C&C South of England Champs 2023

The South of England Championships took place on 3-4 June 2023 at the Excel Sports Hub, Walton-upon-Thames, in glorious sun but with a roaring wind in excess of 3m per second to add some challenge for the U20 and Senior athletes in competition.

The first C&C athlete on the field was Asha Soanes in the U20 Javelin. The wind played havoc in Asha’s opening attempt, resulting in a no throw, however Asha quickly found her feet in the second round throwing a distance of 32.82m and in the third round projected herself into the bronze medal position with a throw of 37.83m.

Meanwhile, over on the the Long Jump runway David MacQueen entered the competition as a first year U20 at the bottom of the ranking. David expected this would be a competition to practice focus and consistency in a high pressure environment.  However, the sun shone down on David in his opening round as he jumped out to a new personal best of 6.63m. Having led the competition by 20cm in the first 2 rounds, David didn’t have it all his own way as Augustine Kodji delivered a 3rd round effort of 6.67m. Keeping a calm head, David consulted with coach Ben Davies, asking to move his approach back slightly. This tactical decision allowed him to making full use of the following winds, engaging another gear to fly out to a distance of 6.79m – this 26cm PB from the start of the competition meant David could steal back the title of South of England U20 Long Jump Champion!

On the track delivering for the sprinters was Serena Blackwood, who competed in the U20 100m to set a new Club Record of 11.94s. Serena now has invites to the British Champs, England U20 Champs, and England Senior Champs – good luck Serena.

Congratulations to all our competing athletes – fantastic results.