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Weekend Round-Up (1-2 February 2025)

Piers Copeland wins the men's 1500m UK Indoor title.

03/02/2025 00:00, In Blog /

JOHN THOMAS TERRIER CLASSIC - BOSTON UNIVERSITY – JANUARY 31 – FEBRUARY 1 

Piers Copeland (Pontypridd Athletics) produced a brilliant performance to run the fastest ever indoor time for the mile by a Welsh athlete on Saturday.

At a high quality meeting in the United States, the British indoor champion ran a superb time of 3:54.42, which surpassed the previous best of 3:57.29 by Chris Gowell (Swansea Harriers) also run in Boston back in February 2014.

The night before at the same meeting, Cari Hughes (Cardiff Athletics) improved her 3,000m season’s best to edge closer to the European Indoor Athletics Championships qualifying standard of 8:48.00

Representing OAC Europe, Hughes clocked 8:49.78 after running 8:50.40 in Spain the weekend before.

RESULTS


WELSH UNDER-13, UNDER-15, UNDER-20 and PARA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – CARDIFF, FEBRUARY 1 AND 2

There were a number of outstanding performances across the two days at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff.

Day One saw Darcy Coslett (Llanelli AAC) in record breaking form in the under-20 400m semi-final.

The Welsh age group 300m record holder smashed the eight-year-old championship record of 56.63 and broke the 21-year-old Welsh age record of 55.75.

Coslett stopped the clock in 55.57 to book her place in the final, where the 15-year-old went on to run even faster, crossing the line in 55.18.

On Sunday, perhaps the outstanding individual performance went to under-13 athlete Rowan Carson (Bridgend Athletics).

After claiming silver on Saturday in the under-13 boys 1500m, he went one better in spectacular style in the 800m time trial on Sunday.

Carson stopped the clock in a brilliant 2:14.59, which not only surpassed the championship best performance set in 2007, it smashed the Welsh age best of 2:20.52 set by Jacob Reynolds (Cardiff Athletics) in 2016. The time is also the second fastest in the UK so far this year.

In the male and female ambulant 60m for all ages T38 athlete Sienna Allen-Chaplin was first in the Under-13 category in a PB of 11.25. Fletcher Roberts (T37) (Brighton Phoenix) took the under-15 honours in a PB of 10.23, while senior T37 athlete Tomi Roberts-Jones (Newport Harriers) was first overall with a PB of 8.42.

In the ambulant men’s long jump Will Bishop (T35) (Cardiff Met University) recorded 4.26m, while Fletcher Roberts posted 2.42m.

DAY ONE  DAY TWO


BRITISH UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS – CARDIFF, FEBRUARY 1

Hundreds of students from all over the United Kingdom descended on Cardiff’s Blackweir Fields on Saturday.

Birmingham University enjoyed a particularly successful day as its students Jess Bailey and Tomer Tarrango claimed the women’s and men’s long course races, with Eleanor Stevens winning the women’s short course race. Meanwhile, Jack Small, of Loughborough University, claimed the men’s short course gold.

Among those enjoying the carnival atmosphere in Cardiff was Jared Ward, who finished sixth in the marathon for the USA at the Rio Olympics. On Saturday, Ward finished fourth for Oxford University in the men’s long course race.

RESULTS


WORLD ATHLETICS COMBINED EVENTS TOUR – TALLINN, FEBRUARY 1 AND 2

Welsh Athletics Performance Programme multi-eventer Abi Pawlett (Trafford) competed in Estonia over the weekend.

Pawlett contested two events – the 60m hurdles, where she clocked a season’s best of 8.18 and the shot put where she registered a best of 13.79m.

RESULTS


LOUGHBOROUGH INDOOR OPEN – FEBRUARY 1 AND 2

Three Welsh Athletics Transition Programme athletes were amongst a number of Welsh athletes in action at the Loughborough Open over the weekend.

T11 sprinter James Ledger (DSW Para Athletics) was in excellent form over 60m, winning his heat in 7.58. Ledger also clocked 7.55 as he finished fourth in his second race.

Grace Morgan (Cardiff Archers) was also in fine form clocking 8.69 in winning her first heat and then running 8.64 in her second race as she finished second to Freya Dockerty (Sale Harriers Manchester).

Jessica Lee (Carmarthen Harriers) was victorious in the under-23 high jump thanks to a best distance of 1.63m.

Commonwealth Games athlete Rebecca Chapman (Cardiff Athletics) finished second in the senior women’s long jump thanks to an effort of 5.85m, Jessica Lee was third with 5.71m, while National Development Programme under-17 athlete Olivia Scrimshaw (Deeside AAC) was sixth with 5.53m.

In the pole vault, Aharon Graham-Mulvaney (Cardiff Athletics) won with a best height of 3.88m.

RESULTS


NEW BALANCE INDOOR GRAND PRIX – BOSTON, FEBRUARY 2

Melissa Courtney-Bryant (Poole AC) produced one of the greatest performances of her career at the star-studded World Athletics Tour Gold meeting in the United States on Sunday evening.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games 1500m bronze medallist smashed her personal best and Welsh 3,000m record by nine seconds and posted a new world lead for the distance this year as she raced to a spectacular victory.

In what was already a blisteringly fast race, Courtney-Bryant produced a devastating kick on the final lap to overtake Elise Cranny of the United States and power to the line in 8:28.69 – a second ahead of her rival.

The time puts Courtney-Bryant second on the British all-time 3,000m indoor rankings, just behind Laura Muir’s 8:26.41.

It also gives her the 3,000m qualifying standard for next month’s World Indoor Athletics Championships in Nanjing.

The two-time European indoor championships bronze medallist led nine other athletes to new PBs for the distance, including Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Georgia Bell, who finished sixth.

RESULTS


SCOTTISH ATHLETICS EAP INTERNATIONAL – GLASGOW, FEBRUARY 2

Welsh Athletics Transition Programme athlete Hannah Brier (Swansea Athletics) ran a 400m season’s best of 53.35 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

RESULTS


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