ATHLETICS: South West indoor titles for Fasuba and Gifford-Groves, while Ezra-Ham wins First Chance 10k

CITY of Plymouth’s Annabelle Fasuba and Tavistock’s Caleb Gifford-Groves both won South West Indoor Championship age group titles at the weekend in Cardiff.

English Schools’ champion Fasuba took victory in the under-15 girls’ 60m sprint in a time of 7.77 seconds, which ranks her second in the early UK 2025 rankings.

However, on December 29 the talented sprinter ran a new club record time of 7.61 seconds at the Sutcliffe Indoor 60s at Eltham. That is the fastest time in the UK this current indoor season and ranked her third in the 2024 rankings.

The second round of the South West Championships were once again combined with a Welsh Athletics Junior Open meeting.

Gifford-Groves, like Fasuba, claimed victory in both events. He took gold in the under-17 boys’ 800m with a time of 2:03.30.

Erme Valley Harriers’ Isabella Trowell, who had won the under-17 girls’ triple jump title in December, took bronze in the long jump at the weekend with a leap of 5.02m. She also ran 9.93 seconds in the 80m hurdles.

There was a South West silver medal for City of Plymouth’s Evie Welsh in the under-13 girls’ 800m.

Meanwhile, also on the indoor circuit, City of Plymouth’s Adam Dingley ran a PB of 7.97 seconds to win round two of the under-20 60m hurdles event at the Be Fit Today Track Academy Series event at Lee Valley.

Dingley had clocked 8.00 seconds dead in the opening round before improving in the second race. That time ranks him second in the early UK rankings.

He had also claimed a race victory at the Sutcliffe Indoor 60 Hurdles meet at Eltham on December 28. That day he ran 8.25 seconds.

On the road, Tamar Trotters’ Bex Ezra-Ham continued her good form by winning the First Chance 10k at Exeter on Sunday.

Ezra-Ham clocked 36 minutes and 10 seconds to take victory ahead of Tavistock’s Nikki Kelly and Erme Valley Harriers’ Alison McEwing.

Kelly took second place in 36.45 minutes, with McEwing third in 37.47 minutes.

Erme Valley runners picked up a number of prizes. David Engledew was first M65, while Simon Fitze was second M45 and Helen Chapell (F55) and Alison Engledew (F65) claimed third places in their respective age groups. Plymouth Harriers’ Steve Hill was second M50, while Tavistock’s Grant Harvey was third M40.

A number of the region’s athletes impressed for Devon and Cornwall at the combined South West Club and County Cross Country Championships at RNAS Merryfield on Sunday.

Tamar Trotters’ Jacob Landers came ninth in the men’s race as he helped Cornwall to team glory. The Duchy had five athletes finish in the top 10.

Erme Valley’s Matthew Gilvear came eighth in the men’s under-20 race, while Tavistock’s Charlotte Walker was fourth under-20 woman, while her sister Hannah was 10^th as Devon won team silver.

City of Plymouth’s Annabel Arnold was seventh senior woman and helped Cornwall to the team title.

Erme Valley’s Luke Hayes was part of the Devon team that triumphed in the under-17 boys’ race. He came 16^th as Devon finished with seven runners inside the top 20.

In the under-15 girls’ race, City of Plymouth’s Elsie Goodspeed was another runner to claim a top 10 finish. She took ninth, with her Devon team-mate Zoe Bigham (Tavistock AC) in 14^th as the county claimed victory.

City of Plymouth’s Finley Eales was also in the top 10 of the under-13 boys’ race. He came ninth as Devon won the team prize, while his club colleague Lucas Sweeney, representing Cornwall, was just behind in 12^th spot.

In the non-county under-11 championships, Tavistock’s Olivia Walkerdine finished as third girl, with City of Plymouth’s Evie Welsh fourth, while Plymouth’s Jack Penney was sixth boy.

South West Cross Country Championship results can be found HERE.

First Chance 10k results can be found HERE.