Sophie set to represent GB Under-20s at Loughborough event
BRISTOL & West athlete Sophie Hamilton will be flying the Great Britain flag for the club at the Loughborough International on Sunday.
The UK No 1 junior javelin thrower will represent the Great Britain Under-20s team at the match which also features senior teams from England, Scotland, Wales, the National Athletics League (NAL) and the hosts, Loughborough International.
Hamilton, who is coached by Ken Holmes, has an early season best of 47.12m to top the rankings, which is 11cms shy of her lifetime best and just under four metres short of the 51.00m standard set to qualify for the World Junior Championships in Colombia later this summer.
B&W are also represented in the England team with Jenna Blundell selected for the 100m hurdles, in which she is currently third fastest in the UK.
The NAL squad includes the B&W pair of Alex Daley, who will contest the 400m hurdles and the 4x400m relay, and Oliver Biddle, selected for the 4x400m relay.
» Bristol & West athletes were out in force at the Avon Championships and amassed close to 100 medals across the age groups.
Forty-four of those were gold and the most successful athlete of the day at Yate was impressive teenage sprinter Ella Bowell, who is coached by Eugene Hechavarria, as she claimed a hat-trick of golds in the under-17s 100m, 200m and
long jump. Other sprinters to impress included Edward Wilson and McKenzie Ritson, who both completed sprint doubles in the U20s and U17s age groups, respectively, while likewise Natalie Isherwood dominated the senior women’s sprints.
George Isgrove struck double gold in the U17s 100m hurdles and triple jump, soaring to a PB of 13.99m in the latter, while Lily Bailey had a three-medal haul with a gold in the U20s high jump plus silvers in the 100m and long jump.
Paul Filer’s throwing group had a good day with Josh Schrijver (U20s shot and discus), Owen Garrett (U15s shot and discus) and Moni Brady (U20s shot and discus) all reaching the gold standard.
In addition, there were wins for Ben Massey-Jones (U13s shot), Maja Kupiec (U15s discus), Jessica Lewis (U20s javelin) and newcomer Flora Thomson (U15s javelin).
Back on the track, Mairi Carver Brown won the U13s 800m and was runner-up in the 1500m, Steve Kerfoot dipped under two minutes with a PB of 1:59.00 to win the U20s 800m and Holly Sanigar continued her good form to win the U15s 800m.
Tamara Jackson won gold in the U17s 80m hurdles and bronze in the long jump and Kezia Tarzey sprinted to a PB of 12.52secs to win the U15s 75m hurdles.
There were also PBs for champions Sophia Bowell in the U15s triple jump (8.71m), Ethan Canning in the U17s long jump (5.80m) and Samuel Rudge in the U17s 400m (53.99secs).
» Competing at the BMC Saucony Grand Prix at Birmingham University, Bristol & West’s Kurt Taylor smashed his PB in the B 5000m to finish runner-up in 14:13.86, to slash a staggering 31 seconds off his previous best on the track – though he had run 14:17 on the road at Battersea Park in February.
Club-mate Joe Connors found himself at the rear of the field but he kept his form to clock a PB time of 15:07.20, which slashed more than 30 seconds off his best.
» In America, B&W’s Tia Jackson finally cracked the six metres barrier as she cleared 6.00m exactly in the MEAC Championships, though the following wind was just over the legal limit.
» Annabel Granger raced to victory in the Tewkesbury half marathon clocking a time of 1hr 22mins 33secs.