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Loughborough International 2025 - Round Up
19/05/2025 00:00, In Blog /
Welsh athletes produced some outstanding displays across the board at Sunday’s Loughborough International.
As well as a strong national team selected for the match events, there was also a significant Welsh presence in the Great Britain Juniors team and across the guest events at the Paula Radcliffe Stadium.
Perhaps the most impressive Welsh win of the day was saved to the very last event of the meeting, where the mixed 4x400m squad produced a spectacular win.
The foundations of the victory were laid on the first leg, where Evan Blackman ran superbly to ensure Wales were just ahead of England as he handed over to double Commonwealth Games athlete Hannah Brier.
The Swansea Harrier extended the Welsh advantage during her leg, allowing her to hand over to brother, and Swansea Harrier clubmate, Joe Brier with a handsome lead.
The Tokyo Olympian put his foot on the accelerator to power down the backstraight and maintain the advantage built up during the first half of the race.
Brier handed over to anchor leg runner Tess McHugh (Sale Harriers) with what looked like an unassailable lead.
And so it proved as McHugh extended the gap even further as she crossed the line in 3:23.75 – more than three seconds ahead of the Great Britain Juniors team.
Interviewed after the race, Hannah Brier said:
Do you know what, it was really fun. We’ve got a really good 400m squad at the moment and it’s really nice to run together and get us all fit.
It’s really windy out there, I don’t think people realise how windy it actually is, but it was a lot of fun.
It’s really exciting, we are definitely pushing for the Commonwealth Games. We have a really big chance, not to just go there but to actually perform really well.
McHugh added:
It was amazing. We were just so far ahead already that I didn’t have much to do, it was good!
Abigail Pawlett 100mH finale
The Welsh team’s first individual triumph on the track came in the women’s match 100m hurdles where Abi Pawlett (Trafford AC Manchester) continued her outstanding year so far with a totally dominant performance to dip under 13 seconds for the first time.
Having won the UK indoor championships and BUCS championships already in 2025, the hugely talented Under-23 multi-eventer once again topped the podium here, running a blistering new personal best of 12.97 to take the win by more than half a second.
Pawlett is closing in on the Welsh women’s senior record of 12.91, which was set by Kay Morley in New Zealand back in 1990.
It was the start of a successful day for Pawlett, who also finished third overall in the women’s long jump match final where she celebrated a new PB of 6.17m.
Olivia Breen (City of Portsmouth) earned an early success in the field during the morning for Wales, winning the women’s Para long jump final.
The Paralympian and Commonwealth Games 100m gold medallist claimed the win with a best jump of 4.84m for 904 Raza points.
Wales’ next match success in the field came when Hannah Lake (Cardiff Athletics) won the women’s high jump.
Hannah Lake, Loughborough International 2025
Lake, who performed so well at the UK Indoor Athletics Championships earlier this year, claimed full points for Wales with a best jump of 1.78m.
Mark Mellor, Loughborough International 2025
Another Welsh athlete to shine at the UK Indoors, Mark Mellor (Cardiff Athletics), was also in winning form here as he came out on top in the men’s match pole vault with a best height of 5.30m. Thomas Walley (Wrexham AC), competing as a guest, was fifth with a best of 4.80m.
Freya Jones, Loughborough International 2025
Freya Jones (Harrow) was runner-up overall in the women’s javelin match final, where she chalked up 50.25m, to finish 13 centimetres behind guest athlete Bekah Walton.
The Welsh women’s team captain Adele Nicoll (Birchfield Harriers) was second in women’s shot put match final. The two-time British champion registered a best of 17.35m to finish just six centimetres behind winner Serena Vincent, of England.
Sam Gordon 100m, Loughborough International 2025
There was an extremely tight finish in the men’s 100m match final where Great Britain international Sam Gordon (Cardiff Athletics) was just pipped to the win by one hundredth of a second by Loughborough’s Sean Anyaogu, who claimed maximum points with 10.46.
Millie Gold 3000m Steeplechase, Loughborough International 2025
Over the longer distances, there was an outstanding performance from Millie Gold (Swansea Harriers) who finished second in the women’s steeplechase match final.
The under-20 athlete celebrated an excellent time of 10:38.24 in her first 3,000m steeplechase. Gold’s time was just eight seconds outside the European Junior Championships qualifying time.
John Bridge 400m para, Loughborough International 2025
The men’s para match 400m final saw T47 sprinter John Bridge (Cardiff Athletics) claim a third place spot for Wales in 54.63 for 564 Raza points.
In the men’s discus final, team captain and hugely talented Welsh para under-23 athlete Michael Jenkins (Swansea Harriers) claimed a third place finish for his team with a best of 55.04. Guest competitor, Harrison Walsh (Swansea Harriers), who has represented Wales and Great Britain at the Commonwealth Games and the Paralympic Games, was fourth with 54.26m.
James Ledger & Greg Kelly 100m para, Loughborough International 2025
T11 sprinter James Ledger (Swansea Harriers) claimed third in the men’s match para 100m final as he clocked 11.93 for 710 Raza points.
Patrick Swan Shoutput, Loughborough International 2025
Patrick Swan (Cornwall AC) earned a fourth place finish overall in the men’s shot put match final where he registered 17.86m.
Sophie Lisk 400mH start, Loughborough International 2025
In the women’s 400m hurdles match final, under-20 athlete, Sophie Lisk (Cardiff Archers) claimed a new PB of 1:01.11 as she finished fourth.
Another fourth place finisher overall was James Heneghan (Pontypridd Roadents), who clocked 8:21.27 in the men’s 3,000m match final.
Lucy Harris Discus, Loughborough International 2025
The women’s discus match final saw Lucy Harris (Swansea Harriers) finish fifth with a best of 42.82m.
Great Britain 800m international Isabelle Boffey (Enfield and Haringey) who was making her debut for Wales, following her switch from representing England, was competing in the 400m, where she finished fifth in an extremely close final in 55.19.
In the women’s 3,000m match final, Anna Bracegirdle (Salford Harriers) produced a new PB of 9:26.39 as she finished sixth overall.
The guest 100 sprints also saw early Welsh success with Sam Gordon winning the A final with a time of 10.60, while his Cardiff Athletics team mate Josh Brown won the B final in 10.75. Luca Logue-Fonseca (Cardiff Athletics) ran a new personal best to finish second in 10.80.
The para guest men’s 100m final saw T35 athlete Will Bishop (Newport Harriers) finish third in 14.27.
The Welsh successes continued in the women’s guest 100m where Nell Desir (Cardiff Archers) clocked 11.87.
The men’s 200m guest B final witnessed a second place finish for Lewis Stephens (Cardiff Athletics), who stopped the clock in 21.89.
Desir and Stephens would go on to enjoy further success later in the day representing GB Juniors in the match relays.
Under-20 athlete Lilly Noble (Deeside AAC) produced an excellent performance in the women’s 400m hurdles guest B final, which she won comfortably in a big new personal best of 1:01.36.
Darcy Coslett post race, Loughborough International 2025
The women’s 400m guest A final saw a couple of Welsh podium places as outstanding under-17 athlete Darcy Coslett (Llanelli AC) claimed second place in 54.02 with Ffion Mair Roberts (Menai Track and Field) third in 55.07.
In the men’s 800m guest final, there was a second place for Thomas Loynes (Neath Harriers) who clocked 1:52.75. The result rounded off a fine week for Loynes who ran an 800m PB of 1:52.35 at Watford a few days before.
As well as the athletes wearing smart new red Joma vests in the match events, and the assorted guest athletes, there were three Welsh competitors representing the Great Britain Juniors team.
In the 800m match race, Jack Organ (Brecon AC), who has been in fine form this season, claimed a hugely impressive victory for GB Juniors in 1:50.80. Hitting the front with 200m to go, the Welsh athlete showed excellent composure to hold off his challengers in the final stages.
Representing GB Juniors in the women’s 4x100m, Nell Desir ran an excellent third leg to help her team to second place in the match race, clocking a time of 44.75, behind a guest Great Britain Invitational squad.
Desir said afterwards:
I think the handovers were really good, in training we just practice and practice to make sure they are as perfect as they can be and then execute them on race day. It worked out, so it was a good experience and I think we ran it really well.
Lewis Stephens produced a similarly impressive display for the GB Juniors in the men’s 4x100m. Stephens ran the opening leg and handed over the baton in the lead as the squad went on to a dominant victory in 39.54.
Final team standings:
England 175
GB Juniors 141
Loughborough 135
National Athletics League 121
Wales 92
Scotland 89
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