Athletics
Plenty to celebrate at Midlands Championships

Buy photos » The B&R squad at Much Wenlock. (s)

A SMALL number of Bromsgrove & Redditch Athletic Club athletes travelled to Leicester at the weekend to take part in the Midlands Championships for the under 15, 17 and 20 age categories.

The standard was high but our athletes did not disappoint as 18-year-old Dewi Hammond took gold and the U20 men's 100m Midlands Championship title.

Hammond, who had run 11.03 to win his heat, ran 10.83 to take the title. This was not far off his personal best and Hammond is ranked nationally in the top 25 U20 100m athletes.

Another B&R athlete took the Midlands Championship title, this time in the U20 1,500m women's race, as Sally Hogan ran a PB of 4.47.96 to put herself in the top 90 athletes in this category nationally.

In the U15 girls long jump Candy Lockett finished ninth with a jump of 4.17m and in the U20 women's triple jump Isobel Billau jumped a PB of 11.18 to take second and a silver medal.

Lockett also competed in the U15 girls shot putt competition and finished sixth with a throw of 7.52m and then went on to throw the discus 22.43m to take third place and a bronze.

This busy weekend also saw athletes travelling to Much Wenlock where in 1850 local surgeon William Penny-Brookes introduced physical education into schools and inspired the forerunner of the modern Olympic Games.

Again, B&R athletes were in good form. Lewis Byng not only won the U11 boys 100m in 14.0s, but he then went on to win the U11 200m in 30.3s as well as winning the ball throw (32.69m).

Josh Pearson came third in the U13 boys 100m in 13.4s, the same time as the second placed athlete and just 0.4 seconds from first place.

Pearson also claimed third place in the 200m race in 28.6s and completed a hat-trick of third places as he jumped 4.06m in the long jump.

In the U15 boys shot putt Oliver Kemp threw 9.77m to seal another win for B&R and Lockett won the U15 girls event with a throw of 7.84m.

In the senior women's 100m Billau won in 12.7s, which was a new game's best performance.

She also then went on to win the senior women's 200m in 26.9s in another game's best performance.

Finally, she took third in the shot putt with a throw of 7.31m.

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