Thomas Keen has earnt his first senior vest for Great Britain and will compete at the European Indoor Championships in March.
Tom secured his place by finishing in second place in the 1500m at the British Indoor Championships held in Birmingham this weekend (22nd -23rd February). Going into the race Tom already had the qualifying time for selection but to have automatic selection he had to finish in the top two. In a dramatic race which was won by Neil Gourley (Giffnock North) in a championship best time of 3:38.84 Tom had a tense wait to see if he had finished in second or third place after a dive over the line. Tom was rewarded with second place in a time of 3:39.97 with Tyler Bilyard (Great Yarmouth & District) finishing third (3:39.98). Tom will now focus his attention on the championships which take place in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands 6th – 9th March 2025. Full details of the upcoming championships can be found here
Alex Melloy also competed in the 1500m with a tenth place finish which follows on from his silver medal last weekend at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).
C&C’s other athletes taking part at the championships also had some strong performance. Deshawn Lascelles continued the good form that won him the SEAA Triple Jump gold medal with a fourth place and a new PB of 15.23m.
Serena Blackwood who has been competing well for her university in the USA ran well in the 60m heats finishing fourth in the heat (7.58) to qualify for the semi-finals where she improved her time to 7.56. Earlier in the season Serena had set a new PB of 7.48.
Leah Wagstaff ran an impressive race in the 60m hurdles with a fifth place in the heats at her first British Championships. Leah was one of the youngest competitors taking part and will surely build on her performance going into the outdoor season.
Day two saw three C&C athletes taking part in the men’s 3000m. In a fast race which saw the championship record fall, Thomas Bridger(7:51.96), Callum Elson(7:52.08) and Connall McGinness (8:21.28) all finished well in positions fifth, sixth and fifteenth respectively in a large field of seventeen. For Thomas this was a continuation of this season’s good form following on from his BUCS championships gold medal. Callum was rewarded with a PB and Connall a seasons best.
Congratulations to everyone on the outstanding performances.
Photo credit James Rhodes