Kentish Express Ashford & District
Quartet claim medals at final event
Ashford AC had four athletes at the final major championship of the year, the English Schools’ Combined Events & Race Walking Championships in Lincolnshire.
Three race walkers and one decathlete came home with three medals, three club records and 12 PBs between them.
Grace Whittingham won her first major championship medal and set a huge personal best time of 17min 31sec to take silver in the junior girls’ 3,000m walk.
Jacqueline Benson finished eighth in the intermediate girls’ 3000m walk, in a personal best time of 19.01.
The first day was rounded off with the senior boys’ 5,000m walk. Marshall Smith, ranked No.1 in the UK for five miles running, only took up race walking a few seasons ago. He has represented England and was captain for the Kent team.
He stuck to his plan while the leaders went off chasing records but then used his strength and stamina on the final two laps to claim the bronze medal with a PB time of 24.37.
Tyler Adams was competing in 10 events over the weekend in the senior boys’ decathlon. It was only his third ever decathlon as well as his first major championship but a solid foundation of training this season helped to earn him a bronze medal.
With the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400m on day one and the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500m on day two, Adams excelled in every event – taking eight individual event PBs over the weekend.