EIGHT Rugby & Northampton (R&N) athletes set new championship records as the team recorded a huge medal haul at the County Championships.
The names of eight local athletes etched their names into the history books over the weekend by setting new Northamptonshore County Championships on what was another dominant weekend for the club.
Louis Buttrick set the tone in the under-11 boys one kilometre walking race, setting a new mark of six minutes, 33.8 seconds to triumph.
Rhania Akii-Bua was next to break new ground as she ran the under-15 girls 75metre hurdles in 11.7 seconds, which was followed by Oliver Lambert setting a championship record in the under-15 boys 80m hurdles, clocking 11.3 ahead of Sam Tutt (12.0).
R&N dominated the hurdles with the standout performance coming from Caleb Downes whose phenomenal 21.3 means he now holds the under-20 men’s 200m county record.
In-form Louis Buttrick picked up a second championship record of the weekend thanks to a run of 1.52:3 in the 600m under-11 boys, ahead of Kaiyuki Crisp, who clocked 1:54.7.
Crisp was not to be denied a record of his own as he leapt over half a metre further than anyone else in the under-11 boys long jump on his way to a distance of 4.07m.
Adam Searle’s brilliant run of 4:17.9 in the under-15 boys 1,500m final saw him secure a new County Championship record, finishing six and a half seconds in front of rival Joe Musgrove (4:24.4).
Searle and Musgrove resumed their rivalry in the 800m, when just 0.4 separated the pair, but Searle (2:07.3) was again the winner.
Lucy Cousins’ throw of 43.67m in the hammer saw her finish 19 metres in front of her closest competitor as she captured a championship best performance, while Eleanor Broome did the same when she won the under-17 women’s long jump with a distance of 5.86m.
Elsewhere, Daniel Mould’s time of 28.21 saw him finish in an excellent eighth place at the latest leg of the East Midlands Grand Prix Series across five miles.
Stephen Marks followed him home just 11 seconds behind in 12th spot, in front of John Gercs (14th) who finished second in the over 45 section with a time of 28:37.
The club’s sole representative in the ladies’ race was Valerie Cross, who won over the 65 category in exactly 51 minutes.
R&N’s men’s team finished second on the night, while the veteran’s men’s team came third.
