Lewis Church, from Tonbridge Athletic Club, battled back from an injury incurred at the start of the very first event, to win the English National Decathlon Championship, at the weekend. The championships were held in perfect conditions, at Sports City, Manchester, with Church being the favourite to win the title, which he last held two years ago. However, his ambitions were thrown into doubt when he felt his back tighten at the start of the 100 metres.
Despite the back problem, Church recorded a personal best for the 100 metres of 11.32 and then had to manage the injury through the remainder of the first day, not knowing whether he would be able to finish. He recorded a long Jump of 6.95 metres, Shot Put of 13.31m, High jump at 1.96m and a 400m of 50.64, all of which were a little below his best, but gained good points. This left him in third place of the twenty-three competitors overnight, but with a strong second day to come.
On day two, Church started with 15.06 in the 110 metres, before throwing the Discus a personal best of 46.39m. He then Pole Vaulted 4.70 metres, threw the Javelin 53.72m and ran 4.35.58 for 1500 metres to give him a total of 7640 points, just 133 short of his personal best.
In Spain, on Friday, James West finished 3rd over 1500 metres in 3.37.34, showing good early season form, which ranks him fifth in the UK for 2023 so far. Then, the following evening, James Kingston ran 5000 metres in 13.54.84 at the British Milers Club Grand Prix, at Manchester, which ranks him fifth on the Tonbridge AC all-time list.
Two league matches took place across the weekend, with the Tonbridge men and women both winning their matches in the Southern Counties Veterans League meeting, at Dartford, on Friday evening and the under 17 and 20 age group squad placing 4th of the seven teams, at the UK Youth Development League fixture, at Basildon, on Sunday.
The veterans’ squad collected several wins, with Ian Crawley winning both a Shot Put and Long Jump. Maximum points were also gathered by Harriet Woolley, Maria Heslop and Dan Bradley over 1500 metres, Diane Wright and Mark McAllister over 200 metres and Chris Leach in the over 50 men’s Shot Put.
Perhaps the standout individual, on Sunday, at the UK Youth Development League, came from Max Clark, who won the under 17 men’s 100 metres in 11.14 and the High Jump with 1.85 metres, both being personal bests. He also helped the 4 x 100 metres relay team to victory. In the same age group, Lewis Burr won the Pole Vault, with his best-ever height of 2.70m, whilst Alexia Scotiniadis (300m, 41.43) and Neve Bachelor (300m hurdles, 46.10) both won. The latter two combined with Lily Slack and Yasmin Jameson to win the 4x300m relay. Joe Stone won the men’s 100 metres hurdles with 14.33, which was a big personal best.
In the under 20 age group, Oliver Brooke had four second places, in the A-string events, with the highlight being a 22.19 for 200 metres, which is not far away from the club age record. On the track, there were wins for Harriet Medlen (100m, 12.41), Amelie Rabbidge (100m hurdles, 16.04), Isabelle Bridgeman (400m hurdles, 82.68), Tom Claridge (1500m, 4.09.38 pb), Ethan Rocks (3000m, 9.35.90) and Charlie Ellison (2000m steeplechase, 6.42.40). Two field event wins came from Georgia Baker (High Hump, 1.55m) and Sophie Slack (Javelin, 25.06m).
Also, on Sunday, at the Folkestone 10k, Imogen Amos won the women’s race in 37.37.
Above – James Kingston at Manchester