With a staggering 99 Loughborough students, alumni or Loughborough-based athletes competing across Birmingham and Loughborough at the indoor and winter throws Championships respectively, Loughborough jumpers in particular had an extraordinary weekend, winning six of the eight jump events at the UK Indoor Championships, and medalling in the remaining two.
The weekend started with pre-event favourite and current student Owen Heard (coach: Kate Rooney) winning the men’s pole vault with a height of 5.26m, only a few days after vaulting a season’s best of 5.37m in Roubaix, France. Later that day, 2023 Loughborough graduate Molly Caudery (Scott Simpson) vaulted a sensational 4.85m to easily win the gold medal and retake the world lead from her training partner and fellow Loughborough-based New Zealand athlete, Eliza McCartney.
Loughborough completed a triple jump double as current scholars Archie Yeo (Lukasz Zawila) and Lily Hulland (Femi Akinsanya) took the men’s and women’s titles, with Hulland jumping out to an indoor best of 13.06m in the process. Yeo’s training partner and scholar Molly Palmer (Zawila) won her first senior indoor national medal by taking bronze in the women’s long jump, and there was further success for the group as alumnus Sam Khogali (Zawila) and current student Sam Danson (Zawila) took silver and bronze in the men’s long jump, with Danson jumping a huge PB of 7.40m. The event was won by England Athletics Loughborough hub athlete Alex Farquarson (Aston Moore).
The women’s high jump was won by alumna Morgan Lake (Robbie Grabarz), who after winning the competition with 1.85m, had some excellent attempts at 1.91m. Alumnus Will Grimsey (Beth Partridge) took the men’s high jump silver medal with a jump of 2.18m.
There were other Loughborough medals from current students Harry Taylor (men’s 200m, bronze), Abigail Pawlett (women’s 60mH, silver) and Hannah Nuttall (women’s 3000m, silver), alumni Ben Higgins and Isaac Osei-Tutu (men’s 400m, silver and bronze), Jessie Knight (women’s 400m), Zac Shaw and Zak Skinner (men’s para 60m), and Loughborough-based Olivia Breen (women’s para 60m).
Back in Loughborough, the UK Winter Throws Championships saw a bronze medal for current student Taia Tunstall and gold for Loughborough-based Greg Thompson in the women’s and men’s discus; gold and silver for Loughborough alumnus Daniel Bainbridge and current student Ben East in the men’s javelin; silver and a PB of 47.92m in the women’s javelin event for Jasmine Larsen; bronze and a 45.28m PB for Eva Durand also in the women’s javelin; and silver for alumnus Craig Murch in the men’s hammer.
Reflecting on the success over the weekend, Femi Akinsanya, Director of Athletics said, “It has been a really special weekend of athletics for Loughborough across the UK. We have eleven current students picking up national medals across a whole range of events, which shows the current depth and breadth of event coverage here at Loughborough. To add to that, another seven medals won by alumni who have chosen to stay in Loughborough to train. We’re really excited to go into BUCS nationals next weekend, as well as see where the rest of the season, leading into the outdoors, looks like for Loughborough athletes”.