English Schools 2019

The team of 32 athletes set off for Birmingham to face the 2000 other county champions from 45 counties across England. This would be the last time the school’s competition would be held in Birmingham as the stadium is being redeveloped for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. 

29 members of the team had events on the Friday which meant we had an exceptionally busy day. 

The team was one of the youngest we have ever taken to the championships and so gaining experience was the key factor for most of the team. Learning how to compete against the best in England and how to cope with a big crowd and being managed throughout the event – great experience for the future. 

Hannah England (GB International) came on the first night and gave the team a pep talk and told of her own English Schools experiences. A really friendly discussion focussing on how to manage your nerves which I feel certain was helpful and gave all the athletes some solace for what they would endure in the coming two days.

The results are listed in the table below and whilst we didn’t get any medals this year I’m certain the athletes were inspired to push on and improve for 2020. 

Three athletes deserve extra mention as they achieved considerable improvements in their personal bests. Temi Fajemisin jumped 11.36mts in the triple jump qualifiers (unfortunately couldn’t repeat this in the final where it would have given her an 8th place finish), Adam Chesterman added more than a metre to his PB to finish 4th in the discus but the surprise package was first year under 15 Kyle Daley who improved his PB in both the semi and final of the 100mts and finished a creditable 5th in the final also anchoring the U15 boys relay team to 6th in the final. 

Next year the championships will be in Manchester so start preparing now!!

Pete O'Keefe