England Under 23 & Under 20 Track & Field Championships

Bedford International Stadium

Saturday 18^th/Sunday 19^th June 2016

Nine Kingston athletes were in action at the 2016 National under 23 and under 20’s Track & Field Championships, which were held at the Bedford International Stadium, over the weekend of the 19^th/20^th of June.

Andy Morgan-Harrison, the Northern indoor 200 metres champion and Northern track & field, 100 metres and 200 metres silver medallist, was in action on both days. His campaign began on the Saturday, in the heats of the 100 metres sprints.

He was drawn in the fourth heat and his excellent run of 10.82s, gave him 3^rd place in the race and qualification for the semi finals.

He went in the third of the semi finals, where his run of 10.85s gave him 4^th place, missing out on the cut for the final.

Two members of the ‘Hull Hammer Squad’, Maggie Okul and Alice Barnsdale, were in competition in Saturday’s Under 20’s hammer final.

Maggie, the six times Northern Champion, was unable to find her best form and she had to settle for 5^th place in the final, with a throw of 52.93m.

Alice, the bronze medallist at the 2016 Northerns, who has made good progress this season, took 7^th place with a throw of 49.31m.

Kate Pattison, who is another six times Northern Champion, was in competition in the discus final. Her best throw on the day of 38.76m, saw her pick up a 9^th place finish.

Cross country specialist, Harry Powell, was in action in Saturdays 3000 metres final, where his run of 9:07.91s, gave him 13^th position.

Dan Gray, the 2015 English Schools Champion, who is still working his way back following a bout of illness, ran in heat 3 of the 400 metres, where he took 6^th place and ran a time of 51.15s.

Jonny Beharrell is also working his way back to full fitness, after spending almost 18 months on the sidelines. He ran in heat 1 of the 800 metres, taking 7^th place and recording a time of 1:57.27s.

Sunday’s competition saw Andy Morgan-Harrison back in action, this time in the 200 metres, where he was drawn to run in heat 5.

He safely negotiated the heat, running a time of 22.08s, taking 3^rd place and qualifying for his second semi final of the weekend.

He finished in 3^rd place in the semi final, where he ran even faster, clocking a time of 21.93s, but it was not quite enough to get him into the final.

An under 18’s women’s 3 kilogram hammer competition was staged on the Sunday. The Kingston hammer squad were represented by the British record holder Olivia Stevenson and Alice Barnsdale.

In a very close contest, Alice emerged as the winner, with a throw of 60.36m, with Olivia in 2^nd with 60.04m and the UK No. 2 Katie Head of Newham and Essex Beagles in 3^rd place with 57.92m.

High jumper Hollie Smith has enjoyed an enormously successful 2016 campaign. Her run of success has seen her win the gold medal at the County championships, bronze at the Northern championships, silver at the Northern indoor championships and the bronze medal, at the England indoors.

Hollie was unable to continue her fantastic run and had to settle for 6^th place in the National championship final, where she made a successful clearance, at a height of 1.71m.