News

01/06/2021 00:00, In Blog /

Owen Morgan, Dai Sport, rounds up a busy weekend for us

Portland Track Festival, Oregon, May 29

Jake Heyward [Mark Rowland] smashed Neil Horsfield's 31-year old Welsh 1500m record in America during the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Cardiff athlete clocked a brilliant 3:33.99 at the Portland Track Festival to obliterate Horsfield's existing Welsh best of 3:35.08, set in Brussels way back in 1990. Heyward's third place finish behind American Craig Engels and fellow British athlete Charlie Grice, also earned him a qualifying standard for the Tokyo Olympics later this summer.

IFAM Outdoor, Oordegem, Belgium, May 29

Swansea Harrier Joe Brier [Matt Elias] produced a breathtaking run over 400m in Oordegem, Belgium, on Saturday afternoon.

Running in lane one, the Wales and Great Britain international stopped the clock in 45.84 to slash almost half a second off his personal best as he finished third in a high quality field. The time is the third fastest by a British athlete this year and the fifth fastest 400m time by a Welsh athlete ever - displacing his coach Matt Elias in the top five. Brier now only sits behind Welsh legends Iwan Thomas, Tim Benjamin, Jamie Baulch and Dai Greene on the nation's all-time list. Saturday's time was narrowly outside the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games standard of 45.75.

• At the same meeting, Lauren Williams [Matt Elias] clocked 61:34 finishing third in her 400m hurdle heat.

Manchester Invitational 2021, May 27

Welsh shot put champion Adele Nicoll [Ryan Jones] produced a consistently high quality set of distances with her first five throws at the Manchester Invitational. But with her final effort, the Birchfield Harrier launched the shot to a big new PB of 16.49, to improve her previous best of 16.34, set in 2019.

At the same meeting, Cardiff's James Heneghan [James Thie] set a new 1500m PB when he finished fifth in 3:41.66, eclipsing his previous best of 3:43.10 set earlier in the month.

Full results:

European Athletics Team Championships Super League, Poland, May 29-30

Sam Gordon, Beth Kidger and Jeremiah Azu helped Great Britain to third place at the European Athletics Team Championships Super League in Poland over the weekend.

Cardiff sprinters Gordon and Azu were part of the GB 4x100 squad and Gordon helped the team to sixth place in their race on Saturday evening. On Sunday, Kidger, winning her first senior GB vest, finished fifth in the women's 5000m in 15:59.93, to earn the team three points. The overall event was won by hosts Poland, ahead of Italy with GB achieving their highest finish since 2013.

Full results:

British Milers Club Grand Prix, Manchester, May 29

• Kate Seary [Luke Gunn] broke the Welsh 3,000m steeplechase record on her debut over the distance. The Cardiff athlete produced a brilliant performance to finish second to Sarah Tait, clocking 10:21.23. The time eclipsed the previous Welsh best over the barriers of 10:25.03 set by Amman Valley's Jade Williams in 2017.
• It was a successful afternoon all round in the steeplechase for Welsh athletes at the British Milers Club Sports City Grand Prix as Jonathan Hopkins [Chris Jones] won the men's event in a time of 8:36.50. Cardiff's Ieuan Thomas [James Thie] was third in 8:50.38.
• There was also a PB and European Under-23 qualifying time of 3:40.36 for Newport athlete Remi Adebiyi [Darryn McAtee].
• David Locke [Sonia McGeorge] went sub 1.50 for the 800m again with a new PB of 1.49.72
• Cardiff athlete Lizzie Harris [Steve Mitchell] also celebrated a PB as she clocked 2:08.53, finishing third in the 800m B race.

Full results and report:

British Milers Club PB Classic, Street, May 29

• Carmarthen Harrier Dafydd Jones [Carol Jones] claimed a big new 1500m PB at the appropriately named BMC PB Classic when he finished third in 3:55.13 in the A race.
• Cardiff's Aimee Callow [Liz Davies] also claimed a new PB when she clocked 2:13.68 finishing third in the 800m A race.

Cheltenham Restart Open, May 29

• Swansea Harrier Caryl Granville [Darrell Maynard], continued her return from serious illness with a sprint hurdles double at the Cheltenham Restart Open.Granville clocked 14.1 in the 100m hurdles and 57.4 - her fastest time in four years - in the 400m hurdles.

Reunión Nacional Ciudad de Valladolid - Trofeo "Ana Pérez", May 29

• Spain-based Llandovery athlete Angharad Davies dipped under 4:30 in the 1500m for the first time as she registered a new PB of 4:28.20 finishing fifth in Valladolid.

Welsh Athletics 5KM Series - Pembrey, May 29

• Alaw Beynon-Thomas won the women's race at the Welsh Athletics 5KM Series at Pembrey on Saturday. The Les Croupiers RC athlete's winning time was 17:14, ahead of Builth and District Running club's Donna Morris (17:44) and Cardiff Metropolitan University's Jasmine Cooper (17:58).
• The men's race was won by Swansea Harrier Josh Griffiths, who crossed the line in 14:23. Dan Evans, of Cardiff Athletics, was second in 14:29, while another Swansea Harrier, Morgan Davies, was third in 14:35.

Full results 

English Athletics Senior and Under-20 Combined Events Championships, Bedford, May 29-30.

• Curtis Matthews [Fyn Corcoran] won a bronze medal at the English Athletics Senior and Under-20 Combined Events Championships at Bedford over the weekend. The Cardiff Athletics multi-eventer amassed 7,052 points as he finished third in the senior men's decathlon behind Tonbridge pair Lewis Church and Harry Kendall.
• Clubmate Lauren Evans [Matthew Wood] finished fifth in the senior women's heptathlon with 4,920, one place ahead of Swansea Harrier Lauryn Davey with 4,815.
• Cardiff Archer Grace Morgan [Fyn Corcoran] finished eighth in the Under-20 heptathlon with 4,583.

Full results:

NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, Michigan, May 29

• Elliot Slade helped the Academy of Art, San Francisco, to a fourth place finish in the 4x400m at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Birmingham, Alabama.