Tonbridge athletes produce medals at UK championships

Photo – Jack Higgins with his gold medal from the 1500 metres

Some of Tonbridge Athletic Club’s top athletes were in action at the weekend, at home and abroad, producing a string of superb medal and record-breaking performances. The UK Indoors Championships were held at Birmingham, with the British Universities and Colleges Championships taking place at Sheffield.

Jack Higgins had been a surprise winner of the UK Indoor 800 metres title two years ago, but this Winter has focused on the 1500 metres. In Sunday’s final, he was up against several runners who had superior personal bests and was in fourth place with 100 metres to go. Higgins, however, has become a master at finding something extra, as the finish line approaches and was able to pass the others to win in 3.38.12, with James McMurray of St Albans second in 3.38.36. Higgins’ time was a personal best and he may now look for a race to attempt the World Indoor Championships qualifying time of 3.36.00.

Just prior to the 1500 metres final, Ted Higgins went in the 3000 metres final, which had sixteen competitors. The early pace was strong, which helped spread the field out and the first kilometre went by in 2.36, before it dropped slightly to a 2.43 for the second. However, the finishing pace was swift, with Higgins gaining a bronze medal, chasing behind Tom Keen from Cambridge and Henry McLuckie, from the Isle of Wight. Higgins ran 2.33 for the final kilometre and recorded a personal best of 7.53.21, with Keen winning in 7.51.68.

Kieran Eland made the men’s 400 metres final on Sunday, where he placed fifth, having battled through the heats and semi-final on Saturday. Lewis Church has the possibility of GB selection for the World Indoor Championships in the Heptathlon, dependent on his final World ranking, but had to compete in Birmingham in an individual event, in order to meet selection criteria. He chose the 60 metres hurdles and surprised himself by coming through the heats and semi-final to finish 7^th in the final.

Guy Thomas made it three Tonbridge medals by finishing second in the 3000m walk in 12.36.46, with Emily Ghose 4^th and Grazia Manzotti 6^th in the women’s race.

At the British Universities and Colleges Championships, Asha Root reduced her indoor 400 metres personal best to 54.50, taking 0.85 seconds from her previous time and her own record. She first did this when winning her semi-final on Saturday and then equalled it when finishing second in Sunday’s final.

Another Tonbridge AC record to fall, at the weekend, went to Rae Le Fay in the women’s indoor 800 metres. She ran 2.10.64 at the Husky Classic, in Seattle, Washington, USA. This took five seconds from the club’s previous indoor record and is now second only overall to Kelly Holmes’ outdoors time of 2.09.0 set in 1987, when she was a teenager at Tonbridge AC.

Above at the UK Championships – Lewis Church, Henry Marshall, Dylan Purton, Kieran Eland, Jordan Chambers