. Emily was Junior Girls English School XC Champion in 2010 and this 4th place represents a return to top level competition after some hard work in training with the Tuesday night Harrier group, under the coaching of Clive Thomas.
Just outside of a personal best at the Alexander stadium was Oliver Fox’s effort in the Final of the Inter Boys (Years 10 &11) 3000m race. Oliver finished in 9th place in a time of 8.48, just 2 seconds outside of his best. The winning time was 8.28.
In the senior boys Sam Bedford ran in the heats of the 400m and finished in 5th place in a time of 50.42, not quick enough for the final, where the winning overall time was an incredibly quick 47.57 by Sam’s Somerset County team mate Elliot Rutter of Kings School, Bruton.
In the inter boys 1500m steeplechase final, Sam Sommerville ran 4.39, for 9th place. The winning time was 4.20. In the junior boys (Years 8 & 9) 800m James Bridge, who has been running well this season, finished 8th in his heat in a time of 2.13 . The winning time in the overall final was a nippy 1.57.In the Senior Boys 2000m Steeplechase another of the Tuesday night training group, Harry Lane, competing for Dorset Schools, ran 6.14, just outside of his best, for 8th place.No doubt some of these performances would have been affected by the blistering heat on the day.
Regardless of where they finished this will have been a great experience for all of the youngsters that took part in these Championships. Well done all.
Last Saturday, June 29th, Lucy Baldwin ran a pb of 2.25 for the u16s when competing for Millfield School in the English Schools Cup Final at Gateshead International Stadium. For the u14s, Imogen Brooks was just outside of a pb with her 31.03 clocking for the 200m in the junior match at the same venue, whilst Ella Sykes achieved a personal best in the 1500m with her 5.03 clocking. Ella and Imogen are regular Monday training members whilst Lucy has been helping with the Monday groups as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award, and trains with the Tuesday Harrier group. Again, taking part in this Cup Final will have been great experience for all.
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