Midsummer Open 1 - 2022

12 July 2022

The Midsummer Open Series kick started in style on Wednesday with a huge number of Harriers taking advantage of the competition opportunity on their home track. 

In the 200m alone 19 Harriers competed with 13 of those setting PBs. The quickest Harrier of the day was U15 Oliver Belbeck who ran 24.79, lowering his PB set last year by 2 seconds. Just behind was Harry Boswell who ran 25.12 and M50 athlete Michael Gardiner who ran a SB of 25.27.

Race 2 was an all Harrier affair with U17 Barnabas Shaw coming out on top in 24.66. U17 Pablo Cox-Sonora was 2nd in 25.29 and SW Rebecca Hoadley ran a 0.26 second PB finishing in 26.64. U15 Georgia Howell was the winner of race 4 in a PB of 27.46 just ahead of U17 Lydia Baldwin who ran a PB of 27.58. In the same race U15 Izzy Cook and U17 Isobel Burfitt finished 4th and 5th in 27.94 and 28.65 (PB) respectively. U17 Flora Hopcraft ran a PB of 29.36 for 4th in race 5. U13 Jack Johnson took a commanding win in race 6 finishing in 27.48 (PB). U13s Megan Amey and Amber Tandy finished in 2nd and 3rd in race 7 in PBs of 28.57 and 28.63 respectively. In Race 8 U17 Sophia Bevan ran a PB of 29.88 for 2nd and U13 Ollie Keith ran a PB of 34.45 for 5th. M65 Robert McGowan ran 31.74 in race 9 putting him in 25th in the UK rankings. U13s Tilly Burton and Lottie Cook finished 3rd and 4th in race 10 in 31.30 (PB) and 31.50. 

The leading Harrier in the 600m was U15 Josh Hill who ran a PB of 1:50.24 for 4th in race 3. U11 Ivy Wightman wasn’t far off her best, running 2:01.04 in race 4. In the same race U13 Ollie Keith added to his 200m PB with a 600m PB of 2:17.62 for 5th. U15 Amelie Paul was 4th in race 5 in a PB of 1:57.96. U11 Harrison Tyrell and Rosie Atkins raced in race 6 running 1:56.86 and 2:03.79 (PB).

The longest track event of the evening was the 1500m, 14 Harriers took part with 10 of those achieving PB. U17 Tom Gavin was the quickest of the bunch, running a PB of 4:17.38 for 3rd in race 1, lowering his PB by 4 seconds. U15 Sam Wilson had a good race finishing in 6th in 4:31.21. M50 Dan Minors impressed in race 2 running a new PB of 4:51.20 for 6th and Ella Burfitt was 7th in 4:52.26. U13 Patrick Paul took a massive 23 seconds off his 1500m PB on the way to winning race 3 in 4:45.62, moving him into the top 20 in the UK rankings. Maddie Thomson was 2nd running below 4:50 for the first with a time of 4:49.59. Race 4 featured 5 Harriers led by U13 Evie Avery in 4th with a PB of 5:09.62, just ahead of her twin sister who ran 5:10.33 (PB). U13 Oliver Wilson was 6th in a PB of 5:12.19, U17 Eleon Wightman was 10th in 5:22.01 (PB) and U15 Harriet Smith was 11th in 5:24.51. U15 Lucas West pulled well clear of the field in race 5, winning by 7 seconds in a PB of 5:19.72. U13 Eleanor Thomson was 3rd running 5:27.17 (PB) and U17 Milly Foster was 5th in 5:42.56.

On the field para-athletes competed across three throwing events. In the club throw Bethan Griffiths threw 15.36. Ed Grazier competed in the discus and javelin throwing 11.13 and 10.53 respectively. Gareth Picken threw a best of 17.64 in the javelin and Suzy Powell threw a PB of 6.83 in the discus.

There were four other Harrier competitors in the javelin with SM Chris Picken throwing the furthest with a best of 41.90. U15 Fred Parry threw 31.61, U17 Alana Hazell threw 17.62 and Ruth Bird threw 19.99.

In the pole vault U20 Sulaiman Ouiles completed his preparations for the English Schools Championships with a clearance of 3.90m. U17 Bexley Turbard cleared a SB of 3.30 and U15 James Pound cleared 2.00.