Kerrie Harris (Hull Achilles AC) continued her excellent season by winning the gold medal in the Under 17 800m at the England Athletics U15 & U17 Championships at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium on 11-12 August.
Kerrie clocked 2:09.78 to win by more than a second and a half from Morpeth’s Laura Weightman, the English Schools Intermediate 1500m champion, and Rebecca Craigie (Vale Royal), who clocked 2:11.40 and 2:11.57 respectively. Rowena Cole (Coventry Godiva), who beat Kerrie into second place at the English Schools and led the field through the first lap in a swift 61 seconds, finished fourth in 2:12.01.
Kerrie said: “I am really happy with my performance, I didn’t expect to run as fast as my PB (2:08.98) as it was very windy. I tucked in on the inside next to Rowena Cole for the first lap who really pushed on the pace. I took the lead at 400 metres to go as the other competitors tired and dropped back and went on to win comfortably.”
Kerrie had qualified easily for the final, winning her heat on Saturday by over three seconds in 2:09.60. She has also recently run a new personal best for 1500m of 4:33.8.
Meanwhile, a number of other ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes were in action at the BMC Nike Grand Prix at Trafford on Saturday 11 August.
European Junior 800m silver medallist Emma Jackson (City of Stoke) improved the 1500m best she set earlier this season to 4:15.58 to finish seventh in the A race which was won by Abby Westley in 4:08.83. Emma’s time ranks her sixth in the European Under 20 2007 rankings for the distance. Emma Pallant (Aldershot Farnham & District), who lies just ahead of her on those rankings, finished tenth in 4:16.24. Jordan Kinney (Royal Sutton Coldfield) finished third in the C race in 4:34.13.
In the 800m A race, won by Jenny Meadows in 2:00.61, Rachael Thompson (Liverpool Harriers) ran a season’s best of 2:05.12 to finish fourth. In the B race, Carolyn Plateau (Radley AC) finished second in 2:09.57 and Suzi Boast (Bedford & County) fifth in 2:14.17. Becky Townsend (Leeds City) continued her comeback from injury, winning the C race in 2:17.42.
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