Kingston upon Hull Athletic Club
Northern Indoor Championship’s – Under 17’s & Under20’s
EIS Stadium, Sheffield
Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th January 2015
The 2015 Northern Athletics Indoor Championships were held over two days in the superb English Institute of Sport Stadium in Sheffield. There was a huge turnout of athletes from every corner of Northern England for the first indoor championship meeting of the year.
18 members of our youth teams competed at the championships and Kingston were represented in 10 of the weekend’s finals. They won a gold, two silver and 2 bronze medals. All of the athletes put in immense efforts and we saw a mass of personal bests and seasons best performances.
Charlotte Paterson who has made the move up to the under 20’s, took the silver medal in the 60 metres race where she also set a new PB of 7.61s. This continued her success story from 2014 where she won silver medals at the English School Championships and the UK School Games and gold at the Northern (outdoor) Championships.
Hollie Smith won the bronze medal in the under 17 women’s High Jump, setting a season’s best performance of 1.60m. Hollie was the Humberside County and Humberside Schools high jump champion in 2014, a year which saw her out of competition for some time because of injury. It was good to see her not only back competing at these championships but also to see her performing so well.
Chelsea Walker competes for the City of York Athletic Club but she does her training at the Costello Stadium under the guidance of one of Kingston’s most experienced coaches John Brant. She won two medals in the under 20 women’s category. The first was gold in the 400 metres in a season’s best time of 57.77s. The second came in the 60 metres hurdles where she won bronze and set a new PB of 8.98s.
Connor Bingham took with him his excellent form in recent cross country events and enjoyed a good weekend in Sheffield where he competed in two finals, the 1500 metres on the Saturday and the 800 metres on Sunday. He took 5th place in the 1500 metres where he set a new PB of 4:28.30s. Followed by a 4th place in the 800 where he another new PB of 2:05.61s.
Marcel Dalee also competed in the 800 metres final where he ran a time of 2:07.61s which earned him 5th place. Marcel had earlier run a season’s best time of 2:05.69s in the heats. He also ran in the heats of the 400 metres where he took 3rd place in heat 1 with a time of 54.01s.
Joe Cooper fought his way through the heats and took a well deserved place in the under 20’s 60 metres final. He ran a new PB of 7.23s which gained him 6th place. Joe was well pleased with the day’s events and so he should be.
Matthew Backhouse contested the under 17’s 60 metres final. He took 6th place in a recorded time of 7.44s. In the heats Matt had registered a new PB of 7.34s. He also competed in the heats of the 200 metres. He was the winner of heat 4 where he set a new season’s best of 23.45s.
Bryony Underwood competed in the under 17’s high jump final. She finished in 9th place with a season’s best clearance of 1.45m.
Daniel Gray deserves a special mention. He competed in the heat’s of the under 20’s 400 metres, he set a new PB of 49.59s. He was in great form and qualified for the final. He looked a certainty for a medal. In the final he suffered hamstring problems which put him out of the race. Everyone at the club wishes Dan a speedy recovery.
Another nine of our athletes competed in the heats of their events and they put in some mighty performances which are well worth recognition.
Eliot Gay took 2nd place in heat 2 of the under 20’s 200 metres where he set a new PB of 23.18s. In heat 2 of the 60 metres he set another new PB of 7.36s.
Andrew Morgan-Harrison set a season’s best of 23.57s in heat 3 of the under 20’s 200 metres to take 3rd place. In the 60 metres he finished in 5th place in heat 3 in 7.48s.
Brett Dorley ran in heat 1 of the under 17’s 60 metres. He finished in 4th place and set a new PB of 7.64s. In the 200 metres he ran another PB of 25.13s to give him another 4th place in another first heat. Brett is happy with his performances, two new PB’s and getting a qualifying time for the British Indoor Championships in February.
Gabrielle Whittle has just moved up to the under 17 age group. She ran in heat 2 of the 60 metres, where she claimed 3rd place and a new PB of 8.30s. She also raced in heat 3 of the 200 metres where she put in a season’s best performance of 27.18s.
Chloe Constable was taking part in her first championship competition. She ran in the under 17’s 60 metres where she set a new PB of 8.78s.
Megan Grant ran in heat 5 of the under 17’s 60 metres where she took 4th place with a time of 8.39s.
Amelia Benson is another new under 17, she competed in heat 6 of the 60 metres where she took 2nd place and set a new PB of 8.16s. She also contested the 200 metres where she put in a season’s best performance of 26.84s.
Emily Lyons took 3rd place in heat 6 of the under 17’s 60 metres and she set anew PB of 8.20s. In the 200 metres Emily ran a season’s best of 26.84s.
Jessica Fields is another new under 17 athlete and she competed in 2 events. In the 60 metres she was placed 5th in her heat and recorded a time of 8.66s. The 300 metres saw her put in a season’s best performance with a time of 45.20s.
