Norwich Union sports:hall UK Final Report

Jack Harrison, Jade Ellans and Bunmi Awokoya take top honours at the National Indoor Arena.

The Norwich Union sports:hall UK final took place at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham on Sunday 9 April providing another glimpse of the future for British athletics, thirty years after Sportshall Athletics was created by George Bunner in the North West.

There was the usual drama as the events unfolded with the team honours not being decided until the final relays and single points making the difference between the elusive gold medals and runners up position.

In the Under 15 All Rounder competition, Warwickshire’s Jack Harrison took the individual trophy, securing the title in the final round of the standing triple jump with a leap of 8.40m for third place after winning his first two events; the 2 lap race and speed bounce. Second place went to Emmanuel Okpokiri (Essex) and Ben Newman ( Birmingham) secured individual Bronze medal with three solid performances.

Jack Harrison , who trains at Stratford AC with last year’s winner Stefan Ellis, said:

“I was really nervous going into the final round of the triple jump. I knew my last jump was so important to me, if I still had a chance of winning the overall title. I took part in the All Rounder competition last year and saw my club mate Stefan win the title, which inspired me. I thought if he can do it, so can I !”

Birmingham came out on top, in the battle for the Under 15 Boys team title, sealing their victory with a fantastic win in the 4 x 2 lap relay chased home by a strong team from County Fermanagh, which brought the excited crowd to their feet. Essex finished runners up with last year’s winners Warwickshire taking the Bronze medals.

The final result in the Under 15 Girls All Rounder competition was a shared place on the top of the podium for Jade Ellans (Avon) and Bunmi Awokoya (Hertfordshire), tied on 282 points after a nerve-wracking shot competition decided the medals. The individual Bronze went to Emma Spragg ( Birmingham), who moved ahead of Kitan Eleyae (Essex) after the final event, by just one point.

The Under 15 Girls team competition came down to a single point separating the top two teams. Surrey secured enough points in the final two events on the track to steal the title by the narrowest of margins. Surrey’s victory made it their sixth win in seven years at the UK final, their winning streak only broken by Birmingham last year.

The boys from the Isle of Wight started the day as reigning champions, in the Under 13 Team Challenge with hopes of finishing amongst the medals again. It came down to the relay finals and the Isle of Wight swept the board, winning the 4 x 1 lap, Obstacle relay, 8 lap paarlauf and 4 x 2 lap to seal their victory overall. Birmingham finished second by thirty points and County Fermanagh were delighted to take third place.

In the Girls Under 13 Team Challenge, Essex took the honours, finishing the day one hundred points ahead of last year’s winners Birmingham who had to settle for second place. Cheshire took the Bronze medals and County Donegal finished a very respectable fourth, demonstrating good strength in depth from the Ulster teams.

A full report by Hannah Hore will feature in Athletics Weekly on Thursday 13 April.