Excellent English performances at the Pickering Memorial Throws International

The English throwing contingent were in action at the Pickering Memorial Throws International on bank holiday Monday held at Loughborough University. Showcasing some of Europe's best pathway athletes, it was an excellent event honouring the Pickering family and throwing as a whole.

In addition to an action-packed competition, the day was also centred around raising funds and awareness for our two partner charities, the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund and the Personal Best Foundation. We were delighted to raise £664 through ticket sales and raffle tickets, totalling £332 for each of the charities.

Shot

The day started in the glorious sunshine with the shot put competition. There were athletes competing together across age groups and para events from under-18 to under-23. In the men's event it was a shaky start for Lawson Capes (Peterborough & Nene Valley, Lewis Capes) as he started with a foul leaving a gap for Ireland's Theo Hanlon to take an early lead. However shot putting greatness certainly runs in the family as Lawson retaliated in the second round with 17.54m.

At the halfway point, these two athletes were one metre clear of the rest of the field with Capes bettering his best put to 17.70m. Switzerland's Jephte Vogel recorded 17.42m but it would not be enough to challenge the higher positions. Unable to catch Lawson's fantastic attempt, Hanlon had to settle for second place with Capes finishing on top.

England's Fabio Zamparelli F20 (Cornwall/Newham & Essex Beagles, Greg Beard) had a consistent series with four of his six throws over 13 metres with a best of 13.82m in the third round.

It was a double victory for England as Cleo Agyepong (Blackheath & Bromley, John Hillier) fended off the challenge from Swiss Mia Feer to take the win with 15.12m over Feer's 15.00m. In third place under-18 Isabelle Stamp (South London) didn't let the high level of competition intimidate her as she threw a fantastic 14.66m in the fourth round of the competition. England's Amy Thompson F41 (Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton) saved the best until last throwing a new season's best of 7.97m, just 1cm short of her personal best.

Hammer

Next up on the opposite side of the track was the hammer, and England had four athletes representing. In the men's event, it was a close battle between Wyatt Larkins (Harrow), Louis Tutcher (Yate, Matt Spicer) and Kai Barham (Dartford, Paul Head). It took a while for Wyatt to settle in to the competition, with three fouls all hitting the net it was a question of whether he would be able to respond to England's Louis Tutcher who had thrown a brand-new PB of 66.26m in the third round with Barham advancing to 65.58m. Into the fifth round, Wyatt threw his furthest of the day to just better Tutcher's mark with 66.83m - just enough to see him take second place with under-18 Louis and under-20 Kai coming home in third and fourth place respectively. Thomas Williams representing Ireland could not be beaten as the only athlete surpassing 70 metres with 72.82m PB.

Team Captain Charlotte Payne (Reading AC, Paul Dickenson) was back representing England one week after claiming victory at the Loughborough International. Despite being below her best this season, Charlotte still managed to take the win with a 66.58m throw in her first round ahead of Ireland's under-20 athlete, Caoimhe Gallen's 57.90m.

Javelin

The third event of the day was the javelin as the sunshine and little wind made for perfect throwing conditions. Dominating the competition from the first throw, Charlie Evans (Banbury, Felicity Dawes) was back after finishing fourth at Loughborough International last week to take an early lead with 70.08m in the first round.

Commonwealth Youth Games silver medallist, Tom Rutter (Hertford & Ware, Tom Dobbing) took first in the under-18 men's event with a throw of 62.15m, finishing fourth overall on distance. Ben Jones (Taunton AC, Simon de Wilton) finished up in fifth place overall with 61.94m.

In the women's event, Commonwealth Youth Games record holder Ayesha Jones (Marshall Milton Keynes, Janina Powells) had a relatively consistent competition throwing 49.54m in the final round to claim first place over Sporting Lisbon's Marta Trovoada. In the lighter weight, Elise Christian (Guildford & Godalming), Jessica Howells (Winchester, Andrew Fisher) and Harriet Court (Paddock Wood) were representing England. All athletes finishing within one metre of each other, it was Elise who finished on top, with 44.34m then Jessica and Harriet finishing with best throws of 43.85m and 43.18 respectively.

Discus

The final event of the day was discus, and it seemed to be a race against the clock to try and beat the imminent rain storm that was descending over Loughborough. With the conditions holding off until round five, it was just enough time for winner Teddy Gannon (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow, Garry Power) to not only get a decent throw in, but to achieve a brand new lifetime best of 55.82m to take first place ahead of Pietro Dal Soglio from Italy. England's Timi Babatunde (Dartford Harriers, John Hiller) finished up in third place with 51.22m.

It was all very close at the top of the leader board in the women's event between Ireland's Anna Gavigan, Switzerland's Gaida Borin and Loughborough's Taia Tunstall (Harrow, Paul Wilson) with the Irish athlete finishing on top with a fifth round throw of 49.10m and Borin in second (48.88m). Taia fought against the elements to claim third spot with 48.51m also in the fifth round. England under-20 Nubia Evans-Shields (City of Plymouth, Mark Chapman) finished in fourth place with a brand-new PB of 47.87m, some two metres better than her previous personal best of 45.15m. It was unfortunately not meant to be for England's Gabriella Tcheukam (Croydon, Paul Weston) who had a tricky series of fouls into the net which cost her throughout the competition.

Speaking on the day, Team Manager Garry Power said:

"What was billed as an opportunity to excel in a highly competitive environment lived up to expectations.  There were over 20 personal bests and 12 meeting records.  What a great privilege it was to witness such close competition and see the future of throwing. What a great joy it was to work with athletes prepared so well by their coaches and guided superbly by the England Athletics team coaches and support staff on the day."

Thank you!

We would like to thank all of the fantastic officials who made the day possible. Their support was outstanding, and battled the weather elements as they day went on, ensuring that the competition ran smoothly throughout.

We would also like to thank our wonderful event sponsors for their generous prize donations and event support.