Newport Harrier Steve Davies was showing no signs of fatigue as he stormed home to win gold in the Celtic Cup Indoor International on Sunday (3 February 2008). His triumph in the 1500m was certainly a highlight of the meet which saw Wales finish second overall against Scotland, Ireland and UWIC.
Though Davies had only just returned from a warm weather training stint in South Africa, he managed to claim victory for Wales over Scotland’s Bruce Raeside who had to settle for silver.
The 23-year-old Caldicot runner is hoping that his experience at the UKA Training Camp for the Norwich Union GB & NI Team will help him realise his Olympic dream.
Treorchy’s Jimmy Watkins was unable to steal the show in the 800m. The Welsh indoor record holder was forced into silver medal position by Graeme Oudney who won the Scottish District Indoor Championships earlier this month.
Wales’ senior men’s captain Debo Ademuyewo from Cardiff seized silver in the 400m. He was pipped for gold podium honours by the fast improving Irishman Nick Hogan.
Deeside’s Bradley Williams was unable to make amends for the Welsh Senior Indoor Open Championships result where he was just beaten to gold by UWIC’s Ben Simons. Simons once again had the upper hand though under-20 runner Jordan Huggins of England demonstrated his potential by capturing gold in 6.9s.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist
Chris Baillie of Scotland ran true to form, dominating the opposition. Ranked second in the UK rankings behind fellow countryman
Allan Scott, he clocked 7.85 in the 60m hurdles. Meanwhile, Carmarthen’s
Steven Boyles took the fourth spot.
UWIC triple jumper Gary White must wait for another appearance to smash the All-Comers record. The European Under-23 Champion from Rugby did win gold though with a jump of 15.86m. The closest rival was England’s under 20 up and coming talent Nonso Okolo who produced a jump of 14.72m.
The women’s team was captained by Carmarthen Harrier Heather Jones who took silver in the 60m hurdles, behind Gemma Werrett of Scotland.
Scotland’s Susan Scott who led her team to yet another Celtic Cup victory was victorious in the 800m. Gemma Jones managed to put points on the board for Wales, finishing in silver.
Brett Morse delivered a notable performance for Wales. Though he was competing in the under 20 category at the Celtic clash, the Penarth shot putter threw 15.86m to beat the senior field. Despite his achievement, he will be disappointed not to have broken his Welsh under 20 record of 16.48m which he set last year.
Wales’ under 20 team were not able to notch up as many points as Ireland and overall winners England but Caryl Granville also underlined her capabilities in the 400m.
The Carmarthen Harrier claimed gold after stopping the clock at 57.21m. The young rising star is supported by the Welsh Athletics Talent Development.
The eagerly awaited long jump saw Ireland’s 20-year-old Kelly Proper in sparkling form. For the third time in just a few weeks, she broke the Irish record which now stands at 6.32m.
But Proper was unable to take on the might of Scotland’s record holder Gillian Cooke who extended her personal best by 10 centimetres with a jump of 6.43m, overtaking the All Comers record of 6.33m which was set in 2003.
The Celtic Indoor Cup also incorporated a Schools’ International. While Ireland dominated the showdown, Wales’ under 16 talent did produce some encouraging performances including four gold medals. Lauren Bell took gold in the women’s 800m in 2:18.8 while Natasha Cockram finished ahead of the rest in the 1500m.
Nobody else in the schools’ category could reach beyond 1.61m apart from Wrexham’s Hannah Thomas who scaled 1.64m. In the shot, Rheon James took Wales’ fourth gold with a throw of 13.85m.
For more information, please contact Jane Williams at
Welsh Athletics on 029 2033 8274. Further press releases regarding the Schools’ International can be found at www.welshathletics.org. To be added to the results mailing list, please contact darran.williams@welshathletics.org
