Golden trio lead the way for Shropshire
Liam Rawlings, Dani Hales and Jake Watson were the star performers as Shropshire athletes put on a superb show in the Mason Trophy Inter County Schools meeting, writes Paul Sanderson.
Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium was the venue for the event with the Rawlings, Hales and Watson all striking gold.
The county enjoyed a fine day with 14 top three finishes while six athletes achieved English Schools National Standards, with a further eight claiming the English Schools Entry Standard – including four who had previously not hit that mark.
The Mason Trophy is one of the highest quality meetings throughout the country outside the national championships with Shropshire taking on strong teams from Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Hereford and Worcester, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands.
Rawlings, from The Corbet School, followed up his excellent cross country season by winning the junior boys’ 1500m in four minutes 13.07 seconds – three seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
He will now go into the English Schools Championships sitting eighth in the UK rankings.
Shrewsbury High student Hales impressed her rivals as she stormed to victory in the junior girls’ 75 m hurdles in 11.35 – a national standard and a time that puts her into third in the UK rankings.
Idsall School’s Watson vaulted to a new personal best and a national standard as he cleared four metres 20 centimetres for the very first time to move to number two in the UK.
Oli Carvell, from Bridgnorth Endowed School, ran a storming race in the intermediate boys’ 800m, finishing second in 1.54.03 – another national standard – just under a second behind the winner who set a new meeting record.
Carvell has decided to race at 1500m in the English Schools Championships where he is also ranked in the top 10 in the country.
His school-mate Niall Price also bagged silver medal after crossing the line in second in a time of 11.29 in the intermediate boys’ 100m.
Jess Humphreys (Thomas Telford School) was another second-place finisher as she battled the scorching heat in the seven and-a-half laps of the intermediate girls’ 3000m, finishing with a time of 10.23.62.
Jake Akindutire warmed up for this weekends English Schools Regional Combined Events Championships at Telford by claiming a silver medal in the intermediate boys’ 400m hurdles.
The Thomas Adams School student was delighted to secure a personal best time 57.07 which puts the into the top seven in the UK.
Jack Lambert (Lacon Childe School) and Ellie Vernon (Thomas Telford School) finished second in their respective events.
They both achieved national standard throws in the inter boys’ hammer and inter girls javelin, throwing 57.83m and 40.70m respectively.
Vernon is currently ranked third and Jack seventh in their age groups.
Thomas Clarke, from the Abraham Darby Academy, was competing in his first major athletics event and did his school and county proud by landing the runners-up spot in the junior boys’ triple jump with a new personal best of 12.55m.
Jess Hibbert (Idsall) was another silver medal winner after clearing 1.56m in the inter girls’ high jump.
The Shropshire success story continued with Idsall’s Lucy Elcock claiming bronze in the intermediate girls’ 300m in 41.13.
Rebecca Walker (Adcote School) cleared 1.51m in the junior girls’ high jump to finish third but returned to the stadium on Monday to win the National Independent Schools Championships where she won the high jump with a personal best of 1.57m – an English Schools entry standard.
Wrekin College’s Adam Lloyd was the other bronze medallist as he threw the junior boys’ javelin 45.22m to record a personal best.
Other Shropshire athletes with eye-catching performances included Bethan Evans (Thomas Adams School) who was fourth in the intermediate girls’ triple jump, where she jumped a season’s best of 10.90m, an English Schools entry standard.
Kati Hulme (Meole Brace School) also achieved the same standard as she ran 46.45 in the inter girls’ 300m hurdles to finish fourth.
Adams Newport’s Connor Bentley, who had such an excellent cross country season that saw him gain an England Schools vest, ran an impressive 1500m to come home fourth in 4.05.26.
Charlie Fisher, from Holy Trinity School, Telford, was fourth both in the junior boys’ 100 and 200m, clocking English Schools entry standard times of 11.68 and 23.91.
Charlotte Burrows (William Brookes School) ran 2.21.6 to come home sixth in the junior girls’ 800m.
She then hit form on Tuesday night to run an impressive 2.18.7, inside an English Schools entry standard, in a British Milers Club race at Tipton.
The selectors will now to finalise a team of 24 to represent Shropshire at the
English Schools Championships on July 7-8.
Shropshire Schools Athletic Association are back in action tomorrow and Sunday with county teams in the North West Regional Combined Events Championships at the Telford Stadium.
Shropshire face teams from Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and Staffordshire.
On Saturday, July 1, the Shropshire Schools Year 7 and Year 8 championships take place at the Shrewsbury track.
