Gold, Bronze & Record Numbers at 85th English Schools Championships!
Stockport has UK's Most Successful Junior Jumps Group!
A record seven Athletes from the Joe Frost's Stockport Performance Sprints and Jumps Group were selected to represent their County Teams at the 85th English Schools Track and Field Championships at Gateshead, coming home with two Gold Medals and a Bronze in the most prestigious event of the year for Young Athletes.
Charlotte Ogden produced a best jump of 12.02m in the Triple Jump to take a well deserved Bronze medal and followed this up with a brilliant Gold in the 4x100m Relay along with fellow Group member Ellie Staley, Trafford AC'S Ellie Edwards and Bolton's Demi-Lee Scott. This was the first time Greater Manchester have won the sprint relay in over thirty-five years and the team now ranks second in the UK behind only the Great Britain Squad that competed at the recent European Junior Championships!
Amy Williams finished fourth in the Senior Girls Long Jump, agonsingly close to a medal in missing the podium by just a single centimetre, while Sophie Quinn finished a very creditable seventh in the Long Jump final at her last English Schools Championships. Ellie Staley finished fifth in her heat of the Senior Girls 100m before joining the Gold medal winning relay squad, despite suffering a hamstring injury in the lead up to the competition.
The Club was very represented in the Junior Girls Long Jump with three Athletes competing, bringing the total number of jumpers representing the Club to seven - more than any other Club in the UK. Bethan Murray competed for Greater Manchester and finished 10th while Katie Waterworth was ninth and Emily Jarad fifth, both representing Cheshire - great performances in what was the very first English Schools Championships for all three. The Girls also all competed for their Counties in the 4x100m Relays.
Outside of the Performance Jumps and Sprints Group there was a brilliant bronze for Natasha Harrison in the Junior Girls 800m and a place in the Junior Boys High Jump Final for Cameron Stewart from Mike Frost's Junior Multi-Events Group. Mollie Williams finished fifth in the Senior Girls 3000m.
For the Group to have seven Athletes competing is brilliant and it was good to discover that no other jumps group in the country had as many athletes taking part over the weekend. With the support of the Club and some much needed upgrades to the jumping facilities at Woodbank to bring them up to the standard required then we will surely see even more success in twelve months time.