Following on from the success of the U13 / U15 / Senior Harriers at the Welsh Indoor Champs a couple of weeksa ago, it was the turn of the U17 / U20's to strut their stuff as well as two U15's taking part in the 3000m Indoor Champs.

 

A small band of 7 hardy, young Harriers travelled to Cardiff and all of them did themselves proud especially as most of them were competing at the lower age level of their age group.     

 

The day got off to a flying start with Amy Leahy winning Gold the U17 60m Hurdles in only her second race at this age group. This will give her confidence as she travels to Birmingham in a few weeks to compete in the English ( UK ) Indoor Championships. Nice to be introduced to the English crowd as Welsh Champion !  Amy then went on to qualify for the 60m Final after equalling her pb in the heats.

 Next on track was Daniel Salmon making his debut indoors at 200m. Unfortunately, for Daniel, he was drawn on the inside lane which didn't suit his long striding style and he didn't make the final. However, it was a strong run and he was pleased with his indoor 200m baptism. He then set a new pb in the 60m heats, but once again just missed out on a final place.

His running partner in the 60m, Josh Davies, won his heat in a new pb and in the final beat that pb again and came 5th in the process. Just before the 60m final, Josh was competing in the Long Jump where he came away with the Silver Medal. However, things could have been different if his preparation had not been interrupted by running back and fore between the Long Jump pit and the 60m registration area !

Over in the field events, it was great to see Lucy Griffiths return to competition after a long spell off due to illness. She is still nowhere near back to her normal self so it was a fantastic result for her to win the Gold in the U20 Shot !  It must have been all the support from her family and friends that gave her the extra " Whoomph " in those tired arms !

Lauren Bell comfortably won her heat in the 400m. This event is still relatively new for her..especially indoors. So it was a great achievement for her to win the Silver Medal ( and new pb ) in the Final with a strong run at the finish closing the gap on the race favourite, Megan Rogers.

Also taking part in a new event was U15B, Marinus Petersen making his debut at 3000m. Running against boys a year older, he didn't disgrace himself and will gain valuable experience from the run.

Also competing in the 3000m was U15G, Tegan Harrison. She had set herself a target to beat in her first run at this distance indoors. Although not in the medals, she smashed that target by over 20s which augurs well for the future. 

 

Under 15 Girls	Under 15 Boys
Tegan Harrison	Marinus Petersen
3000m : 12m 34.6s	3000m : 10m 36.67s
U17 Women	U17 Men
Amy Leahy	Josh Davies
60m Hurdles : GOLD ( 9.2s  = pb )	Long Jump : SILVER ( 6.03m )
60m Final : 8.3s ( = pb )	60m Final : 7.47s ( pb )
U20 Women	Daniel Salmon
Lucy Griffiths	60m : 7.72s ( pb )
Shot : GOLD  ( 10.82m )	200m : 25.23s ( pb )
Lauren Bell
400m : SILVER ( 60.02s / pb )

 

Some of the happy Harriers after the event...Amy Leahy, Josh Davies, Daniel Salmon and Marinus Petersen.

 

 If you have any other photos of the Indoor Champs...any age group, please contact Nigel / Richard as we would like to get them onto the website.