Five of Chiltern Harriers young athletes represented Buckinghamshire in these championships held at Kingston-on-Thames last Sunday. With 14 counties competing, and each sending their strongest two representatives for each event, these championships are the highest level of competition for the U13 age group. Very hot weather conditions also tested the athletes.
Michael Goddard was making his second appearance in this competition, having finished 3rd in the 1500m last year, but for Alex Russell, John Underwood, James McCarthy and Andrew Stenning it was their first chance to represent the County on the track.
Michael was selected to run the 800m on this occasion having won the County title back in May. Ranked No.1 in the UK for both 800m and 1500m he started favourite, which added to the pressure, and he was up against three of the top 8 in the rankings, including the talented 3rd ranked Tom Watson from Essex.
Michael controlled the race from start to finish. Running to plan he went straight into the lead setting a strong pace. He kicked through the bell and then injected more pace down the back straight and never allowed the gap between himself and the athlete from Essex to close to less than 10 metres. A strong finish in the home straight brought him home in 1st place in 2mins 12.53s, a time only bettered by himself this season. Watson from Essex was pulled to a new Pb 2.15.05 in 2nd place with the 3rd placer a further 3 seconds behind. His coach Gary Howells was very impressed with the classy performance which produced Buckinghamshire's only win of the afternoon.
Alex Russell competed in the 100m and, although not producing his fastest time finished 5th in his heat in 14.23s. John Underwood finished 6th in his heat of the 75m hurdles in 15.79s and went very close to a Pb when recording a jump of 3.85m in the Long Jump.
Two first year's in the U13 age group James McCarthy and Andrew Stenning took part in the non-scoring 800m race. With a field of 18 runners the two youngsters acquitted themselves well, starting fast and remaining competitive throughout the race. James finished 4th in a season's best of 2mins 29.48 and Andrew recorded a new Pb of 2mins 32.99s when finishing 8th.
Gary Howells