4th July 2022
HENRICH AND SISSON MAKE SWIFT PROGRESS ON OPENING MORNING OF EURO U18 CHAMPS
On the opening session of the European Athletics U18 Championships in Jerusalem, four Great Britain and Northern Ireland athletes progressed through their heats whilst the heptathlon also got underway.
Charlotte Henrich (coach: Carlo Monticolombi, club: Invicta East Kent) and Etty Sisson (Grant Barker, Charnwood) both won their 400m heats to book their places in Tuesday’s semi-finals.
Henrick ran a personal best time of 54.19 to win heat two, and also progress as the fastest qualifier overall, whilst in heat three Sisson ran 54.44 to take the win and go through as the second quickest to advance to the semis.
Henrich was lost for words after her heat, “I’m really pleased with that; it was only my third 400m race so to be competing on this stage is amazing.”
Sisson added, “It was a good run, it’s getting very hot out on the track now, I am pleased I did what I needed to do to progress and it’s now about recovering and preparing for tomorrow.”
Annie Mann (James Mann, Southampton / Halterworth) and Alice Bates (Shane Smith, Kettering) both comfortably booked their places in Wednesday evening’s 1500m final. With the first four in each heat qualifying for the final, Mann finished second in heat one with a time of 4:33.93 whilst Bates also finished second with a time of 4:31.34.
Mann commented post-race, “I felt really good out there today. I just went through my paces, which I have been practising, so I was comfortable with what I had to do. The aim was to make the final, so I am pleased that I achieved that.”
As for Bates, she said, “I am pleased to make the final. I would have preferred it to have been a little slower but there were a few girls around me after the opening lap, so I knew I would have to expend a little more energy to make it through. I’ve never done a championship before, so I had no idea what to expect.”
In the first event of the girl’s heptathlon, Chisom Nwafor (Alan Hewson, Chilton) finished fifth in heat one of the 100mh, recording a time of 15.02 (0.8) for 839 points, while in heat three, Seren Rodgers (Steve Shaw, Tauton) scored 819 points after a 15.17 (-0.5) clocking before clearing a personal best height of 1.66m in the high jump to score 806 points. Unfortunately, Nwafor had to withdraw during the warm-up for the high jump due to a hamstring injury. After two events, Rodgers sits in 13th place on 1625 points.
Will Lane (Trevor Fox, Sheffield & Dearne) cleared 4.60m in the pole vault, before being forced to withdraw with injury when his pole snapped during his second attempt at 4.75m – a height that would have seen him qualify for the final.
In the 2000m steeplechase, Gabriel Phelan (Sarah Kearney, Wirral) narrowly missed out on a place in the final, her time of 7:07.14 only enough for ninth in her heat and sixth fastest non-automatic qualifier with only the top five non-automatic qualifiers progressing.
In the second heat, Rachel Clutterbuck (Shireen Higgins, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) also finished ninth with a time of 7:10.88.
This evening’s session starts at 15:00 (BST) and will see GB & NI’s sprint hurdlers Daniel Goriola (John Gates, Bexley) and Mia McIntosh (Jake Awe, Harrow) in action first.
They will be followed by the heptathlon shot put before attention turns to the 100m and Dejaune Lingard (Ryan Freckleton, Cambridge Harriers), Teddy Wilson (Tamunonengiye-Ofori Ossai, BFT Track Academy), Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (Andre Williams, Harrow) and Renee Regis (Tamunonengiye-Ofori Ossai, BFT Track Academy).
In the 800m Iris Downs (Colin Lancaster, Shrewsbury) and Ella Greenway (Joanna Evans, Cleethorpes) will compete in the opening rounds of the 800m looking to book a place in Thursday’s final. Whilst, in the 1500m, Scottish duo Tendai Nyabadza (Andrew Ross, Harmeny) and Corey Campbell (Alister Russell, Team East Lothian) will bid to make Wednesday’s final.
Meanwhile in the field Libby White (David Watson, Ayr Seaforth) competes in the triple jump qualifying rounds whilst Cleo Agyepong (John Hillier, Blackheath & Bromley) and Paige Stevens (Alison Grey, Falkirk) will be hoping to qualify for Tuesday’s shot final.
The session will draw to a close with the heptathlon 200m.
A live stream and live results will be available on the European Athletics website.