England Athletics U20, U17 and U15 Indoor Championships

The England Athletics U20,U17 and U15 Indoor Championships took place in Sheffield on the 10th and 11th February. Several of our athletics took part in what is often regarded as the highlight of the indoor season.

Paul Lambrecht in his first year as an U20 had a busy weekend competing in both the 60m and the 200m. Paul ran well in the 60m heats to qualify for the semis where he ran a PB of 6.96. Paul was joined by Christian Tansey in the 200m where they both finished 4th in their heats.

Francesca Bush (U15G) continued her first season competing indoors by making the semi final in the 200m with a season’s best of 26.54 ranking her nationally in the top 15 of her age group. Francesca had a tough draw in her semi against an athlete who broke the U15G indoor 200m record in the final.

Thomas Abbott competing in the U20M 400m ran spectacularly in the heat to run inside 51 seconds for the first time and qualify for the semi final.

The club’s depth and talent in the middle distances was on show again with Kristian Green improving his 800m personal best to 1:53.21 and was unlucky not to make the final despite running the fourth quickest time in the heats. This was due to the tough qualification criteria of one from each heat plus the fastest time qualifier across all five heats. Clubmate George Christmas in his first year in the U20M age group ran a competitive time of 1:57.81 which was an indoor PB. Lexi Harrison ran her first race of 2024 and finished fifth in her heat of the U17G 800m. Jasmine Christmas (U15G) improved her PB to 2:20.55 to qualify for the final where she finished fourth in her debut indoor championships.

The club’s two hurdlers had to wait until Sunday afternoon to start their competition. Lila Margerison, competing in her first national championship and in her first year in the under 15 age group ran well in her heat but missed out on a place in the semi finals. Leah Wagstaff (U17W) went into the championships ranked second in the country. As always Leah was composed, winning her heat convincingly and a place in the semi-final. Leah ran a PB (8.66) in the semi-final coming second to the athlete ranked first in the country. The final was always going to be a competitive race and Leah fought hard to win the silver medal in another PB of 8.61m.

David MacQueen(U20M) was the club’s only athlete that took part in the field events. His leap in the long jump of 6.64m was an equal legal PB and he was unlucky to miss the cut where the top eight athletes have a further three jumps. David finished a credible 9th place out of a large field of fifteen jumpers.

All of the club’s athletes that took part in these championships are a credit to the club. It is such an achievement in itself to obtain the standard to compete at this level and is a testament to their hard work along with that of their coaches, supporters and everyone involved in their development as athletes.

Full results can be found here