Harries strikes gold with a UK 200m best

TOBY HARRIES notched a UK under-17 200m best at the England Indoor Athletics championships in Sheffield.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Mar 2015, 09:00 BST
Toby Harries on the podium at SheffieldToby Harries on the podium at Sheffield
Toby Harries on the podium at Sheffield

Harries, from Chichester, plays rugby for most of the week and trains specifically for athletics just a handful of times a month.

He took gold and broke Tim Benjamin’s 17-year-old UK best by 0.05 of a second, clocking 21.46 in his first-ever indoor championships. He also earned bronze in the 60m.

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Two Chichester Runners & AC athletes also fared well at the championships.

Alyssa White (under-15) was drawn in an outside lane for the 60m heats and didn’t get the best of starts, but drew upon her excellent pick-up phase to finish second in 8.24sec and go through to the next round.

In the semi-final and without blocks, she produced a good start and drive to finish fourth in a great new personal best time of 8.07sec.

The under-17s’ 60m event had to be re-seeded at the last minute, which resulted in Sophie-Anne Haigh being held in the call rooms for nearly an hour after warm-up and before racing.

She did respond well with a technically-sound performance in the high-quality field to finish fourth in 7.98sec, just 0.01 off her personal best.

Related topics:SheffieldChichester Runners