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2023 Welsh Senior & U15 Championships Preview
22/06/2023 00:00, In Blog / Club Notice Board / Track & Field /
The Welsh Senior & U15 Championships return this weekend, with just shy of 1000 athletes entered. A strong line-up across both days will see Olympic, Paralympic, and Commonwealth Games medallists in action, along with up-and-coming Welsh talent.
Several Para athletes selected to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the World Para Championships next month. Entries include a number of high-profile non-Welsh athletes, including Paralympic Champion Thomas Young (Loughborough Students AC), Dan Pembroke (Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow), and Ukrainian sprinters Mykyta Rodchenkov, Stanislav Kovalenko and Danyla Danylenko.
The weekend gets underway with a solid line-up in the Women’s 10K racewalk. The field includes reigning Welsh Champion Heather Warner (Pembrokeshire Harriers), who has been in great form having recently won the Senior Women’s title at the British Grand Prix of Race Walking over 20,000m. British Indoor Champion over 3000m Abigail Jennings (Aldershot, Farnham & District) and the current Welsh Record holder over 10,000m Bethan Davies (Cardiff Athletics) will also be in action.
Tokyo 2020 Gold Medallist Daniel Pembroke (Windsor, Slough Eton & Hounslow) will take on Mike Jenkins (Pembrokeshire Harriers) in the Senior Men’s Ambulant/Para Javelin. Continuing with Saturday’s Field Events, Olivia Breen (City of Portsmouth) will be in action in the Senior Women’s Ambulant/Para Long Jump. On the track Tokyo Paralympic 100m Champion Thomas Young (Loughborough Students AC) will be in action over 100m.
Commonwealth Games Athlete Amber Simpson (Wrexham AAC) will be in action on Saturday in both the hammer throw and discus. Simpson has already broken 3 Welsh Records this season and will be hoping to break another on Welsh soil.
Rounding off a great day of throwing events on Day 1 is the senior Women’s Shot Put. Reigning British and Welsh Champion Adele Nicoll (Birchfield Harriers) will be on the hunt to retain her title. Also competing is Paralympian Sabrina Fortune (Deeside AAC), who finished runner-up at last year’s Championships.
Day 1 will conclude with the highly anticipated 100m finals. Entries in the Men’s event include reigning Welsh Champion Sam Gordon (Cardiff Athletics), who will be hoping to retain the title. The field also includes Josh Brown (Cardiff Athletics) and Joseph Berry (Newport Harriers). In the Women’s event entries include Hannah Longden (Cardiff Athletics) who is edging closer to the Welsh Record and Nell Desir (Cardiff Archers) the British U17 Champion. The Senior Women’s race will also see Charlotte Wingfield (Cardiff Athletics) take to the track, having been a part of the Malta relay team that broke the 4x100m National Record earlier this year.
Sunday will see an extremely competitive field compete in the senior men’s discus. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Harrison Walsh (DSWPA) will compete against young talent Mike Jenkins (Pembrokeshire Harriers). The field also includes Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Dan Greaves (Charnwood).
Three Welsh Record holders will go head-to-head in the U15 Girls 800m. The current indoor Welsh title and record holder Lois Codling (Newport Harriers) will face Libby Hale (Swansea Harriers) the current outdoor 800m Welsh title holder and Bryony Boyce (Cardiff Athletics).
Tokyo 2020 Shot Put Gold Medallist Aled Davies (Cardiff Athletics) will be in action as he prepares for the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris next month. Joining him in the event is Mike Jenkins (Pembrokeshire Harriers), who will have a busy weekend competing in three throws events including Shot Put, Discus, and Javelin. Also competing on Sunday is Tokyo bronze medallist Hollie Arnold (Blackheath & Bromley), who will be in action in the Senior Women's Javelin.
On track for Endurance, Rhiannon Hawker (Cardiff Athletics) looks to claim her first 800m Welsh title, having finished third at the Loughborough International and recently set a new Personal Best. Jenny Nesbitt (Pontypridd Roadents) will be opening her track season in the Senior Women’s 1500m and will be looking to retain her title from last year's Championships.
A strong British field has been assembled in both the Men's and Women’s 3000m Steeplechase. Entries include Thomas Chaston (Belgrave Harriers) in the Senior Men’s race, in which he will be aiming to become the third generation in his family to claim the title. The Senior Women’s field includes Poppy Tank (City of Plymouth AC) and Jessica Scheriff (Belgrave Harriers), both low 10 minutes runners.
The weekend will also see Birmingham 2022 Bronze medallist Alastair Chalmers (Gurnsey) start his season in the 400m hurdles, recently crowned British U23 110 Hurdles champion Tom Wilcock (Northampton AC) and current UK Pole Vault lead Reuben Nairne (Griffnock North AC).
The weekend will conclude with the 200m races, the Men’s 200m will see Joe Brier (Swansea Harriers) and Sam Gordon (Cardiff Athletics) will come face to face in what is set to be an exciting race. Brier recently set a new personal best over 400m earlier this month. Entries also include Ukrainian sprinters Mykyta Rodchenkov and two-time Balkan Championships winner Danyla Danylenko, who has run very close to his personal best already this season.