ATHLETICS: Rugby & Northampton AC

Rugby and Northampton were well represented at the England Athletics U15 and U17 Championships at Bedford over the weekend.

The club were largely involved in the under-17 men’s competition and Aidan Leeson provided the stand-out performance. The 400-metre runner topped his heat with a personal best time of 49.39 seconds before claiming bronze in the final in 49.94.

Jack Carey and Joshua Faulds competed in the U17M 400m hurdles heats. Carey (61.71) finished sixth in heat 2 while Faulds (56.74) was first over the line in heat 1 to progress. In the final, Faulds narrowly missed out on bronze, finishing fourth in 55.32.

Also over the hurdles, Oliver Lambert finished fourth in the 100m hurdles in 13.57 before claiming seventh in the final (13.62). Meanwhile, Joshua Lay (4:06.14) also made a final appearance courtesy of a third-place finish in the 1500m heats. Lay (4:06.73) went on to cross the line in eighth against the country’s best.

Jaime Nalus (11.84) and Joe Musgrove (2:01.00) were also in action for the U17M as they finished sixth in the 100m and 800m heats respectively.

Meanwhile, in the U17W, Laurone Ager (13.08) narrowly missed out on a 100m final appearance, finishing sixth in the heats. Milan Clues mirrored that feat as she crossed the 80m hurdles line in 12.19.

The sole competitor from R&N in the younger-age track events was Mary Beetham-Green. The U15 athlete finished the 100m heats in 13.28 to take seventh place.

In the field, U17M’s Sam Owusu finished sixth in the long jump with a leap of 6.49 metres. While Lily-May Pursey’s (38.40m) hammer throw achieved a 14th-place finish in the U15W competition.