According to the EA website, the English Schools Championships is the fourth largest athletics meeting in the world. Now quite what largest means in this context I am not quite sure, nor do I know what are the larger meetings – presumably, Olympics, World Champs, etc? But, what I do know is that the honour of being selected by your County to compete in these Championships represents a major milestone in the career of any young athlete.
This year ten athletes from the Club competed in Birmingham – representing either London or Kent Schools. Six of whom (by my calculations) were making their debut in this prestigious event.
From these ten athletes – there was a return of two individual medals – both Gold!
First to the top of the podium was Cleo Agyepong in the u15 girls Shot. In a very close competition, where just 11cm covered all the medalists, Cleo’s 2nd round effort of 13.19m was sufficient to prevail. Due to a change in implement weight in this age group, there has been some confusion in meeting reports about what constitutes the CBP. Nevertheless, Cleo’s putt was the furthest throw since the change in weight was made in 2014.
In contrast to Cleo’s tight competition, Daniel Falode (U17 boys Triple Jump) enjoyed one of the biggest winning margins of the Championships – with 15.27m in round 5 (the silver was won in 14.01m!). This is possibly Daniel’s best performance to date, as it was achieved into a stiff headwind of -1.7m, whereas his recent club record was with the legal maximum following wind. This win also earned Daniel selection for the School’s International Match.
In the sprints, Dante Legister (u15 – 100m) and Marian Owusuwaah (u17 – 100m) were 7th & 6th in their respective heats with 11.69 and 12.55. Both have another year left in their age groups. Shaquille Fernadez-Folkes was 6th in his u15 200m heat in 24.15, just outside of his personal best.
In the Middle Distance events, Lara Atkinson was 13th in the u20 3000m, with 10:41.50 and Lily Newton was 8th in the u20 1500m S/C with 5:17.60.
Finally, in the field Kacey Walters was 16th equal in the u15 High Jump, Esther Jackson 9th in her u17 Triple Jump qualifying pool, and Abbie Stewart in the u17 Hammer Throw.
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