Winchester Throws festival

The first ever Winchester Throws Festival took place on Saturday 15th August at Winchester Sports Stadium. In a year where many events have been cancelled or curtailed due to Covid it was fantastic to see athletes back out on the field again and performing to such a high standard.
nOver 40 athletes attended the event with huge success - 6 Winchester club records were broken on the day and many other all-time performances were achieved alongside many personal bests.
n The club is building a strong hammer throws group inspired by 2019 English Schools finalist Sam Clifton. Sam threw a new club record of 47.75m to place first in the U20 men's event. Tamsin Hoult broke both the U20 Womens and Senior women's Club records with the 4kg hammer recording 26.62m. Erin McBriar had a great day throwing the 3kg hammer to 36.89m breaking the Club U15 record by over 12m and the U17 club record also. Erin's throw was the 4th longest in the UK so far this year. There were also strong performances from Charlie Elford Pond who narrowly missed out on breaking Sam's U15 boys record with a throw of 39.44m (going second on the all-time list). The Gordon sisters also show great potential in this event with Jasmine going third on the U17 All-time list with a throw of 29.23m and Amelia going 4th with 26.97m
n The Discus also proved to be a very strong event for Winchester - in the U15 girls Rosa May Sprake won the event in her first time out as a WADAC athlete, her throw of 28.34m broke the club record and is the longest throw in the UK in 2020 so far. Erin McBriar came second with a throw of 26.30m, also beating the old club record and the 3rd longest in the UK so far in 2020. Oliver Thatcher performed well in the U20 mens event with a throw of 39.28m, going 3rd on the Winchester all-time list. There were also strong performances from Beth Mballa (16.05m), Sam Mballa (27.35m), Freddie Kaine (28.64m) and Charlie Elford Pond (29.72m). Jess Marinus also smashed her PB with a throw of 23.78m. Steve Torrance also performed well in the V60 category with a throw of 21.85m.
n In the Javelin event a number of athletes were competing in an official event for the first time - Harry Jones threw a great PB of 21.61m and Beth Mballa also with 16.94m. Jessica Howells had a fantastic throw of 27.81m in the U13 girls and Emily Serridge threw a new personal best in the senior women's event of 34.63m and goes second on the all-time list. 2019 English school's finalist Liv Busher threw well again - a throw of 39.09 only just short of her lifetime best and fourth best in the UK so far in 2020. Sam Nicholson (22.16m) and George Musselwhite (22.16m) threw well in the U13 boys. Ed Filbrook threw 34.66m in the U17 mens event whilst visiting athletes Aiden Hunt (46.07m) and Callum Taylor (59.96m) also performed strongly. Callums' throw is the second longest in the UK so far in 2020. Alex Miles (42.33m) and Oliver Thatcher (34.00m) also threw well in the Mens u20 event.
n In the shot put a number of athletes were competing for the first time. in the Boys U13 event, Ethan Imhofe (8.38m) threw a massive PB and there were also good performances from Ruben Price (6.55m), Isaac Claisse (5.57m), Ethan Skipwith (7.05m) and Zac Reynolds (5.43m). In the U15 boys Charlie Elford Pond won the event with a new pb of 10.88m, Freddie Kaine came third with a throw of 9.39m and Sam Mballa fourth (8.30m). Ed Filbrook won the U17 mens event with a new PB of 10.10m whilst Oliver Thatcher threw a new lifetime best of 11.78m to go third on the WADAC all-time list for U20 men. In the women and girls event Rebekah Smith (6.63m) won the U13 event ahead of Beth Mballa (5.41m). The U15 girls was very well contested with Rosa May Sprake winning with a new PB of 9.58m, Abi Belward threw 9.47m for second and there were also good performances from Arabella Wilson (8.73m), Erin McBriar (8.70m), Jess Marinus (7.92m), Millie Cutts (7.75m) and Elin Roberts (6.77m). In the U17 women's event Amelia Gordon threw a new PB of 9.96m to win.
n PICTURE - athletes from left to right Charlie Elford Pond, Erin McBriar, Tamsin Hoult, Beth Mballa, Alex Miles, Sam Mballa.
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