Midsummer Open 3 - 2022

27 July 2022

The 3rd Midsummer Open of the season was a distance special with the only two track distances being the 800m and 5000m. Luckily the worst of the recent 30+ degree heat wave subsided allowing for good conditions for racing. 

The evening began with the quickest athletes of the day competing in the fastest 800m race won in fractionally over 2 minutes. U17 Tom Gavin was part of the race thanks to a strong season so far, but this was arguably his best run ever, knocking exactly 9 seconds off his PB with a time of 2:05.9 for 6th place. Race 2 saw the first of 4 Harrier wins, timing the race perfectly U15 Dom Martin was able to run 0.8 seconds off his PB with a time of 2:08.4. In race 3 fellow U15 Sam Wilson was also able to hold off the rest of the field winning in 2:09.0, his first 800m of the year and a huge 16 seconds better than his previous PB. U15 Luke Johnson was 6th in 2:18.4. U15 Tom Wightman was the leading Harrier in race 5. Wightman finished 4th in a PB of 2:23.9 and U13 Jack Johnson was 6h in 2:26.4. Multi-eventer U15 Oliver Belbeck showed his versatility with a win in race 6. Belbeck led from the front and crossed the line in aPB of 2:20.0. U13 Patrick Paul was 2nd in a PB of 2:21.1. U13 Oliver Wilson, U15 Leo Soakell and U17 Eleon Wightman competed in race 8 running 2:32.0, 2:32.3 and 2:33.4 for 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively, all just outside their PBs. Race 10 was a close race and U15 Josh Hill held on well to finish 2nd in a PB of 2:33.3. U13 Scarlett Eagland was 9th in 2:46.6. 4 Harriers made their 800m debut in race 11 with U15 Lucas West leading them home in 2nd in 2:25.0. U11s Harrison Tyrell and Ivy Wightman were 3rd and 4th in 2:44.3 and 2:46.0 respectively and U13 Noah Seabright was 5th in 2:47.3. Race 12 saw the 4th Harrier victory of the day through U15 Martha Simpson in 2:48.5. U17 Isobel Burfitt was 2nd in 2:56.3 and U13 Charlotte Johnson was 3rd in 2:58.2. 

The first of the 5000m races featured 3 Harriers, Rachel See, Gareth Picken and Michael Shelton. See was 1st across the line in a fractional PB of 18:39.4 for 7th. Picken continued his return to the distance events with a time of 19:07.9 for 9th and Shelton was 13th in 22:15.0. U20 steeplechase champion Kiya Dee made a much anticipated 5000m track debut in race 2. Dee did not disappoint, running a superb time of 17:21.2 for 6th going straight to 8th in the UK U20 rankings. Harrison Miles ran well to finish in 17:39.3 for 8th. 

It was 1st and 3rd for U20 Sulaiman Ouiles and U17 Bexley Turbard in the pole vault. Ouiles cleared a best of 4.00, his 6th clearance over 4 metres this year, and Turbard cleared 3.30. 

Annabel Moloney was the winner in the shot put, throwing 12.19. Cicely Moore threw a best of 6.56. U17s Alana Hazell and Florence Hampton threw 9.88 and 9.31 respectively. U13 Zara Collins achieved a new PB with a best of 7.00 and U15 Esme Rolfe threw 6.90. 

U17 Billy Buxton threw the furthest in the discus with a SB of 32.87. U15 Oliver Belbeck added to his 800m PB with a discus PB of 29.38. U15 Fred Parry also threw a PB with a best of 27.08. U17 Maia Bliss added almost 2 metres to her PB with a fantastic throw of 24.51. U15 Charlotte Smith threw a PB of 17.27, Linsey Hutchins threw a best of 16.94 and Ruth Bird threw 24.01. There was a PB for U13 Zara Collins with 14.46 and U13 Scarlett Eagland threw 9.72. M60 Quentin McQuillian achieved a SB of 29.96.