ByBrian Sacks, Brian Sacks
1 min read
ByBrian Sacks, Brian Sacks
Eden Davis was one of four Jewish athletes to reach the finals of the English Schools Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Representing Hertfordshire, Davis, 15, achieved the highest placing after battling a headwind to finish seventh in the Intermediate 100m in 11.11. His earlier two rounds had been faster, in more favourable wind conditions.
Davis said: "It feels good to get to the final in my first year of competition. I still have another year in the age group and hopefully I can develop and do even better next year."
Ellie Edwards, 17, represented Greater Manchester in the Senior Girls' 200m, having contested the same event in both the Junior and Intermediate Championships in previous years.
Edwards set a near-PB of 25.72 in the semi-final to win a place in the final, in which she finished eighth.
"I am so proud of my performance," she said. "It made all the hard training worthwhile. It's pretty good for a small Jewish girl from Manchester to be mixing it with some of the real powerhouses."
George Grant, who is 16 and competes for Hertfordshire, placed 10th in the Intermediate pole vault.
Grant said: "My main aim this season was to reach the English Schools finals, and I secured my place last month by setting a PB of 3.95m.
"I was determined to thoroughly enjoy the experience of the Championships, and I celebrated every clearance. I knew it was my big chance for a PB and I gave it everything I had."
Grant achieved a new best of 4.00m, placing him 12th in the UK Under 17 rankings.
Middlesex athlete Sophie Dowson cleared 3.10m to place 12th in the Girls' Intermediate pole vault. She said: "It was very exciting competing in a big arena for the first time, but it made me nervous. I was slightly disappointed with my performance because I had set a PB of 3.31m the previous week. But I am still in the Intermediates next year, so hopefully I will be back and jumping higher."