Reading Athletic Club

English Schools Championships 10th/11th July 2009

Lukesha Morris - U15 Girls 100m - Representing Berkshire

Lukesha has had an excellent start for 2009 in her first year as an Under 15 athlete, having produced some record breaking performances as an U13, she has carried that into the 2009 track season. Lukesha's opening race of 2009 saw her dip under the Schools Qualifying mark and she has continued to do so so far this season, as well as regularly running under the 200m standard. Lukesha will compete in the 100m at Sheffield and it is this event in which Lukesha has excelled this season so far. In May, having won through the heats of the 100m, she became the U15 South of England 100m Champion at Ashford is a new personal best time of 12.48, a time that currently ranks her 11th in the UK. Lukesha is delighted to have been selected in her first year as an Under 15 and hopes that if all goes well she can make the final.

Jessica Palmer - U15 Girls 200m  - Representing Berkshire

Jessica is one of many Reading Ac stars to make her debut at these Championships, having been selected for the 200m event. In 2008 she showed promise in that very event and only narrowly missed the schools qualifying time. In 2009 she moved a step up however and has produced some excellent performances for the club so far. Her real breakthrough came at the South of England Championships however, where she smashed her personal best in the heats to 26.32 and then in the semi's clocked 26.04. Since then she has continually ran under 27 seconds and if her good form continues, then Jess is quite capable of further extending her personal best. Jess hopes to run well in the heats and hopes to possibly progress further and would also like to be able to exted her personal best further.

Georgina Westwood - U15 Girls High Jump  - Representing Berkshire

Georgina's first year as an Under 15 has seen her reach dizzy new heights quite literally. Having excelled at Under 13 level - finishing 2nd in the UK for high jump with a club record 1.54m, Georgina has since moved on to a different level. Having gained some consistancy during the early part of the season, it was the end of May her form began to sparkle. In a YAL match at Harrow she cleared a new best of 1.55m. One week later, at the Berkshire Schools Champs in Reading, she went even better with a 1.58m clearance - 3 cms over the entry standard, a further week later she enhanced her best further with a 1.60m clearance at Hendon, however more remarkably a further week later she bettered that best even further with a 1.63m clearance when representing Berkshire at the South East Schools combined events. This currently places Georgina 12th in the UK and she can go to Sheffield full of confidence knowing she is such good form.

Danielle Opara - U15 Girls Shot Putt - Representing Berkshire

Danielle is the 4th Under 15 athlete to make her first appearance at these Championships and goes into them in good form. Danielle is one of the club's highly talented throwers. Having only took up athletics seriously last season, Danielle has established herself as one of the UK's top competitors in the shot putt event. Back in May Danielle won the silver medal at the South of England Championships in the U15 shot putt event. Danielle has been impressing lately in training and her recent form is good, in her final fixture before Sheffield she threw a personal best of 11.09m when winning the U15 girls shot in a Southern League match, this currently places her 6th in the UK ranking's. If Danielle can produce this same form at Sheffield then she is a definate medal prospect.

Michael Baatz U15 Boys 200m - Representing Berkshire

Michael is undoubtedly one of the club's up and coming stars for 2009 and has had a fantastic season. In the 2008/2009 winter season he secured the indoor 200m and 400m Southern titles for his age group as well as adding a National Indoor silver to his collection for the 200m. Outdoors, Michael has gone from strength to strength and at the recent Southern U15 200m Championships, Micheal secured a silver to his vast collection. He is the current Berkshire 100m champion and Berkshire Schools 200m champion and is currently placed 5th in the UK ranking's for the 200m as well as 6th for the 100m. However it will be his favoured 200m in which he will compete in at Sheffield. Michael is targetting a spot in the 200m final if all goes well. The final itself could be wide open but Michael is hopefull should he make the final, he will be there or there abouts in the medal positions.

Mitchell Felix - U15 Boys Hammer Throw - Representing Berkshire

Mitchell is the club's leading hammer thrower at Under 15 level and he follows in his older brother Jake's footsteps in qualifying for the English Schools Championships. Mitchell has had a fantastic season so far. Since the end of the 2008 season, Mitchell has added almost a full 10 metres onto his personal best, which has seen him established as one of the UK's top hammer throwers at U15 level. In May he won the Berkshire County title, a month later winning the Berkshire Schools title, with the English Schools Qualifying distance to go with it. Mitchell was delighted to have been selected and it was nothing more than he deserved thanks to the work he has put in at training. Mitchell is hopefull of a top 6 finish at Sheffield.

Julia Henderson - U17 Women 800m - Representing Berkshire

Julia makes her 3rd appearance for Berkshire at these Championships, each time having contested the 800m. Her best result at the Schools so far saw her reach the semi final in 2008 in her first year as an U17. However in 2009, Julia has moved up a level in standard, despite struggling with some early season form, in the Berkshire Schools Championships in June, she showed her quality with a blistering 800m race to win the Berkshire Schools title with a new Championship best and personal best time of 2.12.6, which currently places her in 12th in the UK ranking's at Under 17 level. Since then Julia's confidence has risen and her training has been superb. Her flat speed is also showing signs of improving as in her final race before Sheffield she clocked a decent 58.4 for the 400m. Julia hopes to repeat the form that saw her win the Berkshire title and hopes to make the final, where if she does, she is fairly confident anything can happen.

Charlotte Webb - U17 Women Discus Throw - Representing Berkshire

Charlotte is yet another debutant at this year's championships. Charlotte is a perfect example of what can be achieved by hard work and dedication in training. Little under 2 years ago as a second year U15, she ended the season with a best of 25.70m. Then moving into the U17 age group, she worked hard for 2 solid seasons and in 2008 had broken the 30m barrier. In 2009 she has excelled further which culminated in her finally achieving the schools entry standard at the Berkshire Schools Championships in June with a lifetimes best of 33.43m, which lifted her up into 15th in the UK rankings. Charlotte has since continued to work hard since being selected and has been working closely with Senior thrower, Julie Wilson. Charlotte is hopefull she can achieve a top 8 finish and will be aiming to try and extend her personal best further.

Ryan Bonifas U17 Men's High Jump - Representing Berkshire

Ryan makes his second appearance for Berkshire at the English Schools having made his debut in 2008 in the U15 boy's high jump, where he finished 13th with a 1.69m clearance. Ryan has since improved dramatically and has enjoyed a fantastic start to the 2009 season. His best this season is an impressive 1.90m which he achieved early in May at Woodford, this height see's him joint 9th in the UK with 11 other athletes! Signalling that this event could prove a very exciting one. Ryan is feeling confident going into Sheffield as training is going well and the fact that so many athletes are tied on the same height this season gives Ryan hope that if he can produce the goods on the day, there is no reason he can't finish in the top 5 or 6.

Coral Stewart - U19 Women's Hammer Throw - Representing Berkshire

Coral will be contesting her 3rd straight English Schools Championships.. Having contested the hammer event at the previous two in the U17 age group, Coral is back again in the hammer event this year as an U19. She has made significant improvement in the event and in the course of this season has added 4 metres to her personal best. Her highlight of the season was at the Berkshire Schools Championships in which she threw a lifetimes best of 39.43m to break the U20 ladies club record by 1.5 metres. Coral is now consistantly throwing over the entry standard of 37m and hopes to try and break the 40m mark at Sheffield, where if she does a top 6 place may not be out of the question.

Gary Steventon - U19 Men 400m - Representing Berkshire

Gary will be competing in his second English Schools Championships, having made his debut back in 2007 at Birmingham in the 400m for the U17 male age group. Having narrowly missed out in 2008, Gary has bounced back and in May, lifted a huge weight of his shoulders by finally breaking the 50 second barrier for the one lap race. Since then he has not looked back and has now ran under 50 seconds of 4 seperate occasions. His best stands at 48.9 which he ran when winning the Berkshire Schools title in June. In the recent Southern Championships he took a creditable 5th position in the final. Gary is feeling confident going into Sheffield and is confident he can reach the semi finals, where if he does so, if he produces near his lifetimes best, he can hopefully challenge for a final spot.