Achievements signal a great year ahead
A STRING of personal bests, national rankings and international appearances have made 2018 a year of notable achievements for many other athletes who spanned virtually the entire range of track, field, road and cross-country events.
Hannah Viner made her England debut at the Sobhi Sport U23 10k team event in France, while Eden Davis won gold with the GB junior 4 x 100m relay team at the Loughborough International event.
David Stone, 16, represented England at the ISSF World Schools’ cross-country championships in Paris after securing the English National championships and schools Home Countries International titles, completing both 6k courses in 19.29. Andrea Fraquelli and Sara Black competed against some of the best marathon runners in the world this year, clocking PBs of 2:33.30 (New York) and 3:13.20 (Berlin) respectively.
As part of Team Maccabi GB at the JCC Games in Orange County, USA, Maccabi London Harriers athletes Hannah Mark, Hettie Virchis, Carmel Pelmont, Maya Davis, Noah Cohen, Ella Schimmel and Josh Reeback, plus
Millie Aslan and Jack Davis-Black, came home with a stunning total of 30 track and field medals between them, including 12 golds.
Back home, Roger Bruck topped the national high jump rankings in the V75 category yet again, with a season’s best of 1.24 at the indoor British Masters and a fourth consecutive victory at the outdoor equivalent.
Gilad Nachshen became the UK’s fastest U15 800m runner in 1:59.10, and placed sixth in the 800m at the English Schools’ championships, where Lia Radus, a UK U17 top 10 1,500m runner, also reached the finals in her event. Lia’s sister Maayan, is also now ranked the U15 No8 in the UK for the 3,000m. U23 pole vault specialist Sophie Dowson climbed to the UK No2 spot with a PB of 3.86, while Emma Taylor, 18, made the national rankings in both the hammer with 28.51 and the javelin with 30.91 in her first year at the heavier weights. She also won two medals at the Youth Development League national finals.
Biny Bloom entered the U17 3,000m national rankings only a few weeks after turning 15, with a time of 9:51.32.
Lucie Wolfenden (pole vault), Idan Gal-Shohet (long jump, high jump), Anna Barnett (discus, shot put), Adam Firsht (400m, 800m) and Joshua Firsht (400m) are also nationally ranked in their respective age categories.
With so many superb successes this year, this is now an exciting time for Jewish athletics as we head into the new season.