Blundell earns personal best in the sunshine
This short season may be coming to an end but British junior international Jenna Blundell is taking full advantage of finding her form in the late autumn sunshine.
The Running Bath/chron athlete of the year for 2019 scorched to a personal best over 100m at the Yate Sprints & Hurdles meeting on Sunday and also notched up another solid 110m hurdles victory.
Sprinting conditions were very favourable on Sunday and Blundell, whose family home is near Bradford on Avon, was fortunate that she had a legal following wind of 0.7mps as she shaved 0.02secs off her 2019 PB with a time of 12.20secs.
That time puts her third in the South West Rankings, while in the 100m hurdles she is once again top of the pile – and fourth fastest in the UK this summer – as she won in a time of 13.9secs equalling the 13.91secs she recorded when finishing sixth in the recent Muller British Championships.
“I was hoping to run a bit quicker in the 100m but honestly I couldn’t have expected too much more from this short season having missed a block of work during lockdown,” said Blundell.
“In the hurdles I was pleased to go sub 14 seconds although 13.9secs is not that quick for me but overall it was nice to finish on a high.
“Now I’ll be heading back to Sheffield [she started her second year at Hallam University] and working hard over the winter.”
Team Bath’s Femi Akinbobola also thrived in the ideal conditions as the 18-year-old smashed his personal bests for both the 100m and 200m as he broke 11 seconds and 22 seconds respectively for the first time in his young career.
Akinbobola finished third in the rarely-run 100m, clocking 10.84secs and then buoyed with that success scorched to victory in the 200m in a scintillating time of 21.61secs, to put him top of the South West Rankings.
“It was a great day and to be fair came as a big shock,” said Akinbobola.
“When it was announced I had won in 21.61secs I literally collapsed to the ground, I just could not believe it.
“It certainly was a good day at the office.”
For record purposes Akinbobola’s times will have an asterisk alongside as both personal bests were assisted by a following wind of 2.5metres per second, above the legal limit of 2.0mps.
Nonetheless, being only just over the limit shouldn’t detract in any way from the enormity of Akinbobola’s success having gone into the meeting with legal PBS of 11.2secs (2018) and 22.32secs, which he set when winning the South West Inter Counties title last year.
“Yes, the times were wind-assisted but I now reckon I can do that again without the wind,” added Akinbobola.
“Sunday has given me a lot of confidence and I reckon I am in shape to run 47 seconds for 400m now. I still see myself as primarily a 400m man.”
Coincidentally, Akinbobola set his 400m PB of 48.97secs – his first sub 49 seconds clocking – on the same Yate track a few weeks ago so it is clearly a venue that suits him.
Elsewhere Joe Carter improved his PB in the 200m for the second time in a week. The previous weekend at Yeovil he dipped under 23 seconds for the first time with 22.90secs but on Sunday he took another chunk off that with a scintillating 22.55secs to lift him to top spot in the South West Rankings for under 17 men. It is also the 14th fastest time in the UK this summer.
“That was a great result for Joe,” said his coach Julie Alexander. “His 11.11secs for the 100m was also pretty special and I think he is capable of going under 11 seconds if the conditions are good in Nuneaton next weekend.”
Jake Cover notched up PBS in the 100m (11.58secs), his first time under 12 seconds and in the 110m hurdles (14.99secs) and Joel Mattacks clocked a PB of 11.82secs for the 100m and just missed his 200m best with 24.67secs.
Multi-eventer Rory Howorth was also in action clocking 11.72secs in the 100m and 16.06secs behind Cover in the 110m hurdles, the latter mark a legal PB.
Competing in the Bristol & West AC Festival of Speed at Whitehall Team Bath’s Ben Game clocked 11.5secs in the heats but didn’t start in the final.
Eleni Francis was runner-up in the under-17 women’s 100m clocking 13.2secs, just outside her electronic best of 13.12secs. Behind her clubmate Anisah Qazi was fourth in a PB time of 13.7secs.
Team Bath AC junior Luka Williams opted for the Mark Cawte Autumn Open, Swindon and finished runnerup in the 100m in 11.58secs racing into a headwind of 1.3mps.
At the Yeovil Summer Track Series earlier this month Joe Carter ran 11.22secs for a PB to win the 100m and also notched up a PB in the 200m clocking 22.90secs.
In the mixed heat 5 teenager Eleni Francis scorched to a PB of 13.12secs – with a legal following wind of 1.4mps – with Alice Wilson recording a season’s best of 13.40secs of 13.40secs for fifth place.
In the 200m Francis doubled up with another PB of 27.14secs for second place.
Team Bath junior Mia Bates won the senior women’s 400m hurdles in a PB time of 68.48secs and India Ibbotson ran a season’s best of 66.16secs in the 400m
■ The athletics coverage in the Chron is sponsored by Running Bath