Herne Hill Harriers under 20 sprinter Kristal Awuah is rapidly heading for star status in UK women’s athletics as she is now starting to make waves among the seniors at the age of 18.
Rapid is the operative word as on Sunday in the CAS International Meeting in Schifflange, Luxembourg Awuah achieved an outstanding result in winning her final in a very fast time of 11.20 with a legal following wind of +0.7 m/s after a heat win in 11.37 which had been only just outside her previous PB.
In the process Awuah defeated European Indoor 60m champion and Commonwealth Games 100m fourth place athlete Asha Philip. Awuah’s time puts her fourth on the British under-20 all-time list behind only Dina Asher-Smith, Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Jodie Williams and into the top twenty overall on the GB rankings for females of any age. Awuah is currently ranked equal fourth on this year’s UK senior women’s 100m list and heads the under 20s by 0.39 of a second.
Her previous best of 11.35 was run in the heats at the IAAF World Junior Championship in Tampere, Finland where she claimed 100m and 4x100m bronze medals. Awuah also set a new Herne Hill club senior and junior women’s 100m record in lowering her best by a significant margin over such a short racing distance.
At the England Championships at a very wet and windy Manchester, Harriers were represented by Nicholas Atwell and Peter Phillips in the men’s 400m and Allandre Johnson in the men’s javelin. Atwell ran 49.19 to place fifth in his semi-final after 48.74 for second in his heat, ahead of Phillips whose time was 49.34 in placing sixth. Johnson finished fifth in a javelin final that was hampered by the wind, his best throw being measured at 57.79m for a good performance.
Earlier in the week Charlotte Alexander raced at the Watford Harriers open meeting on Wednesday and shaved two hundredths of a second from the club under 17 women’s 1500m record she had set seven days earlier at Eltham, her latest mark of 4.29.42 being her third PB at this distance so far this season.
In parkrun action, England road racing international Stacey Ward ran the fastest overall female time of the day in all of the UK parkruns with her 17.06 clocking at St Albans, having been second fastest on a couple of previous occasions and will now be looking to take her good form onto the track with some upcoming races.
Geoff Jerwood