Five of Chiltern Harriers young athletes took part in this high standard event with athletes competing from all over the South of England, from Cornwall across to Kent and Norfolk. All were looking to gain from the experience with the opportunity to improve their personal best performances and for one athlete a real chance of winning a medal. Weather conditions were a factor with a dry sunny day on Sunday following a very wet day on Saturday.
Star of the show was U15 Clarice Underwood who, despite suffering from a heavy cold, produced a mature qualifying run in the heats to finish 2nd in 12.73secs. Then an hour and a half later ran into the bronze medal position by one hundredth of a second from fourth place in 12.72secs. In front of her the gold and silver medallists ran the two fastest times recorded in the UK for U15 girls this year. Although she was not close to her 12.49secs personal best Clarice was delighted with her achievement of winning the bronze medal.
Natasha Spreadborough took part in the U15 girls Shot Putt final early on Sunday morning. This was definitely the biggest event she had experienced and, although nervous performed well enough to qualify for the final three throws to finish 7th overall with 7.35 metres.
Continuing his successful start to the season U15 Nick Lingley raced in the 800m heats on Saturday afternoon and comfortably finished in 3rd place in 2.07.33 to qualify for Sunday's final. In the final a fast first lap by the eventual champion opened up gaps in the field and Nick went through the bell in 5th position and never quite got close enough to challenge for a higher position finishing in 5th place in 2.08.07.
First year U15 girl Bex Myers and U15 boy Alex Shelley, both supported in their athletics by sponsorship from Chesham High Street Sports shop FastBreak, were competing in the 1500m heats on Saturday. Alex easily qualified for the final finishing 4th in a new Pb of 4.25.98. Bex had a tougher heat but she worked her way through into a qualifying position and looked comfortable finishing 4th in a new Pb of 5.02.34.
In Sunday's finals Alex ran a very good race, holding 6th position and looking to get close to the English School's qualifying time of 4.22, but had to settle for 7th place after a final lap battle in a time of 4.26.03. In her final Bex was very lucky to survive a frenetic first 100m which involved a lot of bumping and barging from the large field of 14 runners. However she settled into the race and, although never in contention at the front, ran very well gradually moving through the field to finish 9th in another Pb time of 5.00.5.
Gary Howells
Coach/ Team Manager
Chiltern Harriers AC