Silver medal at English Schools and national vest for Kevin
A silver medal at the prestigious English Schools Track and Field Championship, and a chance to compete internationally, was the reward for Derby Athletic Club member Kevin Masukume.
Kevin, in the red vest and blue shorts of Derbyshire, took his medal in the Inter Boys (U17) long jump competition.
The annual two-day ESAA (English Schools Athletic Association) meet was staged at the impressive Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, venue for last year’s Commonwealth Games athletics events.
Kevin has previously competed for Derby AC in multi events, and has decided to focus on 100m and long jump. It was in the latter event that he qualified for English Schools.
On a drizzly day at the Alexander Stadium, Kevin pulled a near-20cm PB out of the bag, jumping 6.95m against his previous mark of 6.78m. He was second only to Buckinghamshire’s D’Mitri Varlack, who jumped 7.07m.
Kevin’s achievement means he now wins his first national vest, as he goes forward to represent England at the Schools International Athletics Board Track and Field Championships on Saturday 15 July in Grangemouth, Scotland.
He was just one of several DAC athletes competing at English Schools, for which the qualifying standard is extremely high.
On the track, Imogen Hamilton competed in the Junior Girls 75m hurdles, finishing in 12.39, while Kaylah McKenzie posted 12.64 in the Junior Girls 100m. In the Inter Girls 800, Ruby Davies ran 2:18.87 and Iris Clarke 2:19.52. Katie Gardner, running for the Nottinghamshire team (and thus not in the picture above), posted 5:18.91 in the Inter Girls steeplechase. For the boys, Oliver Hume ran 38.27 in the Junior Boys 300m, Ewan Busfield ran 4:03.80 in a tough Inter Boys 1500 contest and Oscar Blake posted 4:29.65 in the Junior Boys 1500. There were PBs for Logan Fairey, 2:08.36 in the Junior Boys 800m, Will Annable, 1:55.55 in the Senior Boys 800m, and Patrick Welsh with 6:35.23 in the Senior Boys steeplechase.
On the field, Maizie Kennedy threw 25.90 to come seventh in the Junior Girls discus, while multi-eventer Patricija Nemanyte posted 11.17 to come 10th in the Senior Girls shot. For the boys, Alfie Ditchfield (not pictured in the group photo above) threw 12.09 to come in 10th place in the Junior Boys shot.
