CITY of Plymouth athletes Nubia Evans-Shields and Ethan Glyde both claimed England Under-20 Championships titles at the weekend in Birmingham.
UK junior number one Evans-Shields, in her first season at under-20 level, won the discus competition with a throw of 42.69m.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Youth Games champion Glyde claimed the high jump title with a leap of 2.06m. He did try to match his PB of 2.15m and secure the World Under-20 Championship qualifying mark but it was not to be on the day.
Afterwards he said: “The atmosphere was brilliant in this amazing stadium. Maybe this wasn’t the best competition in terms of height, but I’ve made some changes in my training which takes some time to get used to.
“This was my last competition to get the world standard, which unfortunately I couldn’t get, but I’m happy with how it went.”
It was Glyde’s last competition in the UK before moving to the University of Iowa on a full scholarship.
Also, in the field events at Birmingham, Tavistock AC’s Phoebe Milburn picked up an England U20 silver medal in the hammer competition.
She came fourth overall with a throw of 47.82m, but the top two in the event – Angela McAuslan-Kelly and Amelia Fettis – represent Scotland and Wales, respectively. In the same event, her Tavistock AC team-mates Ella Patterson and Louisa Hess came 10th and 12th, respectively.
There was also a fourth place overall for City of Plymouth’s Nicolas Maczugowski in the men’s under-20 400m hurdles.
He clocked 54.88 seconds in the final, which was won by Wirral’s Sam Lunt, with Trinidad & Tobago athlete Cheyne West taking second and Oliver Parker third.
Another City of Plymouth athlete to finish fourth overall was Hanna Ulvede, who competed in the under-23 women’s 400m hurdles event. After easing through the heats, she clocked 61.86 seconds in the final.
Also in the under-23 category, Henry Curtis and Toby Clayden both reached the final of the men’s 110m hurdles competition.
In the heats, Curtis clocked 14.98 seconds and Clayden 15.80 seconds before they finished sixth and seventh in the final with times of 15.08 and 15.73, respectively.
City of Plymouth’s Rory Summers is getting ever closer to breaking the 49 second barrier for the 400m. The Mount Kelly student clocked a PB time 49.08 seconds to reach the semi-finals of the under-20 400m, where he finished fifth.
Fellow City of Plymouth athlete Kinga Kudzia also competed at the national championships. She clocked 12.58 seconds for the 100m and 25.27 seconds for the 200m.
Meanwhile, away from the track, Tavistock AC’s Charlotte Walker finished as second female in the tough Haytor Heller race on Dartmoor. She enjoyed a great battle with eventual winner Fiona German of South West Road Runners, with just eight seconds separating them at the finish.
Fellow Tavistock athlete Ben Neale came sixth overall and first M35, while Erme Valley Harriers’ Emma Lake claimed the F45 top prize.