STRATFORD-upon-Avon Athletic Club saw four athletes selected to compete at the prestigious English Schools’ Track and Field Championships at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.
Annie Silvers, Poppy Fox-Rowe and Alex Adams (all Warwickshire) and Joel Masters (Gloucestershire) were representing Stratford AC.
And Silvers was first on the track in the under-15 (junior) girls 1500m in her maiden national level race.
The Stratford teenager ran to a 10th place finish in her heat as she set a new personal best (PB) time of 4 minutes 52.59 seconds.
Fox-Rowe was also making her debut on the national stage in the under-20 (senior) girls 200m as she came fifth in her heat in a PB time of 25.68 secs and was agonisingly just two tenths away from qualifying for the final.
The first four athletes in Fox-Rowe’s heat all qualified for the final.
Fox-Rowe also ran the first leg in the second heat of the mixed (senior) 4x100m relay as Warwickshire finished just point four of a second outside of the medals.
Adams was wearing the Warwickshire vest for the first time, having worn Gloucestershire’s colours in previous years.
The Stratford athlete was competing in the under-20 (senior) boys 1500m race and delivered a PB run to finish eighth in his heat in a time of 4 mins 0.92 secs.
And Masters, competing for Gloucestershire, was running in the under-17 (inter-boys) 200m and headed into the Championships as the sixth-ranked English athlete in the UK.
Masters broke the 22-second barrier for the first time in his heat to qualify for the final in a time of 21.97 secs.
And Masters kept his cool in the final to secure a bronze medal with another PB time of 21.87 secs following a sensational sprint.
As well as the four athletes on the track, Stratford also had 20 young athletes act as kit carriers, organised by Carolyne Johnston, who were superbly marshalled by coaches Nicola Ford, Rachel Stevens, Eleanor Nabney and Richard Harrison.
