U15/U17 Indoor Combined Event Championships and Indoor Junior Para Championships: Fantastic final action
For many this combined event championship is the first step towards an amazing senior career, so it was really exciting to see so many compete at such a high level. Look no further than to Jade O’Dowda (John Lane, Newham and Essex Beagles) for evidence of that; back in 2014 she was fourth in this very competition and while the latest champions were being crowned, she was duelling it out for European Indoor glory live on the BBC in the Netherlands. But it was Sheffield that was the real centre of attention for the keen crowd as during an action-packed seven hours leads constantly changed hands, and dramatic twists in the tale were order of the day. And such was the intensity of the competition, the final result was literally decided in the last couple of laps of the final event. Here’s how the action unfolded:
U17 men's heptathlon
Oliver Downs (Alex Pope, Invicta East Kent), the overnight leader comfortably won his heat of the 60 hurdles in a PB of 8.43 to confirm he’ll be there or thereabouts on the day two of this seven-event competition. Two heats later, Douglas Knox (Springburn Harriers) clocked 8.51 and Nathan Mobbs (Paul Brindley, North Ayrshire) 8.57 to keep in touch but lose ground slightly.
Next up was the pole vault and all that drama this event brings with it. And dramatic it was. Downs needed three attempts at his opening height of 2.50 which had nerves jangling. His first attempt at 2.70 was also nerve wracking but over he went. He’ll admit his technique needs work, but on he went to 3.00. Enter his Scottish rivals. Knox quickly moved the bar to 3.60 which gave him the overall lead and a valuable buffer heading into the final event, the 1000 metres. Mobbs was easily the best and possibly most entertaining athlete on show in the vault. He came in at 3.90 and needed all three attempts to make sure, but once he did, he was nothing short of spectacular and thanks to his 4.10 moved right back into contention, 71 points adrift of his fellow Scot and 45 points clear of Downs.
Credit then to Downs who took it to his rivals. He surged to the lead with 400 metres to run and opened up a big lead on Knox, who then demonstrated his own strength. He dug deep and just nipped Downs on the line to take the race and the title in 2:53.89. Downs’s bravery – he clocked 2:54.20 – was rewarded with a silver medal while Mobbs clocked 3:03.15 for the bronze medal.
After the competition, Downs was very happy with his performance: "After the first day I was really happy, opened with a PB in the 60m, then jumped 6.68m in long jump which was really good. High jump didn't go my way and I was expecting to jump a lot higher. The second day I woke up feeling really good and opened with another PB in the hurdles, then finished with the 1000m running as hard as I could."
The final result read: 1, Knox 4941; 2, Downs 4822; 3 Mobbs 4779.
U15 boy's pentathlon
Local athlete, Charles Reilly (Brendan Reilly, City of Sheffield and Dearne) started his quest for his second title of 2025 with a crisp looking 8.73 in the 60 hurdles. He won the England triple jump title back in January and also took bronze in the hurdles but 0.01sec slower than his time this time around. A good start to the day, although it would come to a shuddering halt in the high jump when he had to withdraw. Behind him one of the pre-event favourites, Jack Ruby (Keith Pope, Blackheath and Bromley) ran 8.87 but ominously for his rivals began to find his rhythm with each event. The long jump shuffled the pack slightly as Reilly had to settle for 5.29, while Freddie Strong (Border) moved into pole position thanks to a monster personal best 5.94 jump to go with his 9.24 hurdles. Jay Husain (Andrew Fraser, Wirral) – 8.81 and 5.48 – and Emil Friedrich (Dale Garland, Guernsey) – 9.05 and 5.66 – rounded out the top three. It was all change after the shot as Friedrich edged into a small lead thanks to his opening throw – and personal best – of 11.45. Strong slipped back to third with 10.41 with Ruby, almost unnoticed, moving into the silver medal position – 5.18 and 11.99 before a new 1.74 lifetime best in the high jump.
Strong also had something to say about where the medals would be going as he too cleared that height, although he could go no further. Ruby improved his PB to 1.77 to give him a 45-point lead heading into the 800 metres.
More often than not, that would suffice especially when, like Ruby, you have a solid 800 metres in your armoury. And yes, he ran superbly well, but was powerless when Friedrich, the England 300-metre champion started to accelerate. Friedrich actually ran negative splits for his incredible four laps, dipping inside 60s seconds for the final 400 metres. Rare at the best of times. But even more incredible when your final time is 2:00.51, the fastest time in the country by almost four seconds. Understandably, it hauled him up to top of the podium and the 760 points he scored gave him a 100-point-plus winning margin. Ruby’s ran a solid enough 2:14.81 but scored more than 200 points less than his Guernsey rival.
The final score read: 1, Friedrich 3039; 2, Ruby 2926; 3, Strong 2815.
U15-girls pentathlon
The final heat of the 60 hurdles produced a fabulous race between England hurdles champion Talia Junaid-Evans (Dartford Harriers) who clocked 8.91 and Juliette Callau (Craig Pounder, City of York), 8.94. To give you an idea how fast those times are, Junaid-Evans was crowned national champion back in January with 9.02, while her 8.91 is the 11th fastest of all time. It was just the first event of five but set the tone perfectly for the rest of the day.
To compete at this level, you need to bring your A-game! Junaid-Evans sailed clear at 1.53 in the high jump at the first time of asking while one of the names to watch, Scotland’s Dionne Maguinness (Airdrie H) entered at that height, comfortably going clear. Two failures at 1.59 put the pressure on Maguinness who is ninth best all-time in the pentathlon. But the Scot composed herself and went clear as the bar moved ever upwards to 1.62. It was Junaid-Evans who went clear for a PB which meant she not only took event honours, more importantly she improved her lead to 178 points over Callau, who cleared 1.47. The shot saw it all close up as Junaid-Evans’s personal best of 8.41 in the final round was still more than a metre behind Maguinness’s best effort of 10.08. That gap reduced even further in the long jump as Maguinness jumped 5.00 compared to Junaid-Evans’s 4.69. The lead was reduced to 23 points which meant the 800 would be interesting! Sophia Horsfall-Samb (Craig Pounder, City of York) emerged from the pack thanks to her 4.93 long jump which followed a great 9.95 in the shot.
On paper Scotland’s Maguinness is 15 seconds faster than Junaid-Evans so it was no surprise to see her surge to the lead from the gun. She pulled the field through 400 metres in 70.67 with Junaid-Evans 30 metres back. It was a case of hanging on for the gold, which Maguinness, the No.1 ranked athlete in the country, duly did, stopping the clock at 2:25.65. Junaid-Evans finished fast in 2:41.87, but it wasn’t enough.
The final result read: 1, Maguiness 3316; 2, Junaid-Evans 3143; 3, Horsfall-Samb 3040
Masters
A series of exciting – and world class – masters performances proved to be a welcome addition to the programme. The best masters’ athletes in the country – indeed the world in some instances – were invited to take part in the 200 and 800 metres. Top of the bill was John Wright (Rick Cordwell, Norhtern Masters) who won the M65 200 metres with a stunning 25.38 – a European indoor record. Russell Hingley (Bromsgrove and Redditch, M45) won the men’s race in 24.45
In the women’s race Krystle Balogun (Nat Senior, Ilford, W45) looked very smooth on her way to a 26.04 victory in the 200. A stride behind her, Tracey Ashworth (Rossendale, W50) ran one of the fastest times ever with 26.58.
In the women’s 800 metres, the current world record holder Karen Brooks (Bill Boyd, Corby) ran a very solid 2:44.78 for one of the fastest ever in the world in the W65 age group.
Photos
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