English Schools Athletics Championships - Exeter- 6/7 July 2001

Lincoln Wellington’s Rachael Nathan is the new English Schools intermediate girls 3000 metres champion!!

She claimed the title at Exeter’s Arena Stadium with an outstanding time of 9 minutes 41.51 seconds and only just missed out on the championship best performance time of 9.39.9 which has stood since 1988. After following the pace through a steady opening lap she put in a decisive burst which immediately took her well clear of the rest of the field. As the race progressed she continued to draw further away and with the large crowd giving her maximum support she crossed the finish line with her nearest pursuer not yet into the home straight and with a massive winning margin of twenty five seconds. She was subsequently notified that her winning effort had gained her selection for the England Schools team which will be competing in a home countries international in Dublin on July 21st. She still has a further year as an intermediate but it was quite significant that her winning time was marginally faster than the senior girls race over the same distance which took place a little later the same day.

Mathew Bowser lined up in a very high-class senior boys 3000m race and on recent form he had good medal prospects. A desperate piece of bad luck saw him lose one of his spikes immediately after the start when he was clipped on the heel by one of his opponents. He had no option but to run the whole race with one shoe missing and in the circumstances 4th place in a personal best equalling time of 8.30.36 was a very fine performance. One can only conjecture at what might have been had the incident not occurred and he will probably have the opportunity to better his time when he contests the Northern under 20 championships over the same distance at Stretford in August.

Every race at the English Schools Championships is of the highest quality but this year’s senior girls 400 metres was considerably stronger than normal. Rowena Harrison lined up for her heat knowing full well that a big personal best would be required to get her to the final. She ran the race of her life to finish 5th in a new personal best of 58.39 – almost half a second faster than her previous best – but unfortunately it was not quite enough to squeeze her into the final line-up. She was delighted with her effort however having just missed out on qualifying for the championships in the past.

The final Wellington athlete in the Lincolnshire team was multi-eventer Jenny Pacey who contested the senior girls triple jump. Although this event is not part of her normal heptathlon she had qualified by virtue of a splendid performance when taking the Anglian Schools title with an English Schools qualifying distance of 11.02metres. Unfortunately she was not in her best form and was a little disappointed with a best distance of 10.32m. She will have the opportunity to make amends when she contests the English Schools multi events championships later in the season.

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