News
Welsh Senior & U15 Champs - Day Two report
16/06/2024 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /
Alex Azu (Cardiff Athletics) is proving brother Jeremiah isn’t the only top class sprinting talent to emerge from the family. In the final event of a thrilling Welsh Senior and Under-15 Track and Field Championships, Azu secured a brilliant sprint double by winning the men’s senior 200m final. Azu, whose brother became the first Welshman to dip under the magical 10 second mark for 100m earlier this season, claimed gold at the Cardiff International Sports Campus on Sunday in a big new personal best of 21.02. Azu, who is enjoying an outstanding outdoor season, finished ahead of transition programme athlete Joseph Berry (Newport Harriers) who also earned a new PB of 21.47. The bronze medal went to Marek Warzocha (Swansea Harriers) in 22.93.
Welsh Commonwealth Games athlete Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers) was the fastest qualifier for the senior women’s 200 final, clocking 23.50. Maltese Olympic athlete Charlotte Wingfield qualified second fastest in 23.81. And in the final, it was Brier who produced another excellent run to claim the Welsh title by matching her earlier time of 23.50. Wingfield finished second in 23.94 but it was Darcy Coslett (Llanelli Harriers), following up her brilliant performance the previous day in the 400m with a new PB of 24.27, who claimed silver. Issie Tustin (Cardiff Athletics) earned bronze in a new PB of 24.39. Brier would have been an interested spectator in the Under-15 Championships where Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers) reinforced her reputation as one of the most exciting young athletes in the United Kingdom by completing the sprint double on Sunday in record breaking style.
Having won the under-15 girls 100m title on Saturday, Afolabi, who is Britain’s top ranked sprinter in her age group this year, left the rest of the 200m final field in her wake to win in a blistering time of 24.06. Not only did her time break the 40-year-old championship best mark set by Jane Bradbeer in 1984, it also shattered Brier’s 12-year-old Welsh age group record of 24.54. Afolabi now sits fourth in the all-time British rankings.
There was a competitive start to day two in the field in the women’s long jump competition which included some of Wales’ top multi eventers; The battle of the Welsh all-rounders was won by Welsh under-20 heptathlon champion Jessica Lee (Carmarthen Harriers). The Welsh Athletics transition programme athlete took the title with a winning leap of 5.91m. National development programme athlete Olivia Scrimshaw (Deeside AAC) took silver with 5.77m ahead of Lauryn Davey (Swansea Harriers) with 5.75m. The open title went to non-Welsh athlete Emily Tyrrell (Exeter Harriers) with a personal best of 6.24m. Scrimshaw later went on to win the senior women’s triple jump title with a winning distance of 11.96m.
The track programme featured a guest race staged to help Iwan Thomas (Carmarthen Harriers) achieve the 2,000m steeplechase qualifying time for the European Under-18 Championships to be held in Slovakia next month. Ciaran Lewis (Les Croupiers) carried out the early pace making duties to put Lewis in a good position to earn the qualifying mark. And the youngster, whose brother Ben previously competed in the same event at the Euro under-18 championships, carried on the good work as he produced a brilliant run to not only gain the qualifying standard, but to also break the Welsh Under-18 age group record set back in 1982 by Andrew Rodgers as he clocked 5:49.17.
There was a majestic run in the final of the men’s 800m where Justin Davies (Team Bath AC) led from gun to tape and cruised to victory in 1:50.47. Jack Organ (Brecon Athletic Club) claimed silver in 1:53.05 ahead of Ethan Ackroyd (Liverpool Harriers and AC) with 1:53.43.
In the field, Patrick Swan (Cornwall AC) claimed the senior men’s Shot title and the inaugural Shaun Pickering Memorial Trophy with an outdoor PB of 18.05m ahead of brilliant young para athlete Michael Jenkins (Pembrokeshire Harriers) with 16.22m. Evergreen thrower Gareth Winter (Gloucester AC) claimed bronze with 15.02m. James Tomlinson (Birchfield Harriers) won the senior men’s discus title with a best throw of 53.77m, which saw him finish ahead of Jenkins (Pembrokeshire Harriers) with 52.84m and Gareth Winter with 44.31m. The open title went to Nick Percy, who holds the UK season’s best distance, sending the discus out to 61.97m.
Fresh from winning a bronze medal at the World Para Athletics Championships in Japan, Harrison Walsh (F44) (DSW Para Athletics) won the ambulant /para male discus with a big new PB of 57.25m, edging out fellow Great Britain international and former Paralympic champion Dan Greaves (Charnwood AC), who registered 55.65m.
Welsh Commonwealth Games heptathlete Lauren Evans (Cardiff Athletics) enjoyed a productive day winning the senior women’s 100m hurdles title in 13.74 and claiming silver in the high jump where she was pipped on countback by clubmate and transition programme athlete Hannah Lake, who took the title with a best of 1.70m.
- In the senior men’s pole vault final Mark Mellor (Cardiff Athletics) pulled out a fantastic new PB of 5.01m to edge out Thomas Walley (Wrexham AAC) on countback.
- It was one and done for Amelia Fettis (Newport Harriers) in the senior women’s discus whose opening throw of 50.66m was enough to claim gold from Zoe Dakin (Swansea Harriers) with 46.53m and Evie Cooper (Neath Harriers) who threw 43.54m.
- The senior women’s 800m title was won by Olivia Morgan (Cardiff Archers) in 2:13.85 ahead of Poppy Elton (Worcester AC) in 2:16.05 and Hollie Lewis (Swansea Harriers) who celebrated in new PB of 2:18.66.
- Dafydd Roberts took the Welsh title in the men’s 400m hurdles final with a winning time of 56.19. The open race was won by Bailey Stickings (Blackheath and Bromley) in 51.00.
- Sophie Lisk (Cardiff Archers) took the women’s title with a time of 1:03.53, while the open champion was Steff Fisher (Harrow AC), who clocked 1:01.40.
Kieran Jones (F34) (Cardiff Para Athletics) took gold in the men’s seated shot with a best distance of 8.52m ahead of Jac Sheehan (F34) (Carmarthen Harriers) with 7.36m. Ellie Bowen (F56) (DSW Para Athletics) won the women’s title with two efforts of 6.26m. Sheehan won the seated discus with a best of 21.42m, with Bowen taking the women’s title with a best of 15.81m.
After two golds and a silver on day one of the under-15 championships, Aidan Angilletta (Deeside AAC) started day two in similar style by winning the pole vault with a best of 2.81m. However, he was pushed all the way by Alfie Philpott (Swansea Harriers) who matched him with a PB of 2.81m but missed out on gold on countback. Lucas Farmer (Cardiff Archers) took bronze with a PB of 2.51m. Angilletta’s haul of gold wasn’t finished there. Later in the day, the outstanding young multi-eventer ran away with the 80m hurdles title in a breathtaking new championship best time of 11.44 – shattering the record which had stood since 1989.
In the under-15 boys javelin, Lucca Tardivel (Deeside AAC) followed up his win in the long jump on Saturday by taking a second gold of the weekend with a winning throw of 41.25m. And Tardivel showed he has a similar appetite for gold as his fellow north Walian by producing a strong finish in the 200m final to win in a new PB of 23.49.
- The under-15 girls 800m time trials saw Bryony Boyce (Cardiff Athletics) complete the middle distance double having taken the 1500m gold the previous day. Boyce produced a superb exhibition of two-lap front running to win the second heat in 2:15.04.
- A brilliantly timed run by Noah Bradshaw (Newport Harriers) brought him a win and a new PB of 2:05.58 in heat one of the under-15 boys 800m time trials, which was enough to bring him gold.
- Following her silver in the 100m the previous day, Ava-Lexi Placide (Cardiff Athletics) won the under-15 girls 75m hurdles in 11.24 ahead of Tiana Odugbesan (Cardiff Archers) in 11.45 and Lily Parsons (Cardiff Athletics) in 12.13.