Newyddion
WSAA Championships Round-Up
08/07/2024 00:00, I Mewn Blog /
Brilliant individual performances and a glut of championship best records were the order of the day at the 75th Welsh Schools Athletic Association Track and Field Championships in Cardiff on Saturday.
Leading the way as more than 500 athletes took part was Olivia Scrimshaw (North East Wales) who continued her excellent form at this event with two championship best performances.
The Deeside AAC athlete won the U17W-MG triple jump with a championship best 11.97m, beating the previous mark by more than half a metre.
Not content with that achievement, Scrimshaw also won the long jump with another record-breaking mark of 5.90m – 14 centimetres beyond the previous championship best distance.
Early on in the day, there was a championship best in the U15B-JB long jump where Kaleem Islam (Cardiff and Vale Schools) bettered the 47-year-old best record of 6.19m by a centimetre to claim gold and a new PB.
The Cardiff Athletics youngster also claimed gold in the 100m where he clocked a winning time of 11.65.
Another championship best to fall was the U17W-MG 1500m time of 4:30.62 set in 2004 by Non Stanford, who went on to star for Wales and Great Britain in the triathlon at senior level.
A fellow Afan Nedd Tawe athlete now holds the record in the shape of Libby Hale, who clocked 4:26.00 to claim the win just a few weeks after winning the senior Welsh 1500m title.
Darcy Coslett (Dyfed) followed up her Welsh under-17 400m record at the Welsh Senior Championships by claiming a new championship record on her way to winning both the U17W-MG 200m and 300m titles.
Coslett won the 200m in 24.81 ahead of Dyfed team mate Beatrice Morgan before improving the existing 300m championship best mark of 39.37 with a winning time of 39.16 to finish more than four seconds ahead of silver medallist Holly Vittle (Cardiff and Vale).
Amelia Fettis (South East Wales) joined in the record-breaking fun in the U20W-SG hammer where she shattered the previous best championship mark by almost three-and-a-half metres with a winning throw of 53.82m.
There was another big championship best in the U20W-SG long jump where Jessica Lee (Dyfed) extended the record by 24 centimetres when she leapt out to 6.04m to claim the title and full points for her region.
Max Evans (Powys) emulated the record-breaking feat in the U17M-MB age group winning the 100m in a championship best of 10.72 having already won the 200m in a new PB of 21.97.
Not to be outdone, Fraser Higginson (Glamorgan Valley) bettered the existing championship mark in the U17M-MB 3000m walk by over a minute as he took gold in 17:01.06.
The records continued to fall in the U15B-JB 80m hurdles thanks to the outstanding multi-eventer Aidan Angilletta (North East Wales), who bettered the 46-year-old best by winning in 11.21.
Angilletta, who claimed four golds and a silver at the Welsh Senior and Under-15 Track and Field Championships last month, had earlier won the U15B-JB triple jump with a new PB of 13.06m to just edge out Macsen Martins-Hughes (Cardiff and Vale) with 13.01m.
Martins-Hughes did gain some consolation in a remarkable finish to the U15B-JB 200m where he and Tomos Rigby (Eryri) broke the tape in exactly the same time of 24.30 to share the honours.
Millie Gold (Cardiff and Vale) came agonisingly close to breaking the U17W-MG 1500m steeplechase championship best of 5:05.47 when she clocked a new PB of 5:05.60 to claim the win over Millie Pierce (Afan Nedd Tawe) who also managed a PB of 5:18.63.
Reigning under-17 indoor pentathlon champion Matilda Quick (Afan Nedd Tawe) got her day off to a flying start by winning one of the first field events - the U17W-MG high jump with a best height of 1.55m.
But she was pushed all the way by Sophie Bailey (South East Wales) who jumped a personal best of 1.55m but was edged out on countback.
Quick also went on to claim gold and full points for her region in the U17W-MG shot put with a new PB of 13.02m, beating Grace Hawker (South East Wales) into second place.
Also gaining double individual gold was Sebastian Mitchell-Fofana (South East Wales), who won the U17M-MB triple jump with a season’s best 12.61m ahead of Joseph Phillips (Cardiff and Vale) before going on to win the high jump with a PB of 1.85m.
Nell Desir (Cardiff and Vale) warmed up to represent Great Britain at the European Under-18 Athletics Championships in Slovakia later this month by winning the U17W-MG 100m in 12.04. Elana Murray (Glamorgan Valley) notched the next fastest time of 12.86.
Desir was also part of the Cardiff and Vale team which set a new U15G-JG 4 x 100 championship record of 49.17, alongside Mercedes Anderson, Menna Grant and Katie Higginson.
Another athlete heading for Slovakia, Harry Bradley (South East Wales) was in winning form as he won the U20M-SB 400m in 50.59 ahead of Kane Smart (Eryri Schools) who clocked 50.95.
Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff and Valley), who is the fastest Under-15 sprinter over 100 and 200m in the UK so far this year, continued her outstanding season by claiming the U15G-JG sprint double.
The Cardiff Archer won the 200m in 25.18 and went on to win the 100m in 12.23 ahead of Cari Roberts (Eryri) who crossed the line in 13.33.
There was a mouthwatering clash in the U20W-SG discus where two of the top three ranked throwers in the United Kingdom went head-to-head. Going into the competition, Lucy Harris (Afan Nedd Tawe) was ranked second and Storm Evans (Dyfed) was ranked third.
But it was Evans who took the honours on the day with a big new PB of 45.68m, which also edged her ahead of Harris in the UK rankings. Harris’ best throw on Saturday was 41.29m.
Harris did, however, have some consolation as she produced a new PB of 10.04m to win the U20W-SG shot and silver in the U20W-SG javelin where she finished behind Lleucu Lloyd (Dyfed) who won with a season’s best 38.50m.
Gethin Brown (North East Wales) claimed a golden double in the throws where he won the U17M-MB discus with 42.25m and the U17M-MB hammer with a winning distance of 39.00m.
Similar success was enjoyed in the U15G-JG age group where Summer Evans (Dyfed) won the discus with 29.94m and the javelin with 33.68m
Twm Evans (Cardiff and Vale) showed his versatility by winning the U15B-JB javelin with 40.38m before going on to win the 1000m walk in 5:20.26.
Lily Noble (North East Wales) earned herself a sprint hurdle double, winning the U20W-SG 400m hurdles in 103.98 and the 100m hurdles in 15.41.
Henry Evans (South East Wales) celebrated winning a middle-distance double, taking the U20M-SB 1500m in 4:10.06 and the 800m in 2:00.06.
Meanwhile, Elen Blackmore (Cardiff and Vale) jumped to a brace of golds in the U15G-JG triple jump with a 10.11m PB and the high jump where she shared top spot with Isobel Dunkeld with 1.50m.
Cardiff and the Vale Schools District won five out of the six age groups with Afan Nedd Tawe Schools breaking their dominance to win the Under-20 men age group.
However, it wasn’t enough to stop Cardiff and Vale winning the combined title with a total of 612.50, ahead of Dyfed with 473.50 and Afan Nedd Tawe with 461.