"SEASON'S OPENER IS OUR BEST YET"

Trackspeed1 coach John Powell described his squad's opening competition in the United States, where they are currently training, as "the best yet", as they returned from the annual Lake Brantley meeting.

Josh Atille (green vest) on his way to a heat-winning lifetime's fastest 200m at Lake Brantley on Saturday (30th April)

One lifetime best on day one of what will be a season packed with action, combined with the fastest ever starts for most.  Leading the way was the youngest member of the group, 16-year-old Josh Atille, who cracked his fastest ever 200m with a 22.74s run to win his heat.

His performance earned praise from coach and fellow athletes alike, after the first two weeks of their pre-season training has seen him transform from a club level competitor to a highly disciplined and focussed young athlete.

In the senior races, Jason Hussain was beaten by James Ellington, who broke his own meeting record with a strong 21.21s performance, which could have been even faster had he been pushed in the latter stages of the race.  Hussain timed one of his fastest ever outdoor 200's with 21.46s.  Lawrence Wooldridge was third in the same race with 21.94s.

James Ellington (lane 6) leads the field on his way to a new meeting
record in the 200m, with Jason Hussain in hot pursuit outside him in lane 8

"These performances were even better than they may look at first," said John, "because this meeting has no timetable and it is impossible to guess when exactly to warm up.  We were stuck in 90-plus degree heat with no shelter, and as in previous years had alot of hanging around to do with dozens of younger races being set off beforehand.  The heat was really draining on everyone."

Earlier in the day, Dwayne Grant pulled himself together to produce his fastest opener for a few years, despite suffering from a heavy cold.  His 10.54s was impressive, and won the meeting overall, with David Bolarinwa winning his heat with the second fastest time of the day of 10.69s.

In other races, Omardo Anson ran creditably to produce an 11.31s 100m, and Ellie Doel completed her 200m in 27.25s.  Winds on the day were measured at virtually zero for every race.  Details can be found on the squad rankings page of this website.

Trackspeed1 now have a brief return to training before their second competition of the trip, at the University of Central Florida, on Thursday.  And for Josh Atille, that will mean an incredible experience of training out of blocks with leading US sprints guru, Brooks Johnson, and his world class squad of athletes.

"Brooks is a great friend of this squad," said John Powell, " and we always have a couple of athletes do a session or two with his group.  It's a great learning experience for athletes as well as coach.  Not many British sprinters can say that they have trained alongside the likes of Xavier Carter, Justin Gatlin, and David Oliver!"