Nathan Hood – Athlete Profile
Nathan Hood is 17 years of age and has been with Kingston upon Hull Athletic Club since the year 2009, when he was just 11 years of age. He made his debut in a Kingston vest during that season in a summer league meeting at the City of York Athletic club, where he competed in the 75 metres sprint, in an under 11’s race.
His first full competitive season came in 2010, which saw him move up into the under 13’s competition age group. It became obvious that Nathan was a potential multi event athlete. During that season he was in competition in sprints and hurdles races, he ran middle distance and was in further action in both the long jump and high jump events. He represented the club in the Young Athletes League meetings, and saw further action in the York summer league and at open meetings. He entered his first championship meeting, the Yorkshire and Humberside Championships at Cudworth, where he competed in the 100 metres, 800 metres and long jump.
The 2011 track and field season saw Nathan pick up his first medals, a gold medal in the long jump, and a silver one in the 75 metre hurdles, at the Humberside County Championships. He also entered his first combined events competition, the Young Athletes Quadrathlon at Sport City Stadium in Manchester. He represented Kingston in the Young Athletes league meetings, and competed in the York summer league.
2012 brought a move up into the under 15 age group, and in the combined events competitions, a move up to the pentathlon, where his five events would be 800 metres, 80 metres hurdles, high jump, long jump and shot putt. Nathan’s year began in January at the Northern Indoor Championships in Sheffield, where he competed in the 60 metre race and the long jump. At the Humberside County Championships he was in action in the long jump and triple jump competitions, and at the Humberside Schools event he ran in the 80 metre hurdles final. June saw him tackle his first pentathlon, at the English Schools Athletic Association (North East) Championships at Jarrow.
Throughout the 2012 season he competed for his club in the Young Athletes League and Humberside League fixtures. He also started training with the hammer coaches and threw the hammer for Kingston at a league meeting. September took him back up to Jarrow, for the North East Veterans Pentathlon Championships, which included an under 15’s competition. Nathan took 4th place at the championships, where he amassed a total of 867 points.
In March 2013 Nathan competed in his first National Championship meeting, at the England Indoor Combined Events in Sheffield. He set new PB’s in the 800 metres and the shot and a further PB was gained for his highest points total in the pentathlon. His total of 1192 points gave him 6th place in the final. That year’s Humberside Championships saw him take the gold medals in the hammer throw, and the 80 metre hurdles and sixth place in the long jump final. The Humberside Schools event saw him win bronze in the 80 metre hurdles and another long jump 6th place.
June saw the English Schools (North East) Combined Events held at the Costello Stadium. Nathan set two new PB’s, in the 800 metres and he set a new points record. His points total of 1379, gave him an 11th place finish. The month of August took him over to Leeds for the Yorkshire Combined Events Championships, where he set three more new PB’s, over 800 metres, High Jump and another new point’s record. He took 6th place at the County event with a point’s haul of 1542.
Next stop was the Wavertree Stadium in Liverpool, for the Northern Championships, where he ran in the 80 metre hurdles final. He received a County call up for the Northern Inter Counties meeting in Derby, which saw him compete in the 80 metre hurdles and high jump events. In addition he turned out for Kingston in the UK Youth Development League fixtures as well as the Humberside League matches.
The 2014 season saw another move upwards in age group, this time to under 17. This also meant a move up from the pentathlon to the octathlon. His 8 events for the next two seasons would be, 1500 metres, 100 metre hurdles, high jump, shot putt, 400 metres, long jump, discus throw and javelin throw. His first competition of the year was at the Northern Indoor Championships in Sheffield, when he competed in both the long jump and triple jump finals.
The move up in age group had also made Nathan eligible for duties with the clubs senior team, and he got the call for the teams opening league fixture in May, where he won the pole vault event and took 3rd place in the triple jump. At May’s Humberside Championships he won the silver medal in the triple jump and took the bronze in the pole vault. At June’s Humberside Schools Championships, he was the gold medallist in the 400 metre hurdles, and took silver in the pole vault.
The last weekend in June took him to Doncaster for the English Schools (North East) Combined Events, where his 2353 points total gave him a 12th place finish, he set new PB’s in the high jump, long jump and javelin throw. The next combined events competition was The Yorkshire Championships in Cleckheaton, where an 8th place finish was achieved, with a point’s total of 2647, which was a new PB. Nathan set five further PB’s at the championships, in the high jump, javelin throw, 400 metres, 100 metre hurdles and long jump. He gained another County selection for the Inter Counties meeting in Derby, where he saw action in the 100 metre hurdles and the pole vault. He also turned out regularly for the Youth team and the senior team in their league campaigns.
March of 2015 took Nathan to Sheffield for the England Indoor Combined Events Championship’s, his points total for the competition was a new PB of 2785, which gave him 15th place. He also set another four events PB’s, in 1000 metres, 60 metre hurdles, high jump and shot putt. At the East Riding Schools Championships in May he was the long jump gold medallist, and later in the same month, he was the pole vault gold medallist and triple jump silver medallist at the Humberside County Championships. June saw Nathan and his training partner Harry Stutely tie for the gold medal at the Humberside Schools competition.
The English Schools (North East) combined events at Doncaster, saw Nathan finish in 6th position, with a points total of 3040, a new PB. He set a further four event PB’s, in high jump, 100 metre hurdles, shot putt and discus throw. Nathan and his County team mates qualified through to the national final later in the year.
August brought a long drive south to Bedford for the England combined events championships, where he competed in the decathlon event. He set new PB’s in the 100 metres sprint, shot and the 100 metre hurdles, and he also broke his personal point’s record, earning a total of 3315. The last weekend in August saw him go to Cudworth for the Yorkshire combined events championships, and also saw him back in an octathlon competition. Nathan set a new personal best point’s total of 3347, which gave him a 5th place finish. He set individual event PB’s in high jump, javelin throw, long jump and 400 metres, and ran a season’s best time in the 1500 metres.
The final combined events championship of the 2015 track & field season, the English Schools National final, was held in Bedford in September, where he was once more in competition in the octathlon event. He set new PB’s at 1500 metres, 100 metre hurdles and 400 metres and recorded a total of 3131 points.
Throughout the 2015 season Nathan made himself available, and competed whenever possible, for both the Kingston Youth team and the Senior team. He is a real team player and both of the squads were stronger when Nathan was there.
The 2016 season will see Nathan move up to the Decathlon event, which means he will have to contend with a weight increase in all of the throwing events. The height of the hurdles will increase, as will the length of separation between them, and the race distance will also increase to 110 metres. He will also move up to the under 20’s age category.
Nathan’s ambitions for the 2016 track & field season are:-
“I hope to be able to adjust to the weights, heights and distance changes during the winter”
“To compete for the county again, hopefully at the English Schools Finals, to be part of the county team”
“I want to compete to be a Humberside Champion, in the long jump, triple jump, pole vault and hurdles”.
