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Weekend Round-Up (26th & 27th of August)
30/08/2023 00:00, In Blog / Club Notice Board / Track & Field /
Welsh Athletics U20 International, 26 August
Some of the best U20 athletes across the UK traveled to Cardiff on Saturday for the Welsh Athletics U20 International.
Gracie Griffiths (Wales/Pembrokeshire Harriers) broke the U20 5000m race walk Welsh Record with a time of 23:36.03, a time which will see her go third fastest in the UK over 5000m for 2023 behind coach Heather Lewis (Pembrokeshire Harriers) and Bethan Davies (Cardiff Athletics).
There were victories and medals for recent Commonwealth Youth Games medallists Tomi Roberts-Jones (Wales/DSW Para Academy) and William Bishop (Welsh Schools/DSW Para Academy) in both the ambulant 100m and long jump and recent World Para Athletics silver medallist Michael Jenkins (Wales/Pembrokeshire Harriers) took silver in the discus and shot put.
World Athletics Championships
On Saturday morning Natasha Cockram (Micky Morris Racing Team) took to the road in the women’s marathon, finishing in 30th position with a time of 2:35.34 on her Great Britain & Northern Ireland debut.
Cockram shared post-race:
“It is really hard to predict times coming into races like these. It is quite slow compared to my PB, but based on position and where I was ranked in the field, I am happy with that. It is my first time ever competing for GB and to do it at a World Championships is an incredible experience.
“It was pretty hot out here today, but I have prepared well for this, despite been in the UK for my training. I was running 20 miles in the peak of the heatwave in the UK in May and June, jumping in the hot tub for half an hour afterwards, which was pretty brutal, but it has paid off”.
In the evening session, Jeremiah Azu (Cardiff Athletics) took to the track in the men’s 4x100m relay. Azu ran the first leg of the relay which put Great Britain & Northern Ireland into a strong position, the team went on to finish outside of the medal positions in fourth place with a time of 37.80s.
Azu shared after the final:
“For me it felt amazing, but I haven't seen it back. It felt like I put the team in a good position but I'm not sure to be honest, we were so close but so far”.
England U15/U17 Championships, 26 & 27 August
It was a great weekend for Welsh athletes at the England U15/U17 Championships over the weekend.
There were golds for Olivia Scrimshaw (Deeside AAC) in the long jump and triple jump. The Deeside athlete jumped 5.92m in the U15 girls long jump to take gold, and a distance of 11.84m to secure the U15 girls triple jump record.
Another gold came from Iwan Thomas (Carmarthen & District Harriers) in the U17 steeplechase, with a new personal best time of 4:26.06. Thomas went on to compete over 3000m on the Sunday, in which he finished 4th.
There were further golds from Amelia Mitchell (Neath Harriers) in the U15 girls hammer throw, throwing a new personal best distance of 47.27m. And Fraser Higginson (Bridgend AC) took victory in the U17 boys 3000m race walk with a time of 17:14.60.
There was silver success for Lois Codling (Newport Harriers) in the U15 girls 800m finishing with a time of 2:16.62. Menna Grant (Cardiff Archers) took silver in the U17 girls 80m hurdles with a new personal best of 11.45 seconds. And over 100m, Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers) took silver in the U15 girls with 12.09 seconds and Nell Desir (Cardiff Archers) also claimed silver in the U17 girls 100m in a time of 11.84 seconds.
More medal success came from Cara Scott (Menai Track & Field) who picked up bronze in the U17 girls steeplechase with a new personal best time of 5:09.73. And Gethin Griffiths (Menai Track & Field) claimed third place in the U17 men’s 400m with 50.73 seconds and in the U15 girls 300m Darcy Coslett (Llanelli AC) took bronze with 41.11 (.109) seconds.
England v Wales Masters 5km International Mid Cheshire, 25 August
Although England came out on top in the overall Team Competition there were some great performances by Welsh Athletes in the latest Masters Internationals. The 5km international, held within the very fast and popular Mid Cheshire 5km, was won by England’s Ian Lawton (Merseyside Tri) but Matt Rees (Swansea) had a great run to lead the Welsh contingent home finishing in 14:53 with clubmate Matt Harvey not far behind in 15:09. The first female athlete home was Donna Morris (Builth) who ran 17:38.
Individual podiums were sparse as England had chosen very strong teams but once again Lee Aherne (Parc Bryn Bach) showed his class by winning the M55 age group with a 16:43 run and Gordon Jones (Prestatyn) was an emphatic winner of the M65 category in 18:12. There were two other podium places with Robin Woods (Builth) 3rd in the M45 age group and Niki Morgan similarly finishing 3rd in the W55 age group in 19:47.
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