2021 Gloucestershire County Championships Day 2

25 May 2021

Despite strong wind and rain late in the day, Cheltenham Harriers’ athletes were still able to light up the track and field on Day 2 of the 2021 Gloucestershire County Championships. Another thirteen Harriers were crowned County Champion, making a total of 49 golds across the 2 days, and 66 podium finishes. 

With so many impressive performances across the day, it’s hard to know where to begin, but it has to be with our sprinters. Sam Howell, Oliver Belbeck and Jessica Duncton all made it sprint doubles with victory over the 100m and 200m - and all in personal bests. Howell won the Men’s U20  in 11.1 and 22.5 respectively, making it a clean sweep of the sprint events, as he added the 100m and 200m golds to his 400m gold from last weekend. Belbeck showed himself to be quite the multi-eventer, adding the U15 100m (12.9) and 200m (26.8) titles to his 300m and Triple Jump golds won last week; he didn’t stop there, however, taking 2nd in the U15 Long Jump with a PB of 4.79m. 

After equalling the U17 Women’s Hurdles Club record last weekend, all eyes were on what Jessica Duncton could produce over the flat, and she did not disappoint, flying to victory in the U17 100m in 12.5 and U17 200m in 25.3. 

Fellow U17 athletes, Florence Turfrey and Lydia Baldwin, finished in 7th and 8th respectively in the 100m, with times of 13.8 and 14.0 (PB). In the 200m, Ruby Brook added to her 300m gold from last week with a silver and PB of 26.4 and Lulu Skurek also ran a PB of 28.5 for 5th.

(Photo: Jessica Duncton and Ruby Brooks with there 200m gold and silver)
In the U13 100m, Benjamin Parker finished 3rd in a time of 14.5 and Robin Nishimura ran a PB of 15.7 for 7th. In the female equivalent, it was PBs all round for our three Harriers: Megan Amey finished 4th in 14.2, Izzy Cook was 7th in 14.4 and Zara Collins was 10th in 15.0. Cook and Collins returned later to take part in the 200m, continuing their PB form with 31.1 and 31.4 for 5th and 7th respectively.

Moving into the U15 age group, Elinor Farrier impressed with 3rd in the 100m in 13.4 and 2nd in the 200m in 27.9, both PBs. The 100m proved to be a very close race with Annabelle Wigan finishing just 0.5s behind in 5th (13.9) and Flora Hopcraft 7th with a PB of 14.5. Wigan also competed in the 200m, finishing 4th in a PB of 29.3 and was followed in by Florence Hampton who ran a PB of 29.3. 

In the U20 100m, Grace Pitman made a long awaited return to competition finishing a strong 2nd in a PB of 12.7. Competing in her first ever 100m race Cicely Courtenay Moore competed in the Senior Women’s 100m finishing 2nd in 15.1.

(Photo: Cicely Courtenay Moore and Grace Pitman)
In the longest track event on Day 2 of the Championships, the 1500m, U17 Isaac Henderson ran an impressive 4:24.1 in tough conditions to finish not only as first in his age, but as the fastest athlete overall on the day, matching his performance in the 3000m a week before. Kiya Dee also made it a distance double, adding 1500m gold to her 3000m gold from last weekend, running a season's best of 4:41.4. Ciara Thornley made it two Harriers on the podium with a solid run of 4:47.5 for 3rd. Molly Dibden and Freya Howell ran well to finish 8th and 9th in times of 5:31.7 and 5:38.3. U15 Georgia Howell ran an impressive debut 1500m, coming 3rd with a PB of 5:07.5. Isobel Watt (5:28.1 PB), Ellis Woolley (5:28.3), Milly Foster (5:34.4) and Abigail Thornley (5:40.5) finished 7th, 8th, 9th and 12th. In the U15 Boys, Sam Wilson just missed out on breaking 5 minutes for 4th in 5:00.3 and was followed in by Felix Lindner in 5:21.8. Olivia Avery ran well to finish 3rd in the U13 race with a PB of 5:44.7, with Evie Avery also running a PB, 6:08.4, for 5th. Vet 60 athlete, Kathryn Morton, ran 6:24.8 for gold in her first outdoor track race since 2018.

Inspired by their older team mates, our under 11s took on the 80m and 600m. In the 80m it was gold for Noah Seabright in 12.3. Joseph Rackowe and Jack Holmes finished in 4th and 9th respectively in times of 12.5 and 13.6. It was also a Harrier who took victory in the 600m, Leo Nellis ran a confident race to finish in 2:00.7 with Holmes (2:08.5), Seabright (2:15.8) and Rackowe (2:15.9) finishing 4th, 5th and 6th.

Lottie Cook led our female Harriers over 80m with 3rd in 12.3, just ahead of Sophie Gaskell with 12.8 for 4th, Verity Gaskin (12.9) 5th, Heidi Woolley (13.3) 6th, Abi Hickey (13.5) 7th and Jessica George (14.2) 8th. Over 600m it was Heidi Woolley who came out top of the Harriers, running a smart race and finishing 2nd in a PB of 2:08.9, followed home by Verity Gaskin running 2:16.7 for bronze and Jessica George, 2:17.0, for a close 4th. 

Many of the under 11s then returned to take part in the Long Jump. Noah Seabright picked up his second medal of the day with a jump of 3.35m for bronze. In the girls event, Abi Hickey jumped 2.95m for 4th and a tight competition saw Sophie Gaskell jump 2.62m to edge out Heidi Woolley by just 1cm for 5th and 6th positions.

Sulaiman Ouiles proved he has springs in his feet, with victory in the U17 Men’s High Jump and Pole Vault with jumps of 1.65m and 3.20m respectively. The winning jump was equalled by an impressive PB from Bexley Turbard, but due to failures earlier in the competition Turbard took the silver. 

The U15 Girls High Jump was won by Esme Rolfe with a PB jump of 1.25m. Rolfe then backed this up with a Long Jump PB of 3.30m for 8th. In the same event, Elinor Farrier (4.27m), Isobel Burfitt (4.07m) and Kitty Ellis (3.68m) all jumped PBs for 4th, 5th and 6th. Celia Darwent competed in the U17 High Jump, finishing 2nd with an impressive jump of 1.45m. Megan Amey won the U13 Long Jump with a PB of 4.11m and achieved a silver in the High Jump with a jump of 1.10m. Zara Collins also competed well, coming 4th in the U13 Long Jump with a PB of 3.77m. In the boys event, Edward Andrews-Flint jumped 3.74m for 4th and Robin Nishimura jumped 2.97m for a PB and 5th place. 

The throws events did not disappoint for our Harriers, with eight athletes achieving podium finishes, but arguably the most impressive of all was Ruth Bird winning the V55 Discus in a new Club record of 23.10m, the previous record having stood since 1991. Further Discus success came from Linsey Hutchins in the V45 category with a throw of 18.13m and Ben Wade, returning to competition for the first time since 2019,  in the Senior Men with a PB of 38.58m. Andrew Walker opened his 2021 season with bronze in the U20 competition, with a best throw of 35.96m and Billy Buxton continued his good 2021 form with 2nd in the Men’s U17 event with 32.02m. The U17 Women’s Discus saw Anya Bolton come away with bronze, throwing 20.98m and Maia Bliss finish 4th with a PB of 19.10m.

V45 athlete, Linsey Hutchins, made it double gold, following her success in Hammer last weekend, with 1st in the Javelin with 20.40m. Mimi Davis finished 3rd in the U17 Javelin with 35.42m and Kate Mills threw a PB of 18.41m for 2nd in the U15 competition.

(Photo: Anya Bolton, Linsey Hutchins and Maia Bliss with there Discus medals)
Well done to all Harriers who took part across both days. Everyone competed very well in tough conditions. With results like these, it’s exciting to contemplate what our athletes might go on to achieve throughout the rest of the season.