The junior athletes from Rugby & Northampton AC have been sweeping all before them team competitions but this weekend saw them taking on the best in the country in their individual events at the iconic English Schools Championships. Each year the club typically has a handful of athletes qualify as every athlete has to reach a prescribed standard but this year no less than 38 athletes from the club qualified from the club – an unbelievable achievement.
On the first morning the stage was set for Moyo Stumphenhusen to take part in the junior boys discus. The competition was extremely tight until Moyo launched the discus just short of 52m – the sixth furthest throw of all time, to claim a well deserved gold. The second day saw pre-race favourite Grace McCiollin line up in the U15G 75m hurdles and she delivered gold, making a blistering start and powering away from the rest of the field to win by a clear margin. The very last race of the day saw Olivia McGhee line up in the U15G 1500. The early pace was breath-taking but Olivia stayed calm in the main bunch, only to close down the leaders on the last lap. Olivia took the lead with 200m to go and never looked back to claim gold !
There was yet more medal success for the club athletes, however. Arthur Tilt raced to the silver medal in the 1500m U17M steeple chase with the club also having Ibrahim Achi and Ben Smith just behind him in the same race. To round off the medal rush, Savannah Morgan, finished an incredible third position in the U17G 100m competing in her first year in the age group.
The outstanding performances did not stop with the medallist, however, as Sophia Barrett, Isabelle Knight, David Oduwusi and Oliver Parker all came within inches of claiming a medal in their respective events. Hayley Dimond was in sixth in the senior girls shot whilst Charlotte Bowers claimed 7th place in the senior girls hammer. Lucy Boyes, Penelope Jones, Elliot Godfrey, Jacob Vural and Isabel Mur all made their finals – a truly outstanding set of results ! Well done to all competitors and many thanks to all the staff and officials who made the event possible
