Local athletes showcase skills in Northamptonshire County Championships 2023

The Northamptonshire County Championships took place on May 13 and 14 with athletes from Northampton and Leicester gathering to showcase their skills in Corby.

Rugby & Northampton AC struck the most gold in Corby, but many other talents from clubs such as the hosts Corby AC, Northampton AC, Kettering Harriers and more were able to get themselves on the podium.

The chilly weather was not the only hurdle on Saturday morning, as on the track the weekend kicked off with athletes competing in the hurdles.

Rugby & Northampton Athletic Club picked up an early hat trick of gold medals, but it was Corby’s Sammy Lok who caught the eye, as he won his 100m hurdle final by over five seconds.

Rugby & Northampton AC were flexing their muscles off the track as much as on it, as they picked up the first field golds of the day in the long jump and added a further seven golds to their tally in various age groups across the discus throw, high jump, shot put and pole vault.

The early track action saw Rugby & Northampton continue to shine, as they picked up a further six golds in the 200m events, and a further four in the 800m.

However, the early proceedings in the 800m proved the future is bright for Kettering Harriers, as they won gold in both the under 13 boys and girls categories.

Haydn Arnall of Rugby & Northampton crossed the line first and set the fastest 5000m time of 14:55:02 on Saturday, and Mark Hill followed him home to win another gold in the men 35 for Rugby & Northampton AC.

But Northampton Athletic Club were the most dominant side in the long distance event, winning gold in the under 17 boys and girls, as well as the under 20 women.

The athletes re-emerged for Sunday, and thankfully were joined by the sun and some good weather for the final day of the event.

It was once again the hurdles that kicked off the day, with the athletes this time starting next to the HSBC sponsor tent and making their way round the track, instead of down the straight.

On their way round the bend the track athletes passed more field events, as the hammer throw, high jump and javelin took place, seeing Northampton AC, Corby AC, Rugby & Northampton AC and Daventry AC all pick up medals.

Down in the sand the field events continued, both long jump and triple jump taking place on Sunday.

Athlete Cleo May Martin-Evans of Daventry managed to jump 5.94m in long jump, which was just once centimetre off the county record, but a nonetheless fantastic effort on the day.

Back on the track, athletes lined up for the 100m, 400m, and rounded off the day with another long distance run, this time 1500m, opposed to the 5000m end to Saturday.

The dash down the straight saw Rugby & Northampton pick up gold medals in nearly every age category, winning the under 13, 15 and 17 girls, as well as the under 20 men and men 35.

The home club Corby got a hat trick of golds in under 15 and 17 boys, as well as in the men's senior category.

Northampton AC and Kettering Harriers rounded off the golds for 100m.

A weekend of action came to a conclusion as the athletes went around the track three and a half times to complete the 1500m.

Kettering Town Harriers again shone in the under 13s, winning both boys and girls races, before adding the under 15 victory to their collection.

Rugby & Northampton AC picked up the under 15 girls and under 17 boys.

After putting on a fantastic display for the athletes and spectators alike all weekend, Corby rounded off by winning the girls under 17 and women's under 20 1500m race, before the weekend rounded off with the men's masters 1500m.