Millward-Brookes excels at Gloucestershire Schools Championships

A NUMBER of Stratford AC junior athletes competed at the Gloucestershire Schools Championships in Cheltenham on Saturday.

Mathew Millward-Brookes was in fine form in both the intermediate boys’ 100m and long jump.

He was just edged out into second place in the 100m by 0.1, running a creditable time of 11.6, but then finished first in the long jump with a big PB of 6.33m. Such was his consistency that three of his jumps were within two centimetres of each other.

Acelin Smith won the junior boys’ javelin with a superb throw of 37.76m, while Ollie Calladine finished second in the junior boys’ 80m hurdles in 13.5. Emily Field finished second in the intermediate girls’ 3,000m in 11.21.6.

A top-two finish gives Millward-Brookes, Field, Smith and Calladine a chance to be selected to represent Gloucestershire Schools in the South West Regional final in Exeter.

Elsewhere, Beth Cate eased her way through the intermediate girls’ 100m heats. In the final, a late false start signal pulled the girls back after 50 metres, just as Cate was edging ahead. After a recovery period, the final got underway without a hitch, and Cate finished fourth in a season’s best of 13.5.

Charlotte Gravelsons picked up third place in the intermediate girls’ 300m in 46.0, somewhat off her best as she was nursing a minor injury.