Fasuba and Stead win English Schools’ titles, while Milburn and Maczugowski medal again

ANNABELLE Fasuba and Hazel Stead became English Schools’ champions on Saturday, while there were also individual medals for a second year running for Phoebe Milburn and Nicolas Maczugowski at the prestigious track and field championships which were held at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium.

Fasuba, who only turned 13 last month, has enjoyed a dream debut season, breaking club, county, regional and league records.

And once again the City of Plymouth athlete created another piece of history by becoming Devon’s first 100m English Schools’ sprint champion.

The Coombe Dean student set a new personal best of 12.03 seconds to win a stacked junior girls’ final.

She then helped Devon to win a silver medal in the mixed 4x100m relay event, alongside her City of Plymouth team-mate Bryan Oldfield, who had reached the final of the boys’ 100m, where he finished sixth.

Tavistock AC’s Hazel Stead (Tavistock College) made sure her club and school had the junior girls’ hammer champion for the second year running.

Last year, Tegan Brown won the title and Stead followed in her footsteps with a 45.04m throw on Saturday. Stead took victory by more than three metres.

Also in the hammer, Stead’s school and club team-mate Milburn claimed her third English Schools’ medal by winning silver in the senior girls’ event.

Milburn, who threw 46.73m in Birmingham, has now won medals at junior, intermediate and senior level and she still has another year left.

In the same senior hammer final, her club team-mates Ella Patterson (Millfield) and Louisa Hess (Mount Kelly) came seventh and ninth, respectively.

Brown, who has just moved up to the intermediate girls’ category, just missed out on medalling again. She finished fourth with a throw of 49.18m.

Also in the hammer, Tavistock AC’s Owen Fileman (Ivybridge CC) finished eighth in the intermediate boys’ event with a throw of 50.12m, while Tavistock College’s George Brown was 13^th in the junior final.

City of Plymouth’s Maczugowski (Tavistock College) claimed his second successive English Schools’ medal in the senior boys’ 400m hurdles.

Last year he had taken silver in the intermediate boys’ competition and this year he claimed bronze in a quality senior boys’ race.

Maczugowski timed his finish perfectly to claim third in a time of 54.74 seconds. He was only beaten by Leicestershire’s Oliver Park and Kent’s Trinidad & Tobago athlete Cheyne West.

His club colleague Rory Summers (Mount Kelly) reached the final of the senior boys’ 400m, where he ran a new PB of 49.11 seconds to finish fifth.

It did look like Summers and fellow City of Plymouth athlete Poppy Northcott were going to pick up a medal in the 4x100m mixed relay, but Devon were just edged out on the line and missed third place by just 0.07 of a second.

Northcott had competed in the senior girls’ 400m hurdles, where she ranked 13th overall after the heats.

Tavistock College’s Katelyn Milburn came 13^th in the intermediate girls’ triple jump, while school colleagues Evie Palmer and Orla White were 12^th and 14^th in the javelin and discus, respectively, in the same age category.

Fellow Tavistock College pupil Joe Wake ran 11.19 seconds in the intermediate boys’ 100m, but he just missed out on reaching the semi-finals.

Devon did enjoy an impressive championships. As well as titles for Fasuba and Stead, there were also gold medals for Innes Fitzgerald, who broke Paul Radcliffe’s senior girls’ 3,000m record with an 8:58.85 run, and her Exeter team-mate Scarlett Livingstone, who won the senior girls’ 1,500m in 4:25.70.

There was also a silver medal for Dawlish student Olivia Steer (Exeter Harriers) in the intermediate girls’ 1,500m in 4:26.51, while Torbay-based Joshua Taylor (Exeter Harriers) claimed a bronze medal in the senior boys’ 110m hurdles with a 13.85 second run.