Club conquer the Midlands Indoor Championships
to start the 2014 indoor season in style
The gold rush continued for Rugby & Northampton Athletic Club as they followed up their cross country success with a spectacular performance at the Midlands Indoor Championships at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham.
While their team-mates were busy taking the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League title, R&N’s track specialists put on a show in the black country with a 16-medal haul, half of them gold.
Rico Ewer led the way with a stunning performance that earned him double gold. A massive improvement over the winter period saw him win both the 60 meters and 200m competitions in personal best times. Ewer stopped the clock at 7.09 and 22.43 respectively; with his 200m-time meaning he is now in the top 10 runners in the UK for his age.
Caleb Downes followed up a stellar 2013 season with a golden start to 2014 as he celebrated victory in the under 20 men’s 60m. A time of 6.95 was enough to see Downes take to the top of the podium.
Luke Townsend triumphed over the same distance in the under 20 men’s hurdles with a time of 8.21, while Lily Carmichael was also a gold medal winner on the track, winning the 800m in a time of 2.21.51, despite this being her first event as an under 17 athlete.
Ellena Ruddock defied her veteran status to pick-up silver medals in the 60m (7.91) and 200m (25.16) against opponents up to 19 years her junior. Adam Wright also celebrated on the podium after picking up bronze medals in the under 20 men’s 800m and 400m – the latter won with a personal best time of 51.25.
A PB time of 24.88 saw Aiden Wardle take bronze in the under 15 men’s 200m, while he narrowly missed a second podium finish in the 60m, ending fourth having clocked another personal best of 7.76 in the heats.
In the field events, Grace Adeyinka celebrated gold in the under 20 women’s triple jump thanks to a personal best leap of 11.50 meters.
Simone Ager became under 17 women’s long jump champion with a jump of 5.07m, adding to a bronze medal performance in the 60m, scoring a PB time of 7.89 in the semi-final.
Kiona McLennon became a bronze medallist in the under 17 women’s shot put with a throw of 10.31m, while Bradley Whitehead took bronze in the multi-event quadrathlon with a performance laden with personal best scores – Whitehead scoring higher that before in all four events.
Elizabeth Truslove and Adele Blenkinsop also saw several of their record times fall in the under 13 girls quadrathlon across the long jump, high jump, 60m and shot put as they both put in promising performances.
