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Records broken and three sprint doubles: Welsh Junior Championships 2019 Report
17/06/2019 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /
It was another brilliant weekend of action at the Welsh Junior Outdoor Championships as some of Wales' best Junior athletes descended on Wrexham for a highly anticipated event. Despite the unpredictable weather, the atmosphere was still high around the stadium.
Day 1 – Saturday 15th June
Day one saw two athletes come away with Championship Best Performances. Ellie Mae Wainwright (Ed Thompson) broke Carys Jones’ 3.11m record in the U15G Pole Vault with a massive jump of 3.21m and Ellen Mary Kearney (Sarah Kearney) demolished Lucy Davies’ record of 5:18:09 in U17W 1.5km Steeplechase, winning her race comfortably in 5:09:06.
Young throws talent Ffion Palmer (Adrian Palmer) threw 53.28 to win gold. In the High Jump Iwan Beggs (Steve Ryan) snatched the victory with a jump of 1.95m, just missing out on a 2m clearance.
On the track, the Reynolds brothers dominated the 1500m, Benjamin Reynolds (Arwyn Davies) taking gold and Jacob Reynolds (Arwyn Davies) taking silver.
Finally, In 100m showdowns, Issie Tustin (Neil Wheeler) beat the rest of the field to gold in 12.22, Owain Lloyd Hughes (Kevin Williams) snatched the win in 11.01 and Thomas Payne (Colin Davies) comfortably took gold in U17M 100m in 11.13.
Day 2 – Sunday 16th June
The weather was constantly changing this day but the atmosphere and support from the crowd did not waiver which allowed another athlete to come away with a Championship Best Performance. Tom Hewson (Mark Bradford) beat Aidan Reynolds throw from 2012 by just over a metre, throwing 66.01m, to win U20M Javelin.
In the sprints, Owain Lloyd Hughes, Issie Tustin, and Thomas Payne all came back again to challenge for the 200m title. All three ran comfortably through the line to take home a double sprint victory. Macey Morris (Kevin Williams) returned to challenge the 200m and raced through to take gold, adding to her 300m Hurdles win from the day before.
In the 800m, Benjamin Reynolds returned to the track after is 1500m win and passed the line first in 1:57:98 to take home another gold.
The weekend promised and delivered plenty of excellent performances showing us the amount of potential in our Welsh junior athletes. The championship embodied what it meant to be Welsh by having something for everyone. This year there was a coaches and officials ‘Meet and Greet’ which gave them a chance to talk to other coaches and officials and share their knowledge and experience within the world of Athletics. For the spectators, there was some sunshine and two days filled with exciting athletics action. For the athletes, some had their first chance to compete on a big stage, achieve new pbs and some came away crowned our new Welsh Champions.
Welsh Athletics would like to once again thank all our officials, volunteers, and staff who all worked tirelessly to plan, organise and host the Welsh Junior Championships. Without all their continued support, this weekend would not have been possible.