The second weekend in January has turned into a cracker for Philippa for the second year running. This time last year saw her hit a Grade 1 time in the U15G 60m Hurdles at the Scottish National Open in Glasgow, something that we hadn't quite expected on the day. This year was pretty similar, but this time she was competing at the Northern Indoor Championships at the EIS in Sheffield.
The day started with the 60m Hurdles and the target was to make the final. With three heats leading to a final, Philippa knew she had to be in the first two in her heat to guarantee a place in the final. She was drawn in Heat 2 with Nicole Lannie in the same heat - she's raced against Nicole since they were Under 13's and both were calm and chatty as they took to the start line. Both girls ran well, with Philippa taking the win and Nicole 2nd (with her easing up towards the finish line. That was the final sorted for both girls and the times came out quickly, with Philippa claiming a new pb with 9.05 seconds and she was also the fastest qualifier, but a few of the frontrunners had eased up in their heats.
Onto the final and it was a bit tense as I was on the hurdles team and had set the hurdles up, so had a ringside spot, stood next to barrier 3 for the race. Philippa got a great start and was 2nd in the race behind Jasmine Jolly as they crossed hurdle 3 and from there it was just a blur from where I was stood. However, there was a gap between Jasmine, Nicole & Philippa to the rest of the runners, so I knew she'd medaled, but didn't know what colour. For me, we then had to go back to work and move the hurdles for the Senior Women's race.
There was then some tic-tacking going on with Geoff and trying to see how many fingers he was holding up, which I then sussed was three ! What a result - wasn't expecting that at all. The excitement continued when the times came out - she'd recorded a time of 8.94 seconds, faster than her heat and a massive improvement on her pb.
All three girls ran pb's in the final and they were all delighted as the pictures from the podium show.
The day continued with the 60m and there wasn't really a target, other than to see what she could do and to avoid injury. Philippa has been having a problem with her foot, so the prospect of up to 5 races in a day may have been a problem. As it was, she made easy work of the heat and cruised through to the semi-final, winning her heat and easing up towards the finish. However, the foot was starting to slow her down and she went into the semi-final a bit low on confidence and came in 4th, getting a fastest loser place in the final.
Making the final was a great achievement, but it possibly was a race too far and she didn't look to be enjoying it, despite the laugh's with Megan as they were drawn in adjacent lanes in the final. Philippa sort of gave up at 45m and eased over the line in 8th place, which was still great as a first year U17. Megan had a great race and was unlucky not to medal, coming across the line narrowly in 4th place.
All in all, another great day on the track with two finals and a bronze medal, which nearly ended up going back to the North East around Geoff's neck (see below) !!!
It was only in the car on the way home when we were talking about the race and I said that I wondered what time a Grade 1 in the 60mH was - so onto the phones they go and a quick download of the standards revealed that her 8.94 seconds was indeed a Grade 1 performance, making the result all the more exceptional. Hitting that standard as a second year U15 was brilliant, but hitting it as a first year U17 was even better.
God knows what will happen on the second week in January in 2019 !!!
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