Frederica Foster, 16, tore round the Julie Rose Stadium, Ashford (Kent) on Sunday (24th May) to strike gold in the Southern Championships, and roar to the top of the season’s under-17 women’s 300 metre rankings.
It was an outstanding run that was to be the highlight of a great weekend for Trackspeed1, where the student from Alleyn’s School, Dulwich, the same school as her coach John Powell attended just over 30 years ago, shattered her previous lifetime best for the event.
Foster timed 39.41 seconds – the first time she had cracked the 40-second barrier – and claimed gold in a strong South of England final, which saw the fastest three times in the country this year recorded in the same race. And her strong finish in an exciting final was the most important feature as far as her coach was concerned.
“The main aim is 400m,” said John Powell. “Crazy rules in Kent prevented her from running the longer distance in the county championships as a junior, and almost certainly cost her a first international outing at Loughborough. We now have to get Fred competing over 400m because there is no 300m event at any major championship. After this year, that event will be history for Fred.”
At the same meeting, 16-year-old Tom Bensted (pictured below in the all-black of Blackheath and Bromley Harriers) faced his first serious challenge of the season after a miserable winter of injury and interruptions to training, but the result could hardly have been predicted.
Hot favourite from Woodford, Paul Scanlon (far side of picture), failed to impact on the medals as Windsor’s Adam Hedcraft (right) came from nowhere to win in 48.84s, but Bensted was hot on his heels clocking one of his fastest times ever of 49.28s for silver.
“It was a great run by Tom,” said Powell, “because he actually went out at a reasonable pace. He didn’t fade either – in fact he looked quite a strong finisher. After a dreadful winter this was really encouraging.”
Bukola Woodburne-Dyer (below right) was the third Trackspeed1 athlete contesting the championships. It was her first championship of any kind, and only her second proper club-level meet. Her personal bests in both heat and semi-final, albeit slightly wind-assisted, were therefore a credit to the 13-year-old from Peckham.
Elsewhere, Savannah Echel-Thomson rediscovered the form that promised so much indoors before she suffered a severe bout of shin soreness. ‘Savvy’ clocked a personal best-equalling 56.77s 400m in a Junior League meeting in Barnet, and went on to clock a lifetime best 200m of 25.17s.
In the annual inter-counties meeting at Bedford Trackspeed1 did not have its traditional representation mainly due to most athletes beginning their season a week later at the Bedford International Games, but Set Osho was due to line up in the 200m, with recent training form suggesting a personal best of some significance in the offering. Watch this blog for an update!
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