HUNTINGDONSHIRE AC athletes Jonathan Edwards and Jordan Gillbanks have sealed their places at the English Schools Championships

HUNTINGDONSHIRE AC athletes Jonathan Edwards and Jordan Gillbanks both sealed their places at next month’s English Schools Championships with excellent showings at the Anglian Schools Championships at Grantham.

Edwards won both the Senior Boys shot putt and hammer throw events against the best athletes from across the Anglian region.

He improved his personal best by 65cms in the shot with a distance of 14.00m, and was in a league of his own in the hammer throw as he won by a margin of 13m.

Sixteen-year-old Gillbanks continued his strong race form with another win in the Intermediate Boys 400m championship race, and added a third place in the long jump.

At the East Anglian League meeting at Braintree, Hunts AC’s Paul Hayball returned to action to reclaim his crown from Edwards as the club’s top senior thrower. In Hayball’s absence, Edwards has been shattering his records and together the pair put on a real power show.

Nineteen-year-old Hayball came out on top against his 17-year-old teammate, winning by 16cms in the shot and 62cms in the discus before throwing a season’s best in the javelin. However, no other athletes could get near them and they picked up the A and B strings in all three events.

Edwards’ victory in the hammer lifted his ranking in the country into the top 10.

There was more success for Hunts AC in the sprints, as Hakeem Duckworth-Porter and Ryan Palmer completely swept the board with A and B string wins in the 100m and the 200m at U17 Men’s level.

Fifteen-year-old Palmer’s 100m time of 11.4secs was especially remarkable as it made him the equal fastest sprinter in the club.

In the same age group, Michael Benning rose to the occasion with victory in the A string 1500m and also the B string long jump.