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WSAA Schools Track and Field Championships - Preview
04/07/2024 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field / School News /
More than 500 young athletes from all over Wales will descend of Cardiff this weekend for the 75th WSAA Schools Track and Field Championships.
They will be representing the eight Welsh schools districts - Afan Nedd Tawe, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Dyfed, Eryri, Glamorgan Valleys, North East Wales, Powys and South East Wales.
Last year, Cardiff and the Vale Schools District took victory in five out of the six age categories with Afan Nedd Tawe victorious in the U20 men’s category.
Among the individuals taking part will be three of the record six Welsh athletes who have been selected to represent Great Britain at the upcoming European Under-18 Athletics Championships.
Nell Desir (Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan) will compete in the 100m and 4x100 at the championships in Slovakia later this month and she will be contesting the same events on Saturday.
The recently crowned Welsh 100m senior champion - currently the fastest UK female sprinter in her age group - will be competing in the under-17 women and medium girls age category.
Aron Tugwell (South East Wales), who will be joining Desir in Slovakia, will contest the 100m and 200m in Cardiff.
The Coleg Gwent student has posted new personal bests over both distances this season – 10.66 and 21.41 respectively, so should be in top form for his races in the under-20 age group, where he will be up against the likes of fellow South East Wales athlete Callum Webb who has a season’s best of 10.86.
The third Slovakia-bound athlete competing on Saturday is another sprinter – Harry Bradley (South East Wales), who will be contesting the 400m and 4x100m relay at the Cardiff International Sports Campus.
Bradley is one of the top 10 under-20 400m runners in the United Kingdom this season with a personal best of 48.46 which he clocked at the Welsh Athletics Senior Championships last month.
As well as the newly selected GB representatives, there is a plethora of emerging Welsh talent amongst the start lists at the weekend, including another outstanding young sprinter – Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan).
At the Welsh Senior and Under-15 Track and Field Championships, Afolabi did the under-15 girls sprint double.
Having won the 100m title the previous day, Afolabi, who is Britain’s top ranked sprinter in her age group this year, won the 200m final in a blistering time of 24.06.
Not only did her time break the 40-year-old championship best mark, it also shattered Hannah Brier’s 12-year-old Welsh age group record of 24.54. Afolabi now sits fourth in the all-time British rankings.
Another outstanding under-15 talent on the start lists this weekend is multi-eventer Aiden Angilletta (North East Wales).
Angilletta claimed four golds and a silver at the Welsh Senior and Under-15 Track and Field Championships, which included a championship best performance in the 80m hurdles where he eclipsed the record which had stood since 1989.
The all-rounder will once again be in action over 80m, as well as the triple jump and the 4x100m relay, where he will line-up alongside North East Wales team-mate Lucca Tardivel, who will also contest the 200m and long jump.
Tardivel also had a successful under-15 champs where he won the long jump with a new PB of 6.15m, the javelin and the 200m where he also claimed a PB.
Another athlete to shine at the Welsh Senior and Under-15 Track and Field Championships, will be competing again this weekend. National development programme athlete Olivia Scrimshaw (North East Wales) won senior silver in the long jump and senior gold in the triple jump. This time, she will also compete in the 4x100m.
Wales is currently enjoying a bumper crop of young multi-eventers with Luca Phillips (Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan) also featuring heavily on the start lists.
Currently the number one ranked under-17 long jumper and triple jumper in the UK, Phillips will contest both disciplines along with the 4x100m on Saturday.
Matilda Quick (Afan Nedd Tawe), who earlier this year won the English under-17 indoor pentathlon title will contest the high jump, shot put and 4x100m.
Another Afan Nedd Tawe athlete to look out for will be Libby Hale, who lines up in the under-17 1500m, fresh from winning the senior national title over the distance.
The under-20 women’s discus could provide one of the best head to heads of the championships as Lucy Harris (Afan Nedd Tawe) and Storm Evans (Dyfed) are among the entries.
The two women are currently ranked second and third respectively in the UK for their age group with bests of 45.39m and 44.86m. The pair are also due to meet in the shot put, where Evans is ranked fourth in the UK this year.
Evans’ Dyfed team-mate Darcy Coslett is due to compete in the under-17 women’s 200m and 300m. Claiming 400m silver at the Welsh Senior Championships, Coslett broke the 46-year-old Welsh under-17 record.
Meanwhile, having rubbed shoulders with some of the UKs top senior sprinters at the Microplus UK Athletics Championships in Manchester last weekend, Lewis Stephens (Glamorgan Valley) will take to the blocks in the under-20 men’s 200m.
As well as individual and school district glory, pupils in the middle age group will be hoping to gain automatic selection for the Welsh Schools team to compete at the Schools International at Carmarthen on July 20. The selection panel will meet on Sunday, July 7.