Northern Track & Field Championships Under 13/15/17’s

Wavertree Stadium, Liverpool

Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th August 2018

The 2018 Northern track & field Championships for under 13’s 15’s and 17’s, were held at the Wavertree Stadium, home track of the Liverpool Harriers, over the weekend of the 11th and 12th of August. Eleven Kingston athletes made the journey over to Merseyside to compete in the Championship meeting. Over the course of the weekend there were outstanding performances from all of the athletes in both track and field. Ten medals were won by Kingston athletes, three of them gold, four silvers and three bronze.

Day One – Saturday 11th August

The first medal winner was 15 year old Harry Hudson who made his Northern championship debut at this meeting. He was in action in the under 17 mens 800 metres final, on Saturdays opening day of competition. He has been with Kingston since 2016 and is at home both on the track and over a cross country course. He has given excellent service this year to both the senior team and the youth team and has taken almost six seconds off his PB in 2018. He wasn’t overawed by the occasion and settled in to his rhythm, running the two lap race in 2:00.84 sec to take the silver medal.

Also in competition on the Saturday was Jack Singleton who was involved in three events. The under 15 boys 100 and 200 metre sprints and the 80metre hurdles. His first action came in the 100 metres where he was drawn in heat 1. His run of 13.06 sec for a 6th place finish was not enough to see him progress further. The 200 metres saw him once again drawn in the first of the heats. He was the 5th place finisher in the race but his run of 27.49 sec saw him once again miss the cut. In his third outing he competed in the 80 metre hurdles final taking 8th place and clocking a time of 14.16 sec.

Day Two – Sunday 12th August

Jodie Martin made her Northern Championship debut in 2015, running in the under 13 girls 800 metres, where she was a 4th place finisher. The following year she was the 800 silver medallist and she was again an 800 metre finalist at the 2017 event. 2018 has seen her pick up two County titles. In January  she was winner of the cross country title and she added the County 800 metres title in May. At the Northern Championships her run of 2:14.90 sec saw her win the bronze medal in the under 17 womens 800 metres final.

Holly Adams has an impressive record at the Northerns. she won the shot putt gold at the 2016 indoor event and later that year won silver medals in both shot and discus at the track & Field championships. Another shot silver was won at the 2017 indoors and at this February’s Indoor championships she won the shot bronze at the Northerns and took the silver medal at the England indoor Championships. The shot and discus finals at these championships both took place on the Sunday. In the discus Holly pulled out a new PB of 31.64 metres, an improvement of 81 centimetres, to take the gold medal. She was the silver medallist in the shot final, where she threw a distance of 10.90 metres.

Shaun Kerry made his Northern debut at the 2015 championship meeting in Middlesbrough, where he was the hammer gold medallist. He backed this up with two more gold medals at the 2016 and 2017 championships, this year he was looking to extend his winning streak, in the under 17’s hammer. He won his fourth consecutive hammer gold with his throw of 66.30 metres. Shaun is also a very good shot putter having won three previous Northern medals, gold, silver and a bronze over the course of the last 3 years. He competed in the shot final at Liverpool, where he threw a new PB of 14.30 metres, an improvement of 5 cm, to take the silver medal.

Ben Copley debuted at the 2015 championships where he won both the javelin and discus titles. The following year he retained his discus title. In 2017 he took his 3rd consecutive discus title and for good measure, won the javelin gold and was also the silver medallist in the shot. The 2018 event saw him competing in the discus and javelin finals. He won the discus gold for the 4th consecutive year throwing a distance of 44.58 metres. In the javelin final he launched a new PB of 54.80 metres, an improvement of 56 cm, to take the bronze medal.

Heptathlete Becky Chivers’ first appearance at the Northern track and field championships came at Middlesbrough in 2016. At that time she was not well known on the championship circuit, when possible medallists were talked about at the club Becky’s name didn’t come up. The Monday after the event however, hers was the first name mentioned. She took the javelin gold medal and came back home to Costello a Northern Champion. The 2018 championships took her to Liverpool where another noteworthy performance, saw her take the silver medal in the under 17’s womens javelin final.

Another thrower hoping to get among the medals was Antony Mould, who made his debut in the shot competition at the 2016 indoor championships. He won his first Northern medal in the hammer at the 2017 track and field championships at the Leigh Sports Village, where he was the bronze medallist. He has been working hard with the hammer in training throughout this year, and he also hoped to get among the medals. He threw a new PB of 41.28 metres, an improvement of 2.95 m, to claim his second successive hammer bronze medal. He was also in competition in the under 17’s discus final where he took 4th place with his throw of 26.17 metres.

Libby Hakney has been training at Costello since the spring of 2017. She is a young sprinter who is showing promise for the future. She is learning her trade with the junior team in the UK Youth Development League matches. She had her first taste of championship action and all that that entails, at the Northern indoors in Sheffield this February. She performed well there running in the 200 metres final and reaching the semi finals in the 60 metres. With that experience under her belt her family made their way to Liverpool for the big track and field championships. The under13 girls 100 and 200 metres were staged on the Sunday. First on the agenda were the opening rounds of the 100 metres, where Libby was drawn to run in the third of the three heats. She took 2nd place in her heat running a time of 14.09 sec, to qualify for the final. In the 100 metre final Libbys run of 14.20 sec saw her take 4th place. There were 2 heats and a final in the 200 metres, with Libby going in the 2nd race. She took 2nd place in her heat, running a time of 29.03 sec, which gave her a place in the final. She was the 6th place finisher in the 200 metre final, clocking a time of 29.64 sec.

Emma Hoggard began training at Costello in 2016, she too competes with the junior team in the UK YDL league. She made her bow at the 2017 Northern indoor championships, where she was in competition in the heats of the 60 metres, 200metres and 800 metres. This gave her valuable experience to store up for future competitions. Her first experience at a major track and field championships came at the Northerns in Liverpool. Emma is essentially a middle distance runner, she has taken 18 seconds off her 800 metres best time during the course of 2018. She was in action at the Wavertree Stadium in the heats of the 800 metres. Drawn in the third heat, she took 5th place in the race running a time of 2:43.69 sec.

Ellie Townsend started training with the junior section in 2011. Her first experience at the Northern championships was at the 2014 indoor event where she competed in the high jump and long jump. She has been a member of the Kingston junior team for several years, competing for them in the UK YDL, 2018 saw her move up to the youth team. Ellie’s main focus is on the high jump and she has improved her PB by 8 centimetres this year. She was in action in the high jump final at Liverpool where her best clearance on the day of 1.50 metres wasn’t enough to get her into contention for the medals.