The University of Exeter sprinters and jumpers had a fantastic day out last weekend at the Devon County Champs.

Maurice, Arthur and Abdul were finalists in the 100m with their first ever sub-12 sprints. Bill pulled out of the final but ran his best race ever in the prelims (just shy of a PB but with an unfavourable wind). Tristan performed well too in his second ever 100m.

Ayo and Lucy came first and second in the senior women’s 100m. It was great to see Ayo in a rare outing over 100m, and Lucy ran her fastest ever electric time, and a time she’s only beaten once since 2020. Ellie ran well too, looking particularly sharp out of the blocks.

Grace put down a benchmark with her first ever 100m race. It was a baptism of fire being in a race with some very speedy U20 women!

Over 200m, Abdul ran a PB and Tristan performed well in less than perfect conditions! Georgia took half a second off her BUCS performance for an outdoor PB and Ayo was as reliable as ever, securing a bronze medal.

The men’s long jump was the competition of the day, with Arthur, Bill and Maurice hitting PBs for first, second and fourth respectively. Cam was close to his PB too!

Zoe was only 5cms off a PB, and Amelia equalled hers in the women’s long jump. Both walked away with medals.

In the triple jump, Bill pulled out a cracking 13.66 for a PB and the gold. Maurice also secured a PB in second and Cam came third with a good performance although it wasn’t his day with hitting the board.

It was brilliant witnessing so many athletes turning up and performing well. It’s the first time in a long time that the senior men have had prelims in the 100m (a goal of mine!) and there were more athletes who could have competed! It would have been great to see Rohan, Vlad, Ali, Ade, Charlie and Mary sprinting, as well as many other athletes who have trained regularly all year, but exams, BUCS fatigue and injuries, these athletes took the weekend off.

Old man Tom Berry PT also managed to race over 100m and 200m, pulling out good times for where I’ve been at over the last 5 years, and it only came at the cost of being unable to walk for about 3 days afterwards. All in the name of leading from the front!

Beyond the University, Holly ran her second fastest 400m time of the season (and ever!). This should stand her in good stead as we transition back into 800m running.