Golds galore and county record for Swindon Harriers at the Wiltshire championships

Stars of the track: Coach group runners Debbie Gunning and Jon Hughes (Image: Swindon Harriers)

There was a new county record in the hammer throw as Swindon Harriers enjoyed a great weekend at the Wiltshire Championships.

Harry Ricketts smashed the Wiltshire senior men’s hammer record with a stunning throw of 58.50 meters at the event held at the County Ground last weekend.

The 19-year-old was fresh from claiming his first national title at the British Universities Championships and it was the highlight of Swindon’s 27 gold medals.

Holly Scott won the under-17 women’s hammer gold for the third time in a row with a magnificent throw of 46.06m, as well as capturing both the under-15 girl’s javelin and discus.

There were plenty of double wins, including for Arthur Manton-Haskell in the boys’ under-13 javelin and discus; Oshotare Kadiri won both the U17 Long Jump and Triple Jump; Delleah Belgrave under 20 100m and long jump; as well as her younger sister, Laila-Jae Belgrave, winning the under-17 80m hurdles and 100m.

Fierce intra-club competition was taking place in the under-15 girls’ hammer with Lottie Harding having already thrown a personal best of 39.30m at Wolverhampton last month to finish second in the South West Rankins, lifting the title with a throw of 36.23. meters.

Lowri Prosser went home with three medals as he won gold in the under-13 200m and 70m hurdles along with a silver in the long jump.

England Athletics 100m bronze medalist Jonathan Dumbutshena marked his progress in the under-17 age group with a fine 100m and 200m double to record a lifetime best of 11 .06 in the first.

Rising star Tamiah Roswell impressed with wins in the under-13 100m and long jump events, while Al Virgilio enjoyed double gold in the under-17 400m and 800m.

In the 800m there were some great wins from Douglas Kirby and Pippa Wall in the under 13 age group, plus Jesse Bryant and Freya McMeeking in the under 15s.

The story continues

McMeeking’s win was one of the most exciting of the meet, with just 0.35 seconds separating the top three.

Harry Woods destroyed his personal best to lift the senior men’s title in addition to winning silver in the 3000m, so a rewarding weekend for him.

Elliot Cox continued his good start to the season with an emphatic win in the under-15 80m hurdles after also winning silver with a personal best in the 100m.