Kickstarting the season at Loughborough International
The sun is shining, spring is underway, which means it's time for the outdoor season! The Loughborough International marked the first outdoor competition for many athletes - the cobwebs have well and truly been blown away as England retained their title as champions.
Speed
It was an electric 400m hurdles race for England's Jake Minshull (Coventry Godiva Harriers, James Wright and Eamonn Kelly) who not only posted a new season's best, but also sailed over the U23 European qualifying time with 49.86. With 100m to go, it looked to be Tyri Donovan's (Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow, Marina Armstrong) race, but a sensational surge with 20 metres to go saw Minshull pip the victory. In the same race, Oliver Parker also set down a mark over the U20 European standard.
Under 20 and second year Youth Talent Pathway athlete Arabella Wilson (Thames Valley, Andrew Fisher) had an outstanding race over the women's 400m hurdles with a new lifetime best of 58.25. England's Orla Brennan (Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow, Mike Bennett) opened her outdoor season with 61.22 for 6th place.
The backstraight played host to the 100m match races today, making best use of the breeze. Many big names from the Paris Paralympic Games were present in the para 100m as Bebe Jackson T44 (Woodford Green with Essex Ladies, Alan James) representing England - finishing 3rd with a new PB of 13.78 - outstanding for this early in the season. Kyle Keyworth T35 (Manchester Harriers & AC, Michael Fennell) had similar luck in the men's event with 12.42 PB.
Renee Regis (Shaftesbury Barnet, Darren Braithwaite) had an outstanding run as a guest in the women's 100m to not only take the win, but also set a new lifetime best of 11.32. Diani Walker (Birchfield Harriers, Clarence Callender) continues her great form from the outdoor season so far with 11.86 for England. Tyvon Inniss (Croydon Harriers, Peter Griffiths) sets a new season's best of 10.50.
It was a battle of the headwind in the 200m match races with a recording of -2.1 along the home straight. Rachel Bennett (Sale Harriers, Anita Richardson) did not let this deter her as she flew to first place with 23.74 - a big lead over second place. Luke Dorrell (Aldershot, Farnham and District AC, Linford Christie) came home in 2nd with 21.37.
It was fourth for Brook Cronin (Walton AC, Andrew Kennard) over the 400m flat in 47.50 with Tonbridge's Asha Root (Iain Presnell) coming home in 2nd place with a new season's best of 54.98.
It's been a busy May so far for Marli Jessop (Harrow AC, Scott Grace) as she posted a 13.53 in the 100m hurdles to come home in 3rd place. Jake Cover (Team Bath AC, Francis Baker) sets a brand new lifetime best in the 110m hurdles of 14.32 to place 5th.
Throws
Team captain Scott Lincoln (City of York AC, Dale Stevenson) showed his experience in the men's shot put to throw a huge season's best and Commonwealth qualifying distance of 21.06m. Serena Vincent (City of Portsmouth, Mike Winch and Andrew Vincent) followed suit with a win in the women's event (17.41m SB).
Jake Norris (Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow, Paul Dickenson) had an exciting battle in the men's hammer with Jabez Harris (Halesowen, Steve Pearson) - both athletes sailing over the Commonwealth Games standard for 2026 (73.78m). Fellow Englishman, Jabez, threw 74.14m to move up into 4th in the world in the U20 age group. Last year's champion, Charlotte Payne (Newbury, Dave Smith), was flying the flag for England in the women's hammer. After a shaky start with a foul in the first round, it took until the third attempt for Payne to solidify her lead and take the win with 63.68m.
Zara Obamakinwa (Blackheath and Bromley Harriers, Mark Chapman) continued the English victories in the women's discus - also sailing over the Commonwealth Games standard with a best attempt of 57.25m. Scotland veteran Nick Percy dominated the men's discus, with Team England's Nick Wedderman (Liverpool Harriers, Mike Martin) placing 5th on his debut with 54.16m.
Bekah Walton (Blackheath & Bromley, David Turner) fought back from surgery last year to take the win in the women's javelin with 59.38m SB. After cutting her 2024 season short, Lauren Farley (Blackheath & Bromley, Mark Chapman) threw 47.74m for 5th in only her second competition this year. Daniel Bainbridge (Shaftesbury Barnet, Tom Dobbing) continued England's throwing success as he secured a new season's best of 72.97m in the men's javelin.
Jumps
The para long jumpers were first up with Molly Kingsbury (Bracknell AC, Rafer Joseph) and Sam Jose (Cornwall AC, Helen Jose) representing England. It was a stacked field in both the men's and women's event with Sam jumping 5.78 to take 4th, and Molly 3.98 - just 12cm short of her best to take 5th place.
In the triple jump, Adelaide Omitowoju (Harrow AC, Ben Davies) battled for the lead with Jamaica's Kimberly Williams and Loughborough's Georgie Forde-Wells (Lukasz Zawila). Leading for the first two rounds with a leap of 13.26, it wasn't until a 5th round attempt of 13.32m from the Jamaican athlete to take the lead from Adelaide. Jude Bright-Davies (Thames Valley Harriers, David Johnson and John Herbert) opened with his best attempt of 15.53m to place 1st in the men's competition.
In the men's long jump, Sam Khogali (Woodford Green with Essex Ladies, Lukasz Zawila) held the lead from the opening round with 7.62m before extending his lead to 7.80m. Team captain, Alice Hopkins (Oxford City, Michael Puplampu), had a tough competition battling with a number of fouls to finish in 7th place.
The men's pole vault was extremely tight with three athletes bowing out at 5m. England's Rowan May (Birchfield Harriers, Kate Rooney and Gareth Wiltshire) coming in 3rd on count back. Nemiah Munir (Thames Valley Harriers, Rich Humby) went one better in the women's event for 2nd with 4.10m - failing at 4.20m.
Over in the high jump, Lucy Walliker (Exeter Harriers, Carol Jackson) finished in 3rd place on countback with 1.74m with Kimani Jack (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, Julian Reid) also finishing third on countback with 2.08m.
Endurance
It was the battle of the junior athletes in the match 800m with England's U23 athlete, Max Bishop (Thames Valley Harriers, David Wilkinson), racing for the first time on British soil this year to come fourth with 1:52.26. GB Junior Shaikira King (Wreake & Soar Valley) was dominant in the women's event bringing it home in 2:04.75. England's Sarah Smith (Kendall AC, Robert Foster) chased the Scottish athlete, Vidak, to come 5th in 2:08.03.
The para men's 1500m was a battle for the front with the lead changing multiple times throughout the three and three quarter laps. England's Kieran O'Hara (Havering Athletic Club, Patrick Gahagan) came home in 2nd place with a new personal best of 4:01.61, knocking an impressive 0.16 off his previous best.
In the 3000m steeplechase, U20 athlete, Rae Le Fay (Tonbridge AC, Mark Hookway), placed 3rd for England (10:41.16) with Steve Kerfoot (Bristol and West AC, Kyle Bennett) finishing in 5th (9:21.21).
An unusual distance for these athletes, the Gandy Mile was closely fought for the victory between Loughborough's Will Rabjohns (Poole AC, Mark Pauley) and Scotland's Andrew McGill. England's Joseph Rogers (Halesowen, Jethro McGraw) completed the podium in 4:09.26. Holly Dixon (Cambridge Harriers, Arthur Roux) donned the England vest for the second time this season to finish in 4:47.45.
Emily Parker (Poole Athletics, Kyle Bennett) showed her strength in the women's 3000m, finishing 12 seconds ahead of second place in a new lifetime best time of 9:06.89. The men's race was not without excitement as a slower start and some elbows between the front few caused the lead to change multiple times. It came down to who had the best sprint finish with England's Joseph Tuffin (BRAT, Jethro McGraw) just missing out to Tom Dodd, who won in a PB time of 8:18.12.
Relays
The relays are always full of excitement at the Loughborough International, with athletes only having a short time to prepare - this did not phase the English contingent as the men's and women's 4x100m teams came home in third with 40.30 and 45.26 respectively.
For the very first time this year, the 4x100m relays also featured a development race, the perfect chance for the next generation to get in their practice. An impressive result for both teams with the English men clocking an impressive 41.17 to take the win, with the women successfully navigating the baton changes to come home 2nd in 46.88.
The English team were unfortunately disqualified in the final event of the day, the mixed 4x400m.
Results
For full results, visit Roster.