TAVISTOCK’S Edward Fileman won a bronze medal at the England U20 & U23 Championships at he weekend in Bedford.
Fileman made the podium in the under-20 men’s discus with a throw of 48.54m. He was only beaten by North Shields’ James Wordsworth and Wales’ Harry Davies, who both had to throw personal bests to finish ahead of the Tavistock athlete.
His club colleague Josh Tyler could not have come closer to also making the podium in Bedford.
Tyler finished fourth in the under-20 shot with massive PB of 16.24m. That was nearly a metre further than he had previously thrown in a competition and was within touching distance of a medal. Northampton’s Chris Dyrmishi won with 16.76m, with Wimborne’s Kane Aubrey second (16.44m) and Bracknell’s Zac Davies third (16.36).
City of Plymouth’s Henry Curtis also competed at the national championships and reached the under-20 110m hurdles final in his first season in the age group.
Curtis clocked 14.77 seconds in his heat running into a head wind and then clocked 15.05 to finish eighth in the final.
Tavistock Run Project’s Oliver Smart had been due to run in the U20 3,000m but did not compete, but he is among the entries for Friday’s U20/U23 3,000m European Championship trial at the British Championships in Manchester.
Also among the entries for this weekend’s British Championships, which are doubling as the Olympic trials, are City of Plymouth’s David King (110m hurdles) and James Arnott (multi-class 100m), Erme Valley Harriers’ Will Battershill (3,000m steeplechase) and Sam Trigg (triple jump) and Tamar Trotters’ Mike Wilsmore (1,500m).
Some athletes who will have their eyes on future British Championships helped the combined City of Plymouth/Tavistock/Erme Valley team win their opening round of the Cornwall & Devon Division of the Southern Athletics League on Sunday at Exeter Arena.
Heptathlete Emily Bee, who is ranked in the UK’s top 10 in the under-20 100m hurdles and high jump, picked up full points with individual wins in the hurdles and long jump and also helped the 4x100m women’s relay team to victory.
She jumped 5.58m in the long jump, but had an even bigger effort ruled out for a foul. She will certainly feel she can get closer to six metres this season. She also ran a comfortable 14.70 seconds to win the hurdles in a poor lane draw.
Team-mate Jonathan Edwards, who has competed at senior international level, picked up full points in the hammer and discus and took second in the shot.
He threw 61.29m in the hammer, which was his best since 2017. In the discus he threw 45.30m, while in the shot he managed 14.01m.
Armada athletes dominated the women’s hammer. Hannah Gellatly won the A event with 44.62m, with Zoe Crutchley taking the B win with 30.34. Three under-17 athletes also threw, with Hannah Walker managing 38.30m, Lucy Wilkinson setting a new PB of 35.35m and Libby Fitzgerald throwing 30.88m.
Elsewhere in the throwing events, under-17 athlete Charlotte Walker won the discus with 26.49m. while Harry Tomlin took javelin victory with 44.57m.
Under-17 athlete Noah Jones smashed his PB to win the pole vault. Jones leaped 3.80m, which was 20cm higher than he had jumped before. It was also nearly even better as he came so close to leaping 3.90m. He is ranked joint fifth in the UK rankings.
There was a thrilling men’s 400m race (top picture), where Jacob Lamboll, Thomas Elliott and Joe Wheeler all set new PBs as they battled against each other.
Under-20 athlete Lamboll ran under the 50-second barrier for the first time with a 49.87 run to win. Under-17 runners Elliott and Wheeler battled hard down the home straight, with Elliott digging deep to take second and top B scorer in 51.05, which moves him up to 11th in the country, with Wheeler, who is also in the UK top 20, clocking 51.43 seconds.
Lamboll also clocked 23.11 seconds in the 200m, where Brook Adnitt took second in the A race in 23.05 seconds. Adnitt was also third in the 100m in 11.38. Under-17 athlete Connell McCarthy, running as a non-scorer, was not far behind Adnitt in the 200m A race with a 23.26 second run.
Lili Fern completed a sprint double, running 12.66 seconds in the 100m and 26.34 in the 200m.
Fellow under-17 sprinter Lin Lognon was first B scorer in the 100m race in 13.38 seconds.
Harriett Beardsmore took victory in the 400m A race in a PB of 59.22 seconds. She also won the B 200m in 26.80.
Mali Heard, who is under-17, won the B 400m on her debut at the distance with a 62.08 run. Kate Gray, another under-17, also ran the one lap flat race and clocked 64.32.
Gray also won the non-scoring 300m hurdles in 47.78 seconds.
Dan Pearce took the honours in the men’s 110m hurdles (16.47) and 400m hurdles (57.15).
Joely Bytheway took second in the women’s 400m hurdles in 69.34 seconds, with Olivia Travers winning the B event in 72.12.
Dan Newman (2:02.86) and Emma Ryder (2:16.37) were victorious in the A races of the 800m, while youngster Charlotte Walker took second in the A 3,000m in 11:21.69, with her more experienced club colleague Sam Lake winning the B event in 11:25.07. Lake also picked up full points in the 1,500m.
Adam Holland came second in the 5,000m (16:13.77) and also ran in the 1,500m.
Ella Isaias, another of the promising under-17 athletes on show on Sunday, claimed a PB in the high jump with a 1.62m leap to take full points. That has moved her up to joint 12th in the UK rankings.
There was also a PB performance from Toby Clayden in the triple jump with a 12.80m leap, which was enough for the win, while Matthew Newton jumped 12.32m for the B victory.
The joint Plymouth/Tavistock/Erme Valley team dominated the relay events and ran some impressive times.
The men’s 4x400m team clocked 3:39.09 to win by 11 seconds, while the 4x100m squad clocked 44.86.
The women’s 4x100m recorded a quick 50.38 seconds to hold off a strong Exeter side, while the 4×400 team ran 4:27.90.
FULL RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE.
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