PB FOR TAYLOR CAMPBELL; GB&NI U20 GRAB THIRD OVERALL AT THE LOUGHBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL

Loughborough’s Taylor Campbell (coach: John Pearson, club: Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) moved to fifth in the all-time British hammer standings as Great Britain and Northern Ireland U20’s Success Eduan (Anita Richardson, Sale Harriers Manchester) impressed with victories in the 100m and 4x100m relay at the Loughborough International.

The British U20 team finished third overall at the traditional summer season curtain-raiser as the Loughborough International returned to the Paula Radcliffe Stadium following last year’s cancellation.

Always a packed programme, one of the performances of the day came near the beginning of busy schedule when Campbell, representing Loughborough in the team competition, improved his personal best twice in the men’s hammer to move to fifth in the all-time British standings with his winning throw of 76.97m.

Elsewhere, there were impressive individual performances from the GB U20 – who finished third overall in the team competition – and, despite, at times, challenging conditions in Loughborough, the weather didn’t stop the usual competitive action, with the event a key competition opportunity for junior athletes to gain valuable experience on the international stage.

It was an opportunity which 16-year-old sprinter Success Eduan relished, securing maximum points for the GB U20 with victory in the women’s 100m. The Sale Harriers athlete showcased speed, strength and real maturity to power through in the final quarter of the race to take the win in a personal best of 11.72 (1.5m/s).

[Success Eduan – women’s 100m]

During a busy schedule at Loughborough University, Eduan had earlier been part of the victorious GB U20 4x100m relay team as the team of Eduan, Sophie Walton (Trevor Williams, Horwich), Eve Wright (Ryan Freckleton, Shaftesbury Barnet) and Joy Eze (Michael Donnelly, Gateshead) secured the first maximum points of the day for the GB Juniors.

It was a GB & NI one-two with impressive performances from both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ Team of Alyson Bell (William Glasgow, Giffnock North), Caitlyn Mapps (Phillip Warwicker, Cardiff Archers), Trinity Powell (Kes Salmon, Manchester Harriers) and Aleeya Sibbons (Coral Nourrice, Newham & Essex Beagles).

There wasn’t much separating the two U20 teams heading into the final changeover, with the ‘B’ team perhaps slightly edging it heading into the final 100m, but a superb final leg by Eduan built on the strong running and clean changeovers from Walton, Wright and Eze to secure the victory in a time of 45.07, 0.1 seconds ahead of their fellow GB Junior team members.

Relay ‘A’ team member Joy Eze had earlier clocked a European U20 standard en-route to victory in the guest race for the women’s 100m, stopping the clock in a time of 11.65 (0m/s), one of several athletes to secure standards for this summer’s U20 World and U20 European Championships.

Sprinter Toby Makoyawo (Peter Griffiths, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) went under the European U20 standard in the men’s 200m, setting a personal best of 21.15 (1.6m/s) to finish second in the match race.

In the women’s discus, Samantha Callaway (David Callaway, Newham & Essex Beagles) recorded the U20 World and European standards with her best throw of 52.72m, adding a further 22cm on to the PB she recorded midweek.

Henry McLuckie (Geoff Watkin, Shaftesbury Harriers) has already secured the U20 qualifying time for the 1500m and the European standard for the 5000m, and he went under the European U20 standard again for the 1500m as he finished in a time of 3:45.35.

16-year-old Charlie Carvell (Stuart Hamilton, Telford AC) continued his excellent start to 2021, going inside the European U20 standard of 47.50 for the third time this year in the men’s 400m. Carvell stopped the clock in 47.12 to finish fourth in a field which included senior GB internationals in the top-three.

Earlier in the afternoon, Edwards Faulds (James Wright, Rugby & Northampton) had also clocked the European U20 standard for the men’s 400m en-route to winning the event’s guest race in a time of 47.22.

Back to the team competition, with the GB U20 team going head-to-head against Wales, Scotland and Loughborough, and there were a number of personal best performances as the squad continued to add to their overall team points total.

Lucy Chalmers (Alan Richardson, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) lowered her personal best in the women’s 400m Hurdles for the second time this month, crossing the line in 1:01.26 in Loughborough.

There were also personal bests in the field for Molly Palmer (Lukasz Zawila, Charnwood) in the women’s long jump, and Lazarus Benjamin (Matt Cullen, Sale Harriers Manchester) and Sophie Ashurst (Andy Ashurst, Sale Harriers Manchester) in the pole vault.

Palmer jumped a PB of 6.03m in the second round before going a centimetre further in the final round; it proved to be a crucial centimetre for team competition points with England’s Holly Mills and Loughborough’s Charlotte Jones both recording 6.03cm. Palmer’s final round leap, which furthered her PB to 6.04m, secured second spot and four points for the GB Juniors.

Benjamin added an extra 14cm to his pole vault PB, clearing 4.75m to better his height of 4.61m from the previous weekend. Ashurst cleared four metres for the first time in her career as both Benjamin and Ashurst earned three points for the GB Juniors.

Melissa Booth (Keith Hunter, Sale Harriers Manchester) was the first athlete to secure points for the GB Juniors, finishing second in the women’s triple jump with a final round best of 12.35m.

There was also a second-placed finish for Zara Tyas (Joe Frost, Stockport T&F) in the women’s high jump as she ended the competition with a best of 1.75m, while Lily Parris (Julie Benterman, Chelmsford) also added four points to the team total with 13.95secs (-0.2m/s) in the women’s 100m Hurdles.

In the field, Bradley Davies-Pughe (Jake Awe, Shaftesbury Barnet) recorded a distance of 7.26m (-1.2m/s) in the men’s long jump, his furthest outdoor distance.

Charlotte Payne (Paul Dickenson, Reading AC), who has already secured the world and European U20 standards, finished third in the women’s hammer, throwing close to the personal best she recorded at last year’s Müller British Athletics Championships.

It was a clean sweep of clean throws for the 19-year-old with the best of her six throws coming in round two at 63.47m. England’s Jessica Mayho (John Pearson, Birchfield Harriers) bettered her personal best by three centimetres to claim the victory in 67.10m.

In the men’s hammer, the event where Loughborough’s Taylor Campbell moved to fifth in the all-time standings, all five of GB Juniors’ Alex Bernstein’s (Preston) successful throws were further than his previous best with the 6kg hammer heading into the competition. The 18-year-old picked-up a point for the GB Juniors with a best throw of 67.04m.

Michael Anderson’s (John Shepherd, Kingston & Poly) distance of 13.89m (0m/s) in the men’s triple jump added three points to the overall total for the GB juniors, while two points were secured by Zac Davies (Andrew Hughes, Bracknell AC) in the men’s shot put for his distance of 15.96m.

Elizabeth Korczak (Bob Willows, Brighton & Hove) and Thomas Holmes (Mark Bradford, Andover) both claimed two points each with throws of 47.58m and 62.98m, respectively, in the women’s and men’s javelin competitions.

Nana Gyedu (John Hillier, Blackheath & Bromley) finished third in the women’s shot, thanks to her best throw of 14.54m. Rhys Allen (David Callaway, Newham & Essex Beagles) threw a best distance of 49.02m in the men’s discus.

Two points were the reward for Sam Brereton (Fuzz Caan, Birchfield Harriers) after his clearance over 2.09m, with Scotland’s Will Grimsey setting a PB of 2.25m to secure the win as he builds up for next week’s European Team Championships.

Indienne King (Shane Smith, Kettering) finished strongly in the women’s 800m to stop the clock in 2:11.80 as GB Juniors continued to add to their points total throughout the afternoon. Mary John (Alan James, Woodford Green Essex Ladies) picked-up three points in the women’s 400m, crossing the line in 54.39.

In the men’s 800m, Daniel Howells (Richard Ashe, Aldershot, Farnham & District) showed great courage and strength to lead with 400m to go, finishing the race with three points with his 1:51.89 finish.

Emily Parker (Joe Oatley, Poole AC) completed her first ever 3000m steeplechase in a time of 10:58.89.

The GB Juniors representatives in the 3000m were Pippa Roessler (Mick Woods, Aldershot, Farnham & District) and Jack Patton (Robert Hawkins, Kilbarchan), who posted times of 9:46.72 and 8:40.62 in their respective races.

Sophie Walton – who had earlier been part of the successful 4x100m relay team – earned three points for GB Juniors in the women’s 200m, with a time of 24.33, while Jessica Spilsbury clocked 4:37.65 in the women’s 1500m for two points.

The Men’s 4x400m relay team of Alex Cooper (Grant Barker, Birchfield Harriers), Edward Faulds (James Wright, Rugby & Northampton) Samuel Reardon (Nigel Stickings, Blackheath and Bromley) and Brodie Young (James McMenemy, Airdrie Harriers) took second place in a time of 3:09.68.

There was also some superb running from the men’s 4x100m relay teams but a missed changeover for the A team with 100m to go resulted in a DNF as Wales took the victory ahead of GB U20 B who ran well from the outside lane to finish second in a time of 40.22.

Despite appearing to pick-up an injury mid-race, Joel Pascall-Menzie (Nathaniel Senior, Newham & Essex Beagles) still crossed the line in the men’s 100m to claim an important point for the overall team standings.

GB Juniors finished third overall with 73 points as England claimed the team victory with 122 points. Loughborough ended 19 points ahead of the GB Juniors in second, with Scotland (69) fourth and Wales (58) fifth.

Elsewhere, Olivia Breen (Aston Moore, City of Portsmouth) and Kevin Santos (T47, City of Norwich) both lowered their personal bests as they secured victories in the 100m events. Zak Skinner (Aston Moore, Loughborough Students) ran a PB of 11.00 in a guest 100m race.

Breen stopped the clock at 13.06 (0.8m/s), 0.2 seconds quicker than the time she set at the Anniversary Games in 2019, while Santos went under 11.8 seconds for the first time, posting a time of 11.78 (1m/s).

Breen also produced a season’s best performance in the long jump of 4.84m, in a competition which also saw a 2021 best for Polly Maton (F46, Colin Baross, Team Devizes Moonrakers).

Luke Nuttall (T46, Charnwood) crossed the line first in the men’s 1500m in a time of 4:06.27 with Stephen Morris (T20, Cardiff) next over the line in 4:10.34 ahead of Steven Bryce (T20, Victoria Park Glasgow) in 4:12.61.

Paralympic, World and European champion Aled Davies (Ryan Spencer-Jones, Cardiff) returned to competition for the first time since winning gold at the 2019 World Championships, beginning his 2021 season with a best of 15.67m.

Results

• Photos courtesy of Mark Shearman