On the 11th/12th May, the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth hosted this year’s Hampshire Track and Field County Championships; a showcase of 745 athletes in the county including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight.

Many of these athletes had to get through very tough heats to qualify for semi finals and finals really testing their endurance.

There were 10 medal winners from the club:

• U15 Girls
• Discus (Bronze) – Naomi Holdsworth
• U17 Girls
• 1500m steeplechase (Gold) – Milly Bacon
• Discus (Silver) – Ellie Lovett
• U13 Boys
• 1500m (Silver) – Joseph Roberts
• U17 Boys
• 3000m (Silver) – Campbell Laird
• U20 Men
• 400m (Gold) – Luke Margham
• 400m hurdles (Silver) – Ben Holdsworth
• Senior Men
• Discus (Gold) – Nicholas Percy – new Championship record
• 3000m steeplechase (Gold), 5000m (Gold) – Daniel Eckersley
• 400m hurdles (Gold) – James Forman

Athletes took part in a variety of events.

In the U15 Girls category with the largest number of competitors, Jessica Heng had a busy weekend taking part in the 100m, 200m, 300m, 1500m and long jump reaching the semi-finals of both the 100m and 200m. Naomi Holdsworth, as well as coming 3rd in the discus also competed in the javelin. She entered the 800m and 1500m running PBs to reach the final in both events. Maisey Kent also took part in the 800m and 1500m, reaching the 1500m final and narrowly missing out on a place in the 800m final. Evie Taylor ran in the 800m and threw the discus, finishing 6th overall.

In the U17 Women category, Mabel Lewis finished 5th in both the 800m and 1500m and Eden Canning qualified for the 80m hurdles final and finished 5th in the long jump. Ellie Lovett took silver in the discus. Millie Bacon came home with a Gold in the steeplechase.

In the U20 Women category, there were three Isle of Wight Athletic Club athletes in the 100m. Lucy Drover, Mollie Butler and Holly Whitter finished 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.

Lucy also took part in the 200m finishing 6th.

Joe Roberts was the only U13 boy from the IOW who entered the championships and ran very strongly to gain a 2nd place.

In the U15 Boys category, Jay Spooner entered the 800m race.

In the U17 Men category, Max Henley finished just outside of the medals in the 100m and 7th in the 200m after tough heats. Campbell Laird finished strongly to get silver in the 3000m.

In the U20 Men category both coming back from injury, Ben Holdsworth threw the javelin and finished 4th in the 400m. He is also the current U20 Men Pentathlon champion having won gold the previous week. James Haggerty finished 5th in the 400m and 6th in the 800m. Luke Margham ran a fabulous 400m to gain the the gold.

In the Senior Women, Emily Fry competed in the 100m narrowly missing a podium place.

In the Senior Men the results above show they all have cleaned the board with their 1st places on the podium.

Henry McLuckie, who came third in the National Cross Country Championships in February this year, improved on his previous two finishes at the Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon with victory in the Under-17 boys’ race. McLuckie (14:25) held off competition in the closing stages from Matthew Mackay (14:29) and Charlie Brisley (14:31).

“I saw someone else coming up behind me so I had to push hard down The Mall,” he said.

“It went exactly the way I wanted to execute it.”

(virginmoneylondonmarathon.com)

Four young Isle of Wight Athletes, Henry McLuckie, Mabel Lewis, Campbell Laird and Robyn Fossa, were selected to represent Hampshire and Vectis schools at the English Cross Country Championships. Held at the sodden grounds of Temple Newsham House in Leeds, over 2,000 athletes compete in the six races that make up this championship.
The wind blew and the rain fell all day, turning the tough, undulating course into a mud bath
First to race was Mabel Lewis, competing in the intermediate girls race. Mabel who was bottom age for this race and competing in her first race at this level, ran strongly throughout to finish as the 6th Hampshire girl home and 231st overall out of field of 341. Her performance helped the team claim 19th in the team event.
Robyn Fossa was next to compete in the Junior girls race. She produced a fine performance  to finish 56th, helping the Hampshire and Vectis team to 8th place in the team event
In the worsening conditions, on a chewed up course Campbell Laird displayed great strength to take a very creditable 59th overall. He was also 2nd Hampshire boy home, which helped the team claim 11th place in the team event. n the team event.
Unfortunately Henry McLuckie had to withdraw from the Senior Boys race on the day due to ill health.

New Balance sponsor the championships and the IWC and Wightlink support the athletes form the Island.

Hampshire Schools’ AA Under 12, Under 13 and Under 14 Cross-Country Championships 2019
7 March at Down Grange, Basingstoke

Huge congratulations to all IWAC runners who competed at the Schools XC Championships.

Notable performances included:

Matilda Brown and Freya Taylor in the U12 (yr5/6) event both in the top 30.

Archie Pearson a teriffic 5th in the boys event – Finn McMahon 29th & James Heng 34th.

Joe Roberts also an excellent 5th in the U13 boys, with Owen Clarke 22nd and Arthur Attrill next IWAC boy back in 33rd.

Maisey Kent had the best result of the day with 3rd in the Girls U14 event, IWAC also with Lily Barclay in a great 20th and Evie Taylor just a little further back.