Scott Moves up at the AAA u20's

Sian Scott turned in one of the perfrormances of the weekend at the joint u20 /u23 AAA championships at Bedford when she clocked a magnificent 58.36 to take the u20 women's 400m hurdles title.

Scott who was the defending champion had already shown her improved form when finishing second at the British Universities Championships in May, but back at Bedford again, she sped to a time that not only took her to third on the UK u20 all time list [behind Vicki Jamison and Alison Curbishley] but puts her into contention for a medal at the European Junior championship to be held in Finland in July. Behind Scott, Faye Harding showed signs of rediscovering her best form with 60.32 for second place[and a B qualifying standard] beating the improving Melanie Canning [60.83 PB] on the run in. With the Bedford wind conditions for once being kind to 400m hurdlers, there were also seasons best for Natalie Kydd 4th, Justine Roach 5th and a big improvement for Anwyn Rees in 6th with 62.14

The u20 men's 400H also saw a great performance, with Newham's Rupert Gardner taking nearly a second off his best to beat the tiring long time leader Rhys Williams for the title in 51.4 [the electronic timing failing]. Gardner, like Scott, won last years ESAA title and along with Williams who paid for an over enthusiastic start, may well feature in the medal shake up in the Europeans. In third Richard Davenport could not match his performance in the heat where he ran an electronic pb of 52.66 [but the talented Gloucester athlete was later rewarded with a sub 47 clocking when he took silver in the 400m flat event].

Britains top junior from 2002 Steve Green who finished 4th in the 2002 World Junior championships, came good at the u23 level with a clear cut victory in 51.13. Although this is just outside the UKA A standard, Green has achieved this time in 2002 [50.97] and was glad to put his indifferent early season form behind him. In second place Dave Brackstone at last broke through the 52 seond barriers with a 51,81 timing from lane run, narrowly beating pre race favourite South African Peter Koekemoer, but there was disappointment for former u20 champion Jeff Christie who had to pull up early in the race.

The u23 womens race was dominated by defending champion Ireland's Michelle Carey who despite big stutters at hurdle 7 and 10 won by nearly a second with 58.76 from Hannah Wood's 59.73. With top ranked British u23 400H Nicola Sanders absent recovering from injury, selection for the the European u23 championships in Bydgoszcz was deferred. In third place Nusat Ceesay added an u23 medal to the u20 one she collected in 2001.

The u23 men's 110 Hurdles went to the form book with Rob Newton leading home Chris Baillie and Dominic Girdler the other two GB athletes with the A standard for this event. After a 13.79 heat victory, Newton won in 13.89 into a -1.8m headwind 8/100th infront of Baillie. The u20 event was even closer with Sheffield based David Hughes just holding off Corby's Will Sharman 14.49 to 14.51, to claim automaic Euro u20 selection. In third Stoke Nick Gayle ran well to record a pb of 14.95 again into a strong head wind[-1.8].

The women's sprint hurdles events were missing some of the leading contenders for European selection, although on the u20's Jessica Ennis 14.03 victory reconfirmed her claim for selection,as she defeated Gemma Bennett and Nicola Robinson into 2nd and 3rd respectively. Hannah Elwiss' 4th place was slightly slower than her new pb set in the heats 14.23, albeit this was with a lesser head wind.

In the u23's 100H, the tightest of finishes saw Kate Brewington just edge out fellow mulit eventer Fiona Harrison in14.02 to 14.03, with Sara McGreavey season's best 14.14 claiming the bronze medal. Disappointingly this was the only age group hurdles event not to require heats.

u20 Women's 100m Hurdles
1	Jessica Ennis	14.05
2	Gemma Bennett	14.30
3	Nicola Robinson	14.31
4	Hannah Elwiss	14.39
5	Phylis Agbo	14.48
6	Catherine Crawford	14.70
7	Sharon Walls	14.86
8	Sara Adams.	14.87
	wind	-1.8

 

u23 Women's 100m Hurdles
1	Kate Brewington	14.02
2	Fiona Harrison	14.03
3	Sara McGreavey	14.14
4	Emma Duck	14.28
5	Jenny Malloy	14.55
6	Grace Smith	14.96
7	Smeeta Gumbs	15.06
8	N Plews	15.09
	wind	0.0

 

u20 Men's 110m Hurdles
1	David Hughes	14.49
2	Will Sharman	14.51
3	Nick Gayle	14.95
4	Rob Henry	15.06
5	Peter Middleton	15.10
6	Jordan Fleary	15.60
7	Callum McKay	15.78
8	Steven Alexander.	16.54
	wind	-1.8

u23 Men's 110m Hurdles
1	Rob Newton	13.89
2	Chris Baillie	13.97
3	Dominic Girdler	14.05
4	Rich Alleyene	14.43
5	Allan Scott	14.48
6	Kris Jones	14.49
7	Tristan Anthony	14.76
8	Francis Smith	14.76
	wind	-1.8

 

u20 Women's 400m Hurdles
1	Siuan Scott	58.36
2	Faye Harding	60.32
3	Melanie Canning	60.83
4	Natalie Kydd	61.25
5	Justine Roach	61.48
6	Anwyn Rees	62.14
7	Gemma Collier	63.70
8	Sarah Oglesby	66.41

 

u23 Women's 400m Hurdles
1	Michelle Carey	58.76
2	Hannah Wood	59.73
3	Nusat Ceesay	62.43
4	Claire Heafford	62.84
5	Carly Austin	63.51
6	Laura Curtis	64.32
7	Claire Brason	DNF
8	Ruth Brereton	DNF

 

u20 Men's 400m Hurdles
1	Rupert Gardner	51.4
2	Rhys Williams	52.2
3	Richard Davenport	53.2
4	David Taylor	53.9
5	Liam McDermid	54.1
6	Tom Carey	54.4
7	Ben Carne	55.9
8	Andy Fell	DNF

 

u23 Men's 400m Hurdles
1	Steve Green	51.13
2	Dave Brackstone	51.81
3	Peter Koekemoer [RSA]	51.84
4	Richard Smith	52.41
5	Ben Caldwell	53.22
6	Andy Clements	54.20
7	Jeff Christie	DNF
8	Ben Sumner	DNS

2 July 2003