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Welsh Athletics U20 International Round-Up
26/08/2023 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /
As the track and field season draws to an end, Cardiff International Sports Campus welcomed some of the best U20 athletes from Wales, Welsh Schools, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Islands (Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Jersey & Guernsey) for the 2023 Welsh Athletics U20 International.
The day got underway with the men’s 400m hurdles, in which Fintan Dewhirst (Northern Ireland) broke the meeting record with a time of 52.16 seconds.
In the first field event of the day, Jessica Lee (Wales) took silver in the women’s high jump, clearing a height of 1.66m.
After picking up bronze at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad earlier this month in the long jump, William Bishop (Wales) took victory in the men’s ambulant long jump with a winning distance of 4.39m. Fellow Commonwealth Youth Games team-mate Tomi Roberts-Jones (Welsh Schools) finished second with a distance of 4.41m.
There were more medals for both William Bishop (Welsh Schools) and Tomi Roberts-Jones (Wales), this time in the men’s ambulant 100m. Bishop took silver with 14.76 seconds and Roberts-Jones took bronze with 13.88 seconds.
Luca Phillips (Wales) took bronze in the men’s long jump, the current Welsh record holder jumped 6.85m to secure the medal.
As the rain poured, Kane Smart (Welsh Schools) ran a new personal best in the men’s 400m with a time of 50.12 seconds.
World Para Athletics silver medallist Michael Jenkins (Wales) picked up two medals, taking silver in the men’s shot put with a best throw of 14.96m, and another silver in the men’s discus with 49.63m.
In the women’s race walk Gracie Griffiths (Wales) put in a dominant display to break the women’s U20 5000m Welsh Record with a time of 23:36.03, which was also a new personal best. The record was set by her coach Heather Lewis in 2012.
The day rounded off with the 4x100m and mixed 4x400m relays. In the women’s 4x100m, England took gold, Wales took silver, and the Islands team completed the top three taking bronze.
While in the men’s 4x100m relay, Scotland took gold, Wales took silver, and the Welsh Schools team completed the podium positions in bronze.
In the final race of the day the Welsh mixed 4x400m relay team finished fifth with a time of 3:43.27.
Wales finished the day on 158 points and Welsh Schools finished the day with 66 points. England U20 were the overall winners with 277 points.