On a gloriously sunny day this week, 47 Bridgewater Prep athletes ran, jumped and threw superbly at the ISA Athletics Championships at Sport City, Manchester.
After months of practice it was a pleasure to watch all our athletes competing with 27 other schools in a range of events throughout the day. Four out of six relay teams qualified for the Finals with the U12s and the U10s finishing just out of the medals in fourth place.
Ellen took the individual overall honours by winning the gold medal in the Long Jump. Ellen jumped 3m 38, almost half a metre ahead of her nearest rival. Ellen earned the right to represent Bridgewater at the North of England in the ISA National Finals in Birmingham on Tuesday 19th June. Ellen incredibly went close to a unique double celebration as she led in the 600 metres only to run out of steam and finish in third spot.
Daniel had an amazing day, running the anchor leg in the relay final for the U12s and finishing in 5th place in the fiercely contested 80m sprint. Within minutes Daniel went even better by running a brilliant 150m race to take the silver medal.
Alfie in the U9s also ran a fabulous race in the 60m sprint to take the silver medal and he was also instrumental in guiding the U9s relay team to the final. Team mate Luca C missed out by 300ths of a second from joining Alfie in the final, despite winning his heat comfortably. Jess had a wonderful run in the heats to reach the final of the 150m, where she finished a highly impressive 5th place.
Bridgewater continued their run of success in the field events too. Matteo took silver in the U10s cricket ball throw and was matched by team mate Allegra in the rounders ball throw. Star jumped 1m 15 to take bronze in the U12s High Jump, but was out jumped by Jake who leapt to 1m 25 to add silver to the medal haul for the day.
Dante took bronze in the U12s cricket throw with a distance of over 35m, whilst Harvey in the Shot Putt and Thomas in the 600m both finished just out of the medals in fourth place.
The individual successes will deservedly take all the headlines. However, it must be said that all Bridgewater athletes performed with tremendous enthusiasm and were totally committed on the day. It was a day to remember for all and a big thank you to the travelling support as always.