News

01/02/2024 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /

Over 450 athletes will head to the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff this weekend for the 2024 Welsh U13 / U17 /U20 Indoor Championships. 

The weekend will see a number of athletes returning to competition, after competing at the Welsh Senior & U15 Championships a week ago.  

New U17 long jump Welsh Record holder Luca Phillips (Cardiff Archers) will be looking for further success in the U17 age group events. The Cardiff Archers athlete took the senior men’s long jump title last weekend and will look to do the same this weekend.  

Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers) will also be returning, this time stepping up to the U17 age category. The sprinter set Championship Best Performances over 60m and 200m at the U15 Championship. She will face fellow teammate, Nell Desir (Cardiff Archers) in the 60m, who currently leads the U17 UK 60m rankings with a time of 7.51.  

The first day of competition will see Commonwealth Youth Games athlete Sophie Lisk (Cardiff Archers) take on the 60m hurdles. The U20 athlete set a new personal best of 8.70 to finish third in the senior women’s event last weekend. 

Also featuring on day one, is the 1500m races, current Welsh Schools Champions will line up in both the U20 women’s and men’s events. Ceri Griffiths (Newport Harriers) and Cian Harold (Cardiff Athletics) will be aiming to add further titles to their collections. Whilst U17 Welsh Record holder Libby Hale (Swansea Harriers) will be looking to take her first U17 title. 

Returning for another weekend of competition is Tomi Roberts-Jones (Newport Harriers) and William Bishop (Cardiff Met / Deeside AAC). Bishop claimed two Welsh titles in the ambulant / para 60m and long jump, in what was a close battle with Roberts-Jones. 

Day one will conclude with the 60m finals, which wills see Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers) and Nell Desir (Cardiff Archers) UK leaders of their respective age groups going head-to-head. Leading the top entrants in the U20 men’s 60m is Aron Tugwell (Cardiff Archers).  

The second day of competition will get underway with the 800m heats. Leading the way in the U20 men’s race is Louis Starr (Rugby & Northampton AC), having ran 1:56.83 at the BMC Sheffield Grand Prix earlier this year. 

Day two’s field event will see senior men’s long jump champion Luca Phillips (Cardiff Archers) lining up in the U17 men’s long jump. Having jumped a new Welsh Record of 7.18m last weekend. Whilst in the U20 women’s event, Commonwealth Youth Games athlete Jessica Lee (Carmarthen & District Harriers) will be among the favourites, having won the senior women’s title last weekend. 

Having secured the senior men’s seated shot title, Jac Sheehan (DSW Para Academy) will be looking for further success this weekend in the U17 event. 

The 2024 Welsh Indoor Championships will come to its conclusion with the 200m finals, which will see the likes of Lewis Stephens (Cardiff Athletics), Olivia Gillespie (Newport Harriers) and Jessica Mantle (Cardiff Athletics) all looking to take a place on the podium. 

Keep-up-to date with this weekend’s results here!