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22/05/2023 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /

The sun was shining on Sunday as the Welsh team headed to Loughborough for the 65th edition of the Loughborough International! 

Many athletes competed for their first senior Welsh vest including Emily Lowery (Vale Royal AC), Jessica Mantle (Cardiff Athletics), Amirah Peckham (DSW Para Academy), Ben Parker (Aberdare Valley) and Sam Davies (Swansea Harriers). 

Osian Jones (Liverpool Harriers) got the action underway in the hammer throw, finishing with a distance of 64.55m. 

For the second week in a row, Seren Bundy Davies (Trafford AC) finished in the top three. The team captain ran 53.27 over 400m to finish second in the women’s match final.  

Seren shared post-race: 

“I wanted to run a bit quicker and execute the race a little bit better but it’s just really nice to be back competing for Wales. The weather is good and it’s been a really exciting day.” 

Rhiannon Hawker (Cardiff Athletics) finished in third in the women’s 800m with a time of  
2:05.68, just two tenths of a second off her personal best performance. 

Earning his first Welsh vest, Ben Parker (Aberdare Valley) was in action in the men’s long jump. Parker finished eighth with a jump of 7.00m exactly and was the youngest athlete in the field. The U18 athlete faced athletes from the U20 category all the way through to seniors. 

Team Captain James Heneghan (Pontypridd Roadents) was victorious in the Gandy Mile, taking the title in 4:05.46. 

James reacted: 

“It feels great! Without a pacemaker, I kind of thought it was likely to be a slow race and going hard from 200m to go suits me down to the T. 

 

It feels great to win the Gandy Mile, he was a fantastic man and great for the sport. To win as Welsh Captain means a lot.” 

Patrick Swan (Cornwall AC) enjoyed the sunshine finishing in second in the men’s shot put with a distance of 17.16m. 

There was a personal best performance for Angharad Davies (A.D.Sprints) in the 3000m finishing in a time of 9:16.62. 

Commonwealth Games athlete, Lauren Evans (Cardiff Athletics) was in action in the women’s high jump and 100m hurdles. In her first event of the day Evans finished in sixth place in the high jump with a height of 1.67m, whilst in the hurdles she also finished in sixth with a time of 14.05. 

There was success for the women’s 4x400m relay team finishing in second place to conclude the day. Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers) got the team underway before handing over to Seren Bundy Davies (Trafford AC) followed by Ffion Mair Roberts (Menai Track & Field) and Sian Harry (Belgrave Harriers). 

Outside of the Welsh team, several Welsh athletes competed in the guest categories. Olivia Breen (City of Portsmouth) got her season underway competing in the long jump with a distance of 5.11m. Harrison Walsh (Swansea Harriers / DSW Para Academy) was in action in the discus, throwing a distance of 54m to finish fourth overall. Mike Jenkins (Pembrokeshire Harriers) finished eighth overall in the men’s shot put. 

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