SAMUEL SHOWS SUPERB FORM
AS the summer track and field season comes to an end, Carmarthenshire athletes have been on the road finishing off their campaign and looking forward to the winter months ahead.
Wales’s top athletes competed at the Manchester International with teams from Wales, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, BAL/UK League and GB Juniors present.
Among those to make the journey to the North West was under-20s ace Alicia Samuel, who was in fine form following the Celtic Games International at the start of the month.
In the women’s guest 100m, Samuel ran an excellent new personal best of 11.88 seconds in one of the final races of the year as far as outdoor competition is concerned.
Later in the evening, she was part of Wales’s 4x100m sprint relay squad.
There was success at Ras Myddfai on a dry evening with a number of local running clubs turning out.
The main eight-mile race was won by Llanelli’s David Keenan, followed by Nick Griffiths and Simon Hall.
Carmarthen’s Wendy Price took victory in the women’s race ahead of Amman Valley Harriers’ Clara Davies and Emma Clatworthy.
In the five-mile race, Kate Parker took second spot in between Helen Janney and Sian Phillips, with the corresponding age group going to Tomos Morgans, with Archie Dilks and Huw Janney filling the next two spots.
There were success for Carmarthen Harriers’ juniors in the one-mile race with Scott Price, Steffan Davies, Carys Wood, Jake Lynock, Alex Coles, Charlie Price and Esme Lynock all enjoying top-three finishes in a dominant display.
It’s also been a busy few weeks for Welsh junior clubs at two end-of-season competitions in West Wales.
The first was the Gerald Codd Memorial Trophy match at Sir Thomas Picton School in Haverfordwest. In the only event to head to Pembrokeshire, 200 athletes from Swansea, Pembrokeshire, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Neath and Bridgend clubs were in attendance, with the fixture arranged in honour of Gerald Codd, a great stalwart of athletics in West Wales.
A week later, 16 teams and around 600 competitors visited Swansea University for the Welsh Athletics Junior League Plate and Cup finals.
Llanelli AC’s juniors were joined by Hereford & County AC, Blaenau Gwent AC, Cwmbran Harriers, Brecon AC, Neath Harriers, Pontyclun AAC & Barry & Vale and Rhondda AC.
Meanwhile, 24 hours later Dyfed’s clubs Pembrokeshire Harriers and Carmarthen Harriers went up against Cardiff Archers, Cardiff AAC, Swansea Harriers, Newport Harriers, Rhymney Valley AC and Bridgend AC in big fields.
Callum Campion, Dafydd Lewis, Sam Evans, Niamh Roberts, Elinor Thomas, Dannielle Franklin, Lisa Franklin, Alicia Samuel, Rhys Homffray and Danielle Jones were in action at the final Welsh Athletics Under-17, Under-20 and Senior League, which concluded for the summer campaign at the Spytty Athletics Stadium in Newport.