Throwing down early PBs - All the action from the Winter Long Throws Championships
An exciting season opener at the debut Winter Long Throws Championship saw a flurry of PBs across all events and highlighted the promising young athletes we hope to see competing for England and Great Britain in the future. The weekend consisted of both the UK Athletics Championships, and the England Athletics Long Throws invitational.
Saturday - UKA Senior Champs and England U20 Championships
The weekend got off to a flying start with spots up for grabs on the upcoming European Throwing Cup team and medals to be won.
Discus
A new opportunity for the British Athletes, this competition sits incredibly early in the calendar with many athletes still going through the motions of fine tuning their performance ready for the outdoor season. This didn't deter Zara Obamakinwa (Blackheath & Bromley, Mark Chapman), after a shaky start she launched her fifth round throw over the 56m mark to score her a new PB, place her 5th on the UK all-time list and achieve the qualifying distance for the European U23 Championships. Speaking on her performance, Zara said:
"We came here wanting to PB and so I am very happy [with 56.06m], and we accomplished what we wanted to do. This is a good marker, I have done a lot of training in the winter and this is also my first year of proper weightlifting so we are seeing the rewards of me having that strength. I am going to be competing in the European Winter Throws Championships in Cyprus, so I am looking forward to that."
In the senior men's event, it was Welshman Michael Jenkins (Pembrokeshire) who took the win with 54.73m. The U20 competitions were closely fought but Gabriella Tcheukam (Croydon, Paul Weston) emerged on top to the gold with 42.18m. Debare Alade (Dartford, John Hillier) threw a respectable 49.40m to win the men's competition.
Hammer
It was fantastic to welcome Charlotte Payne (Newbury, Dave Smith) and Jake Norris (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow, Paul Dickenson) back to Loughborough to have their hand at winning another national title. Both threw short of their best, but it was enough for Jake to book his spot on the European Throwing Cup team, with Charlotte hopefully joining him, currently ranking 14th overall in Europe. In the U20s, Jabez Berry (Halesowen, Steve Pearson), dominated the competition from the fourth round, throwing not only a new personal best of 70.87m, but also securing his spot at the top of the European rankings. His outstanding fourth round throw also sailed over the European U20 qualification mark. Kaitlyn Waddell (North Shields Poly, David Thomas) bettered her season opener from last year to take the win with 48.51m, almost 30cm from Phoebe Milburn (Tavistock, Elaine Fileman) in second place.
Javelin
The under-20 athletes were on fine form in the javelin, as Ayesha Jones (Marshall Milton Keynes, Tom Dobbing) not only took the U20 title, but topped the senior rankings too with 50.13m - earning her the qualification distance for the European U20 Championships, and moving her up to 4th on the European U20 rankings. It was an equal PB for second place senior, Jasmine Larsen (Southampton, Bronwin Carter), of 47.92m. An excellent result so early in the season.
Over in the men's event, Ben East (Team Kennet, John Trower) threw an outstanding 73.50m to put him third in the European U23 rankings, and seventh in the world rankings for his age. George Johnson (WSEH, Tom Dobbing) opened his season with 57.70m to take the U20 men's title.
Sunday - Age Group Championships (U16, U18)
Discus
The women’s discus started the second day of competition. A final power throw of 39.56m from Bethany Pendlebury (Trafford AC, Michael Martin) placed her first in the U16 competition, followed by Aspen Stobart (Winchester AC, Martin McBriar) in second place who gained a PB of 34.97m. Bethany Pendlebury is currently third on the UK all-time list for discus and after speaking to her post event she said:
“I was only really expecting 35m as I didn’t do as well as I would of liked in the internationals in Sweden so I was just looking to improve on that.”
The U18 discus did not disappoint either with impressive throws from our podium athletes. Gabriella Flory (Taunton AC) took home the gold medal with a throw of 37.73m, closely followed by Matilda Farrar (Waverley) who threw 36.44m for the silver medal with bronze position taken by Neva Jensen (Belgrave Harriers).
The men’s discus event saw seven PBs from the U16/U18 boys with star performances from Ciaran Merrett (Yate & District AC, Matthew Viner) who placed first in the U16 event with a PB throw of 46.41m. Moyo Stumpenhusen (Rugby & Northampton AC, Gary Herrington) threw a remarkable 55.02m, a PB that took him to the top of the U18 competition.
Hammer
The U16 girls competition saw five PBs, including those of Margaret-Isobel Casey (Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton, Dave Brown) who placed second with a throw of 52.57m and Tilly Ryan (Medway and Maidstone AC, Vanessa Hannam) who finished third with a PB of 51.06m. Scottish athlete, Sophie Leigh Robertson (Cumbernauld AAC), topped the table with 57.52m.
Ella Mcintosh (Hull/City of York) took the U18 event with her throw of 50.36m, second place was taken by Keira Lake-Bryan (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, Jamie Bath) who threw 48.89m with Tegan Brown (Tavistock AC, Elaine Fileman) in third.
First place in the U16 boys event was taken by Rory Witcombe (Blackheath & Bromley Harriers AC, Michael Davies) with a PB of 53.84m, closely followed by Ciaran Merrett (Yate & District AC, Matthew Viner) with his PB of 51.83m.
James Campbell (Ipswich Harriers, Lee Doyle) became the U18 champion with his throw of 57.36m, closely followed by Ethan Kendrick (Wolverhampton & Bilston, Matthew Sutton) with a PB throw of 55.75m for second place.
In the U16 event, Archie Oates (Crawley AC) also gained a PB of 42.12m to finish in second place just ahead of Will Farrar (Waverley) in third place who threw 40.19m. The u18s competition also saw another PB of 54.24m in second place from Godwin Mutandwa (Dacorum Athletics Club).
Javelin
In the Javelin U16 girl's winner was Lucy Bull (Swindon Harriers, Tony Jackson), after topping the ranking in 2024 we can expect a promising season for her. She came first with a throw of 45.37m, followed in second by Florence Holman (Blackheath & Bromley Harriers AC).
In the U18 competition Scarlette Slater-Rowley (Retford AC, Marjolein Templeton) gained first place from her throw of 43.62m while Skye Marshall (Gateshead Harriers, Alex Giles) got a PB of 40.19m to finish second.
The men’s U16 podium was filled with PBs from our placing athletes. Hugo Bucher (Cheltenham, Carolyn Franks) headed the competition from his PB throw of 54.15m, closely followed by Ben Clarke's (Bury AC) 54.37m throw in second and William Connop's (Medway & Maidstone, Mark Chapman) throw of 53.26m to gain third place.
Daniel Dubras who flew over from Jersey for this event blew the U18 competition away with his PB of 61.38m which was over 5m further than his closest competitor.
Further information
- See all results on the Roster Athletics platform.
- See photographs from the event.