The South of England Young Athletes Indoor Championships
The South of England Indoor Championships was the first target of 2023 for our U13/U15/U17 track & field athletes and took place on 14th/15th January at Lee Valley.
Woodford started the year as they mean to go on – with no fewer than three golds and two silver medals.
Rebecca Wright got the ball rolling on Day 1 in the U/17Girls 60mH, winning her heat in a new PB of 8.76s. 2nd place in her semi (8.83s), and 2nd in the final (8.77s) saw her pick up silver – very impressive, given that she’s a lower age group U17.
With Alex trying to get fully fit for next month’s Nationals in Sheffield, it fell to younger brother Lawrence Foster to fly the flag for the speedy siblings – and he didn’t come up short in the U/13 Boys 60m. He breezed through the heats, and then smashed his PB in the final with a time of 7.83s to win gold and become South of England Indoor Champion.
In the U/15 Girls 60m, Caitlin Hancock won both her heat and semi, going sub 8s for the first time with a new PB of 7.95s. But tough opposition in the final saw her finish in an agonising 4th place.
Other highlights from Day 1 include a new PB of 8.24s for Evanna Eze in the heats of the U/15 Girls 60m, a new PB of 7.31s for Ethan Franklin in the semis of the U/17 Boys 60m, and a PB of 7.47s in the U/17 Boys 60m for debutant Matthew Gittens in his first formal competition.
There was no PB for Daniel Niewczasinski-Kirkland in the U/13 Boys 60m, but he did brilliantly to qualify for the final given he’s only just back in training having been ill with a virus.
On Day 2, Caitlin Hancock was in action early in the U/15 Girls Long Jump. She put her opposition under pressure straight away, with a huge PB of 5.24m with her first jump. Six rounds of jumping later and no one had beaten it, meaning she won gold, and the South of England title.
Next up was Thomas Niewczasinski-Kirkland – a new indoor PB of 38.38s saw him win his U/15 Boys 300m heat, and he then improved on that with a 38.13s run to win the final and the gold medal. All the more remarkable considering he's been struggling with an Achilles injury recently.
The final field event of the Championships with Woodford involvement was the U/17 Girls Shot Put. A huge throw of 13.01m with her last effort saw Rebecca Wright win the silver medal.
Other highlights of Day 2 include Ethan Franklin’s PB of 23.20s in the U17B 200m, Matthew Gittens’s 24.76s PB in the U17B 200m, and a new indoor PB of 27.04s in the U/1 5Girls 200m for Evanna Eze. All in all, a great weekend of indoor track & field for the club. Next up, the Nationals in Sheffield!