England Athletics U15/U17 Indoor Combined Event and Junior Para Championships: Signing off in style
Day one of the England Athletics U15/U17 Indoor Combined Events produced the perfect combination of one-off, sensational performances sprinkled in amongst the controlled consistency required to win what is the last championships of the indoor season.
As a side note, it also marked the final time these age groups would be contested before the changes in April. Perhaps then, everybody competing felt that added significance – the end of one era and the start of another. And it was great to see the intensity and competition on show in each and every discipline. In the one-day U17 women’s pentathlon, nothing could be taken for granted all the way to the final event. As the first day came to a close, thoughts turned to the U17 men’s competition and day two which on the evidence of the first four disciplines, promised plenty of drama.
U17 Women's Pentathlon
It’s impossible to predict the medallists after the first event given the strength in depth on display at this level, but Juliette Callau (Craig Pounder, City of York), last summer’s English Schools 75H champion, certainly opened up the championship in style with a controlled looking 8.75 in the 60H. Last year’s seventh placer established an early nine-point lead but given the next events – the high jump – unpredictability, one thing was for certain. Nothing could be taken for granted so early on. It often takes a couple of events for things to settle down. After a lengthy high jump competition, the bar edged slowly up to 1.66, which Elysia Chilvers (Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow) cleared at the first attempt to move her up the field and into the lead overall. Callau slipped back to second thanks to her 1.51 clearance.
Next up was the shot, which always has the power to upset the apple cart. And yet again, that’s exactly what happened. Sophie Horsfall-Samb (Craig Pounder, City of York) had been a distant fourth before heading into the circle. But three throws later she found herself in the lead thanks to a huge 12.79 personal best effort in the second round. Bolutife Solaru (Leeds City) also edged up the rankings to second thanks to her 11.72 while Welshwoman, Tiana Odugbesan (Phillip Warwicker, Cardiff Archers) headed to the penultimate event, the long jump in second overall as a result of her 11.80, a PB. That meant she was just 11 points off the lead and 114 points clear of bronze after a consistent opening two events of 8.79 and 1.48. But Callau remained firmly in contention with 9.39 which left her just two points off the podium and Chilvers was just another nine points back in fifth. Not even the best crystal ball reader could predict this one!
Odugbesan made it all a little clearer after the long jump with a big final effort of 5.67. Yes, Chilvers was also impressive and her 5.62 second round mark kept her in touch with her Welsh rival, but on paper 107 points looked to be enough. Would it though? Given the way the lead had traded hands over seven dramatic hours, no-one was quite sure. It would take something pretty spectacular to close that gap but given Chilvers lined up with a best seven seconds faster than Odugbesan’s best time last season, it might have just been on.
Chilvers slotted into second behind Horsfall-Samb but not for long. It was Horsfall-Samb who did all the work up front as she powered her way to 2:34.66. That clawed back all but eight points on Chilvers in the race for second and the England title. Up front, Odugbesan had done enough to secure the overall win, clocking 2:40.27 to Chilvers’s 2:38.26. It was a great end to a great competition and perfectly summed up the intensity and competitiveness needed at this level.
The final result read: 1, Odugbesan 3521; 2, Chilvers 3437; 3, Horsfall-Samb 3429
U17 Men's Heptathlon
Just three one thousandths of a second separated Caleb Green (Marie Burnett, Cheltenham & County) and Charles Reilly (Brendan Reilly, City of Sheffield and Dearne) in the 60 metres as both stopped the clock at 7.20. For many, this championships would be a duel between the two to see who would emerge champion and after just one event, it certainly looked it might turn out like that. Green is the English Schools bronze medallist last summer while Reilly took gold in the U15 boys’ octathlon.
On paper, this was a two-man battle. However, tell that to Alexander Giles (Alex Pope, Blackheath & Bromley) who started the long jump in third after his 7.23 in the 60 metres but opened up with a 6.40 jump to take him into the lead, albeit temporarily. Reilly responded almost immediately with 6.48 to keep his nose in front, but this would prove to be a see-saw discipline with the lead being traded hands with every jump. Round two saw Giles record a personal best of 6.57 to ease him back into pole position, only for Reilly to hit 6.63 in the final round and take over the gold medal slot once again. While all of this was going on Green’s campaign had looked in danger as his first and second round efforts were marginal fouls. But if he found that stressful, it didn’t show and with his last effort, way behind the board, he jumped 6.76 which took him from last to first in the blink of an eye. Game on.
The shot showed everybody this was far from a done deal as Giles threw a lifetime best of 13.30 with his final throw to edge 14 points closer to Green, who also closed with a big throw of 13.08. Reilly had to settle for 11.57.
Twelve went clear at 1.71 in the high jump, the final event of the day, with the leading three very much in contention. That was whittled down to six at 1.74 before Giles went clear at 1.77 to equal his best ever jump. Green matched him, also with a first-time clearance but Reilly could go no higher than his 1.74. Giles, on the other hand, went over 1.80 at his second attempt as did Green before both called it a day at 1.83. Credit to Freddie Strong (John Little, Border Harriers) who was nothing short of spectacular as he moved ever upwards to finally clear 1.92 just 4cm shy of the best jump in the country.
The overnight rankings read: 1, Green 2869; 2, Giles 2828; 3, Reilly 2693.
Para Championships
The morning started with a superb long jump competition that featured 12 athletes. Elliott Griffiths, F20, U17 (Liverpool Harriers) was perhaps the stand-out competitor with two jumps touching down at 6.17. The Northern silver medallist enjoyed a super consistent card, opening his account with 6.04 and then 6.03. The women’s competition produced a similar result in that Macey Hand, F64 (Wenlock Olympians) jumped further than four metres with each and every effort her 4.68 in the final round capping a useful morning for the U17 athlete.
Griffiths took that form to the very next event, the 60 metres. He repeated his victory of last year, clocking a lifetime best of 7.58. As with the long jump, Hand also added to her victories, taking her 60 metres in 8.96.
The U20 women’s 400 saw Skala Langton, T20 (Leroy Campbell, Charnwood) miss her personal best by just 0.01sec. She powered to a very impressive looking 63.61.