King’s Hawford Athletes Impress at Mercia Athletics Competition

Thursday saw another fantastic day of athletics for the King’s Foundation as more than 60 children from King’s Hawford, King’s St Alban’s and King’s Worcester proudly represented their schools at the Mercia Athletics Competition, held at Stourport Athletics Club.

All 18 children representing King’s Hawford competed with outstanding effort, determination and enthusiasm throughout the day. They demonstrated the superb skills they have been developing throughout the term within their chosen events and disciplines and, once again, showed exactly why Hawford continues to punch well above its weight when competing against some of the largest and strongest preparatory schools in the country.

It proved to be an incredibly successful day, culminating in three members of the Hawford squad achieving qualification to the National Finals in four different events. The finals will take place in July at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

This year’s success continues a remarkable tradition for King’s Hawford athletics. Excluding the two-year hiatus caused by Covid, this marks the tenth consecutive year that Hawford athletes have achieved representation at the National Finals. Even more impressively, this is the first year in which three different Hawford athletes have qualified, underlining the continued strength and depth of athletics across the school.

National qualification began with Harry who enjoyed tremendous success in the high jump, producing an exceptional leap of 1.35m to secure his place at the national event. Florrie also qualified after an excellent performance in the shot put, recording a throw of 6.61m. Sam was another standout performer, dominating both the javelin and shot-put competitions, winning both events with outstanding throws of over 33 metres and over 8 metres respectively.

There were many other notable performances throughout the field events. Zara, Adelyn and Charles H all impressed in the high jump, while Will P, Jasmine and Charlotte performed strongly in the javelin competition. Will G and Abi delivered excellent performances in the shot put, and Harry, Vivienne and Alice all excelled in the long jump.

A special mention must go to Alice, whose fifth-place finish in the long jump was particularly impressive. Her jump of 3.63m was achieved despite being only in Year 4 and competing predominantly against Year 6 athletes, highlighting both her talent and determination.

On the track, Cassian, Bella and Maysie all competed admirably in the demanding 600m event, while Charlie P-W, Will G, Elise, Bella, Jasmine, Charles H and Adelyn produced some excellent sprint performances and recorded impressive times against strong opposition.

Towards the end of the competition, both the Under-12 boys’ and girls’ 4x100m relay teams qualified for their respective finals following strong performances in their heats, bringing an exciting conclusion to a memorable day of competition.

Congratulations to all 18 members of the squad for their commitment, resilience and sportsmanship. They represented King’s Hawford with great distinction and should be immensely proud of their achievements. We look forward to cheering on Harry, Florrie and Sam as they compete at the National Finals in July.