Stratford juniors start defence of triathlon series crown
THE triathlon season is well under way and Stratford TC's junior athletes have competed in the first two races of the campaign as defending champions in the West Midlands Junior Triathlon Series.
The first race of the season was The Burntwood Aquathlon in Cannock and comprised of a pool-based swim followed by a run.
In the Tri Star 1 Category (150m swim/1,500m run) Josh Harrison kicked off the season in style finishing in 4th place in a time of 12 minutes and 40 seconds. In the Tri Star 1 girls race the club were represented by Martha Bullock, who romped home in a time of 11:28 to finish in first place, posting both the fastest swim split and the fastest run split in her age category.
Juliette Marshall was the only Stratford athlete in the Tri Star 2 Category (250 m swim/2,000m run) finishing in 16th place in 20:56.
Stratford had three athletes in the Tri Star 3 Category (400m swim/3,000m run).
Theo Skirvin finished in fourth place in the boys race in 21:08 whilst in the girls race, Molly Bullock just edged out team-mate Charly Marshall in a close fought race. Bullock finished fourth in a time of 21:33 and Marshall finished in sixth in a time of 21:41. In the final race of the day Joel Watson finished third in the youth category (400m swim/5,000m run) in an impressive time of 31:58.
The second race of the season, The Black Country Junior Aquathlon, took place in Wombourne.
In the Tri Star Start category (50m swim/600m run), Stratford TC was represented by Ben Harrison taking part in his first ever race for the club and finished in the medals in third place in a time of 5:29.
The Tri Star 1 category saw the club represented by Jacob Neal, who finished third in the boys’ race in a time of 10:57. Josh Harrison finished eighth, clocking 11:50.
The girls were represented by Martha Bullock, who finished first to make it two wins from the first two races of the season in a time of 10:19.
Jake Deaner competed in the Tri Star 2 boys’ race, finishing in second in 12:14 and the girls were represented by Juliette Marshall, who finished 15th place in a time of 17:53.
The Tri Star 3 category saw a very close race between team-mates Molly Bullock and Charly Marshall for the second week running in the girls race, with the latter edging it this week after finishing in fourth place in a time of 18:30. Bullock was close behind in seventh in a time of 18:47. The boys were represented by Theo Skirvin, who finished fourth in 18:09.
Stratford TC were represented by a strong trio in the Youth Category (400m swim/5,000m run) with James Mucklow winning the boys race in a time of 21:11 and Ellie Deaner finishing third in a time of 24:46. They were followed by Gigi Thomas in fourth place who clocked 25:15 in the girls’ race.
