Stratford Tri Juniors sweep aside the competition

STRATFORD Tri Juniors blew the competition away again at the Paul Weston Aquathlon held at Birmingham University last Sunday.

Eleven Stratford athletes competed in the race all producing excellent performances.

Seven of the group earned top-three podium places, including first-place finishes from Abbie Wooton and Molly Bullock.

The rain managed to hold off long enough for a dry race that helped the Stratford team to record some blistering times.

First to race were the Tri Star Start athletes, where Stratford were represented by Juliette Marshall.

Marshall kicked the day off with a third place finish and another trophy to add to her recent victory in the Warwickshire Children’s Triathlon.

The next group to race were the Tri Star 1 category, where Stratford were represented by five junior athletes all taking on the 150m swim/1,200 metre run.

A thrilling race for the Stratford girls resulted in three of the team finishing within nine seconds of each other.

Isobel McArthur put in a strong finish to complete the race in tenth place in a time of 9.52, just ahead of her was Kate Pridham, who put in a fine display to finish four seconds ahead of McArthur in a time of 9.48 (9th place).

But the bragging rights to the mini battle belong to Georgia Pridham, who finished just ahead in a time of 9.43 (8th place).

The overall win in Tri Star 1 girls belonged to Bullock, who recorded a time of 7.50 to record her third consecutive win in the West Midlands Series.

Stratford were also represented by Theo Skirvin in the boys Tri Star 1 race, who put in a great performance finishing third in 8.23.

Charlotte Marshall was the only girl to represent Stratford in the Tri Star 2 category, finishing eighth, while Joel Watson was third in the boys’ race.

The Tri Star 3 category included the final three Stratford athletes, all of whom finished on the podium.

In the girls’ race, Hope Lawton put in a strong performance to finish in third place in a time of 15.04.

Wooton showed that she is coming back to her best winning the race in 14.24.

In the boys’ race, Ben Jones claimed third despite feeling unwell.