Twenty-eight medals was our final tally at the County Track & Field Championships at the weekend. The event took place over two days at Lee Valley, where the wet and windy conditions played havoc with performances, forcing the men’s pole vault and women’s triple jump indoors.
For our senior men, Jamie Taylor-Caldwell took gold in both the 800m and the 1500m. The 1500m was a close-run battle with Chris Hepworth and Mo Hashi, who took silver and bronze respectively. In a thrilling race, Mo took the lead from Jamie in lap two, Jamie regained the lead in lap three but he was chased hard to the line by Chris, winning by just 0.08 of a second. Also on the track, Louis Clow took gold in the 75m hurdle race for U13 boys.
The long jump was among the events blighted by a tailwind. Joel Wynter won bronze in the U17 men’s age group, Reade Owen and Daniel O’Sullivan grabbed gold and silver respectively in the U15s, while U13 Louis Clow took silver. Daniel O’Sullivan also took gold competing in the U15 triple jump for the first time. All athletes produced personal best jumps but these were deemed wind-assisted and will not count for record purposes.
In the throws, Karolis Narvilis was close to his best in winning the U17 men’s hammer. Luke Miller won the U15 javelin with a PB of over 40m, which augurs well for his chances of throwing the 43m needed to qualify for English Schools.
On the track, the women’s team saw U20 Eldika Edwards gain silver in the 200m and bronze in the 100m sprint. Hannah Thurston’s bronze in the 300m was run in a time which ranks her 14th U15 girl in the country this year. In the longer distances, U13 Lucy O’Brien took silver in a closely-fought 800m, Nicola Ravenhill claimed 1500m bronze in the U15 age group, while Grazina Narviliene won gold in the senior women’s 3000m walk.
Emma Gayler won the senior long jump with a personal best, while Hannah Thurston’s gold-winning effort for the U15 event would have put her in the top 20 in the country this year, had the wind conditions been legal for record purposes. Kamile Bykovaite took silver in the U20 triple jump which took place indoors.
There was a clutch of medals in the throws. Debbie McCaw took gold with a season’s best in the senior women’s hammer, a second gold in the shot put and silver in the discus. Siobhan Drummond won the U20 discus with a personal best throw. In the U17 events, Yasmine Ferguson produced a silver medal performance in the shot put, while Erica Wallace took silver in the javelin.
Summary of best performances
Senior Men 800m: 1 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 1.58.23; Chris Hepworth 2.00.38; 1500M: 1 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 4.06.87; 2 Chris Hepworth 4.06.95; Mo Hashi 4.12.92; U20M 800M: Joe Gilbert 2:05.56; U17M 100M: Joel Wynter 12.50; 800M: Mukhtar Farah 2.08.94; LJ: 3 Joel Wynter 6.10; HT: 1 Karolis Narvilas 32.76; U15B 200M: Reef Hook 25.51; Reade Owen 25.66; LJ: 1 Reade Owen 5.33; 2 Daniel O’Sullivan 5.25; TJ: 1 Daniel O’Sullivan 10.25; JT: 1 Luke Miller 40.07; U13M 75MH: 1 Louis Clow 13.48; LJ: 2 Louis Clow 4.41
Senior Women 3000MW: 1 Grazina Narviliene 14.44.41; LJ: 1 Emma Gayler 5.66; TJ: Emma Gayler 11.01; SP: 1 Debbie McCaw 9.93; DT: 2 Debbie McCaw 28.13; HT: 1 Debbie McCaw 45.27; U20W 100M: 3 Eldika Edwards 12.57; Tabita Botula 13.06; 200M: 2 Eldika Edwards 25.75; TJ: 2 Kamile Bykovaite 11.01 (i); DT: 1 Siobhan Drummond 34.21; U17W 800M: Erica Wallace 2:26.91; 1500M: Courtney Marshall 5.26.28; SP: 2 Yasmine Ferguson 11.36; JT: 2 Erica Wallace 23.46; U15G 100M: Laura Davies 14.27; 200M: Laura Davies 29.82; 300M: 3 Hannah Thurston 42.58; 800M: Laura Stewart 2:34.07; Cameron Thomas 2:47.48; 1500M: 3 Nicola Ravenhill 5:12.68; HJ: Roisin Lynch 1.35; LJ: 1 Hannah Thurston 5.18; U13G 800M: 2 Lucy O’Brien 2:34.83; Anisa Ibrahim 2:55.04
Full results here