ATHLETICS: Beds & Luton Schools pick up a trio of trophies at Gateshead

Beds & Luton Schools enjoyed their best team result in more than 20 years when they brought home the silverware from the English Schools' Athletics Championships held at a windy Gateshead Stadium recently.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Jul 2016, 10:00 BST
Updated 25th Aug 2016, 16:21 BST
Lee Johnson and Eavion Richardson with the Tonkin CupLee Johnson and Eavion Richardson with the Tonkin Cup
Lee Johnson and Eavion Richardson with the Tonkin Cup

As individuals competing against the very best athletes in England, the team won a total of five medals and produced a number of other outstanding performances.

Pride of place goes to the two English School champions, who won gold for a second consecutive year despite moving up an age group, as Frankie Johnson (pole vault) and Ben Davies (Senior Boys 1,500m), both triumphed.

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Teepee Princewill claimed silver in the Inter Boys triple jump, while girl’s captain, Eavion Richardson from Luton Sixth Form College, a previous silver medallist and veteran of five championships, was determined to get on the podium again in her last English Schools competition.

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Only 20 centimetres covered the first three with each of them producing their best jumps in the second round as Richardson cut the sand at 5.79m to claim silver, just seven centimetres behind the eventual winner.

Kye Charlton Brown grabbed third in the Junior Boys shot, while Raphael Boujou reached the final of Junior Boys 100m as Kyron Canny (Barnfield West) was fifth in the Inter Boys 100m having run 10.96secs in the semi-final.

The biggest smile of the weekend came from Vicky Hill (Barnfield College) who improved by nearly four metres in the Senior Girls hammer, recording 43.14m in her pool, while Tom Litchfield bagged a PB of 46.01m in the Junior Boys hammer.

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Others who produced personal bests included Hannah Foster (Barnfield West) with 25.89secs in the Junior Girls 200m and Tahlia Nelson (Luton Sixth Form College) with 25.33secs in the Senior Girls 200m.

The Boys almost made a clean sweep of the team trophies amongst the 16 minor counties.

The Inter Boys and Senior Boys both won handsomely whilst the Juniors only failed to match them by a margin of two points.

The team were overall champions for only the third time in their history.

Girls Captain Richardson summed up the weekend, saying: “I loved every minute of it.

“This was definitely the best team we have put out and I am just grateful that I was part of it.”

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