Midland Indoor Champs, 7&8 Feb
5 Golds for R&N at National Indoor Arena
Rugby and Northampton AC had a good turnout at the Midland Indoor Championships which were held at the NIA in Birmingham on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th February; despite the poor traveling conditions! Our athletes were up against competitors from Birchfield Harriers, Coventry Godiva, Wolves & Bilston to name but a few.
Leading the way in the medals was Themba Luhana with a fantastic win in the U17 Men’s 60m Hurdles. He won in a Grade 1 time of 8.27s which was a new p.b and keeps him at the top of the rankings for his age group in the country. Themba also competed in the 60m sprint getting a place in the final with another p.b. of 7.32s, and got a fantastic Silver medal in the Triple Jump with his third p.b. of the weekend: 13.46m.
Also putting in a good individual performance was Kerry Murch in the U15 Girls categories. She won a nail biting Gold in the 60m Hurdles winning by 0.01 of a second with a Grade 1 time of 9.47s. Kerry also got a Bronze Medal in the 60m sprint in 8.29s.
Charlotte Burrows had tough competition in both her events running against the current English Schools 200m champion. She won Bronze medals in the U17 Women’s 60m with a Grade 1 time of 7.93, and then the 200m in 26.46s having run in heats, semi’s and then the final.
Other medal winners were: Tom Causebrook - Gold in the Senior Men’s 800m with a time of:1.59.12s, and Bronze for Chris Lamb in 1.59.52 in the same event. Ellena Ruddock got a Gold in the Senior Women’s 200m in 25.18s and also reached the final of the 60m. Leading the Under 15 Boys was Nic Evangelinos who won a brilliant Gold medal in the Long jump competition with a best jump of 4.59m. Nic also came 5th in the 60m hurdles final.
There were silver medals for Gemma Werrett in the Senior Women’s 60m hurdles in 8.73s, and Sophie Wright claimed the Silver in the U20 Women’s 200m with a time of 26.6 and later came 6th in the final of the 60m.
Sophie Meakin won a Bronze in the U20 Women’s 60m Hurdles with a time of 9.81s, with her team mate Emma Cluely closely behind in 4th place in 9.84s. Sophie had a busy weekend and just missed out on a medal in the U20 200m with 4th place and also made it to the finals of the 60m sprint. Ellena Ruddock and Martin Rutt both reached the finals of the Senior Women and Senior Men’s 60m competitions.
Many other athletes earned themselves well deserved places in the Finals over the weekend. James Eaton came 4th in the U20 Men’s 60m hurdles in 8.93s, Hannah Scales was 4th in the U15 Girls 60m hurdles in 9.93s followed by her team mate Yasmin Webb in 5th position with 10.21s. Hannah also featured in the High Jump and the Long Jump competitions gaining 5th & 7th places respectively.
The club also performed well in the field events with Hannah Oliver jumping 1.45m in the U17 women’s high jump to get 4th place and later Hannah reached the semi’s of the 200m. Other competitors in the high jump were: Katie Rowe in the U17 Women’s and Andrew Reeves in the U20 Men’s. Ben Lees was 5th in the U17 Men’s Long Jump with a best jump of 5.63m.
Competing in their first major indoor competitions were Courtney Douglas in the U20 Men’s 60m with a time of 7.4s and 24.22 in the 200m, Connor Malone competed in the U17 Men’s 60m getting a time of 7.73s and Ashton Sadler ran 8.3s in the U15 Boys 60m.
Also sprinting for R & N were: Martin Rutt 7.15s in the Senior Men’s 60m, Ross Allen 7.49 in the U20 men’s 60m and 52.39 in the 400m, Luke Storer who competed in the U17 men’s 60m 7.53s and the 200m with a best time of 24.3s. Tom Johnson also competed in both these events with 24.7s in the 200m and 7.84s in the 60m and Ryan Corcoran got a time of 7.96s in the 60m.
Well done to everyone, and we wish James Wright a speedy recovery from his injury unfortunately gained during this competition.
