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Weekend Round-Up (9th & 10th March)
11/03/2024 00:00, In Blog /
WELSH U17 AND U15 INDOOR COMBINED EVENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS – SHEFFIELD, MARCH 9 AND 10
Despite only finding out she was competing two days before the competition, Matilda Quick (Swansea Harriers) won gold and set a new Welsh record in the Under-17 women’s pentathlon in Sheffield.
Given her lack of preparation time, Quick made an understandably modest start in the first event, finishing sixth in the 60m hurdles where she clocked 9.06.
However, she found her form in the high jump which she won with a height of 1.65m – one centimetre short of her personal best.
Barely 30 minutes later, Quick took top spot once again in the shot, thanks to a new PB of 12.82m.
That put the Swansea athlete in pole position heading for the long jump where she opened with 5.01m before being rewarded with another new PB of 5.49m, which all but secured her the gold medal.
Going into the final event – the 800m – Quick had a 165 point buffer. Covering any challenges by her medal rivals, Quick finished in 2:44.22, which secured a final points tally of 3629 – another PB.
I only found out I was competing in this on Thursday,” said Quick afterwards. I’m so happy.
I got a call at school, and my dad then booked a hotel for us that night and now I’ve won.
I have been in good shape this winter, so I knew I could do well, but I didn’t expect this,” she continued. “I’m just lucky I didn’t do anything really hard this week!
Following his brilliant four gold medals at the Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships earlier this year, Aiden Angilletta (Deeside) was among the pre-event favourites going into the Under-15 Boys pentathlon.
Indeed, Angilletta started the competing in impressive fashion, clocking the fastest time in the 60m hurdles with 8.68.
The young Welshman extended his overall lead in the long jump – winning the event with a new PB of 5.83m.
The shot put saw Angilletta finish further down the standings in the shot put, but his 10.58m effort for sixth place was just 4cms off his best ever.
The high jump was a closely contested affair between Angilletta and his nearest rival overall – Murray Taylor (Inverness). Taylor won the event with 1.77m, while Angilletta registered 1.74.
Despite Taylor’s high jump win, Angilletta still led the competition going into the 800m finale by 2466 to 2347.
However, the Scot produced a huge personal best of 2:16.58 in the 800m, while Angilletta, stopped the clock in 2:27.74.
The final standings saw Taylor just edge the title with a total of 2847 points ahead of Angilletta, who claimed silver with 2816 points.
The Under-15 girls competition saw Tiana Odugbesan (Cardiff Archers) produce a series of consistent performances to finish fifth overall with a points total of 3037. The event was won by Jasmine Nkoso (Herne Hill Harriers).
During the competition, Odugbesan finished fourth in the 60m hurdles, clocking 9.34; second in the high jump with 1.44m: second in the shot with 10.30m; second in the long jump with 5.19m and sixth in the 800m, clocking 2:48.33.
BRITISH ATHLETICS CROSS CHALLENGE FINAL AND UK INTER-COUNTIES CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS – WOLLATON PARK, LEICESTER, MARCH 9
Libby Hale (West Wales) provided the Welsh performance of the day at the final round of the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Leicester.
The Swansea Harrier, who has enjoyed an excellent cross country season finished second behind Olivia Forrest (Essex) in a time of 13:50.
The boys under-13 race saw top 10 finishes for Macsen Watts (West Wales), who was sixth in 10:41, while Lucas Howard Machado was ninth in 10:51.
In the Men’s Under-17 race, Iwan Thomas (West Wales) finished 14th in a time of 18:08. The result sealed third place overall for Thomas in this year’s Under-17 Cross Challenge series.
ENGLAND ATHLETICS 10,000M RACE WALK CHAMPIONSHIP – MOULTON, MARCH 9
Megan Chantrell (Aberdare Valley) finished third in the 1000m at the England Athletics 10,000m Race Walk Championships on Saturday, clocking a season’s best time of 5:38.17.
MBNA CHESTER 10K – MARCH 10
Wales and Great Britain international Anna Bracegirldle (Salford Harriers) was in winning form at the Chester 10K on Sunday.
Bracegirdle, who represented GB at the IAU 50K World Championships last November, broke the tape in the women’s race in 34:43 – finishing almost two minutes ahead of her nearest rival Lindsay Fisher (West Cheshire Athletic Club).
The 4th annual Red Warrior Multi-Terrain Races also took place in Pembrey, results will be available here.
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