NEWPORT Harriers sprinter Katie-Jane Priest won two bronze medals at the Welsh Athletics Championships in Cardiff over the weekend.
The 18-year-old finished fourth in the women’s senior 100m final on Saturday afternoon in 12.25sec but claimed the bronze because Irish guest runner Catherine McManus, who finished second, was not eligible for a medal.
And Priest completed a successful weekend as she finished third in the 200m on Sunday afternoon in a time of 25.03sec.
Hannah Brier of Swansea Harriers continued her remarkable progress by winning gold in both races, while Newport’s Mica Moore did not compete.
Priest’s Newport Harriers teammate Emma Hennessey also won bronze in the women’s senior 400m in a time of 60.54sec.
Hennesey also finished fourth in that race but the winner, Loren Bracken of Birchfield Harriers, was a guest and therefore not eligible for a medal.
And there was a host of medals for Gwent athletes in the under-17s championships.
Isobel Parry-Jones of Cwmbran Harriers was the star of the show as she won gold in the 800m final in a new championship best time of 2min12.41sec.
That beat the record set in 1992 by Kathryn Bright (Newport Harriers) of 2min13.6sec.
There was a Gwent one-two in the under-17 men’s 800m as Lewis Daniels of Cwmbran Harriers just held off Tom Jenkins of Newport Harriers to take the title in 2m00.66sec.
Jenkins ran 2m01.34sec as both athletes set new personal best times.
There was also a lifetime for Newport’s Owen Locke in fifth place in 2m04.59sec.
Zack Gordon-Evans (Newport Harriers) won silver in the 200m, setting two personal bests along the way and clocking 22.58sec in the final behind Ben Paris of Cardiff Archers in 22.13sec.
That completed a good weekend for Gordon-Evans as he also managed two PBs in the 100m with 11.48sec in his heat and 11.46sec in finishing fifth in the final.
Newport’s Sam Rutherford was sixth 11.53sec, while clubmate Dan Snelling lowered his PB to 11.35sec in finishing fourth.
In the under-17 women’s 300m final welsh record holder Eve Williams (Cwmbran Harriers) just held off clubmate Gabrielle Fakande to retain her title in a time of 39.46sec. Fakande was second in 40.64sec.
Newport’s Macey Jones won bronze in the under-17 women’s long jump with a leap of 5.37m, while Millicent Fakande of Cwmbran Harriers was fifth.
There were bronze medals too for Cwmbran’s Rebecca Chick in the shot put and Newport’s Cellen Jones Newport Harriers, who set a new personal best of 6.23m in the under-17s men’s long jump.
And there was also bronze for Cwmbran’s Bethan Powell in the 100m in a lifetime best of 12.48sec, while Sarah Gibbs of Newport Harriers was sixth in 12.92sec.
And in the under-13s Newport’s Amy Jenkins won bronze in the javelin and was fourth in the discus.
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