Ben Claridge won a superb gold medal in the Senior Boys’ 400m at Gateshead on 9th July. Benefiting from an increased emphasis on speed training, the Tom King-trained athlete had been the fastest qualifier in the previous day’s heats (47.97). The White Horse Harrier then went on to record 47.83 for a convincing victory in the final.
The 25 strong team selected to represent Oxfordshire at the ESAA Championships for this year is drawn from 9 local clubs and 16 different schools across the County. Once again we have a preponderance of throwers (9) who are joined by 4 hurdlers, 8 sprinters, 3 middle distance runners and a solitary jumper.
15 very committed Oxfordshire athletes striving to get through the regional round, of this year's, ESAA combined events (Midland Div) to secure a place in the national finals in September at Exeter.
Some athletes were quite experienced whilst 6 athletes were making their debuts including the entire u15 boys team.
The ESAA Regional Combined Events competition takes place at Derby on the weekend of 25-26 June. Expectations are high for the 3 complete teams (U15 girls and boys and the U17 women). These 12 athletes along with 2 U17 men 1 U19 man and U19 woman all have realistic expectations of making the national combined events finals in Exeter in September.
The U15 girls are all Radley athletes, Zoe Lovibond, Holly Griffiths-Brown, Kylah Rowlands and Matilda Donaghy. All the girls are in great shape and many PBs are expected in the competition.
Results for the Oxfordshire Schools' district championships held on 12 June 2016 at Horspath, Oxford are attached.
The Oxon team(s) for this year's English Schools' combined events still have places for the following age groups:
U15 Boys (Pentatlon - High, Long, Shot, 80 Hurdles and 800mts)
U17 Boys (Octathlon - High, Long, Shot, 100 Hurdles, Discus, Javelin, 400mts and 1500mts)
U19 Boys (Decathlon - High, Long, Shot, 110 Hurdles, Discus, Javelin, 100mts, 400mts, Pole Vault, 1500mts)
U19 Girls (Heptathlon - High, Long, Shot, 100 Hurdles, 200mts, Javelin and
800mts)