Guernsey’s young athletes made a significant impact at the Hampshire county championships, with impressive sprint and field performances led by Charlie Le Tissier and Emil Friedrich.
The U18 sprinter posted rapid winning times over both 100m and 200m at Basingstoke’s Down Grange, where U16 multi-eventer Emil Friedrich achieved two golds of his own as a large contingent of Guernsey juniors experienced two days’ county competition in variable conditions – including fairly strong winds on the Sunday.. The 17-year-old Le Tissier won his opening heat of the 200m narrowly before building on that in the final with a big personal best of
21.76sec., edging Southampton’s threatening Filip Smoter by 0.11sec.. over the line.. He is now sixth on Guernsey’s all-time list and just 0.03sec.. outside Joe Chadwick’s U18 record.. In a show of speed aided by a tailwind slightly over the legal limit – at 2.7m/s – he ran an eye-catching 10.84 for 100m, winning by 0.19 from Portsmouth’s Harvey Beckles.. Le Tissier had shown his worth with a season-opening 100m PB at Footes Lane three weeks
prior, so last year’s 200m mark of 22.22 appeared to be on borrowed time.. ‘I felt I was in good shape following the 10.95 I ran for my opener and I was confident I had those times in me,’ the 17-year-old said.. ‘I was fastest on paper, but there was one guy I wasn’t aware of who showed up on the day – however, I managed to hold him off in the 200.. I knew
he was going to be a threat in the 100 as well.. ‘My 200 was my first outdoor one [this season] so nice to go low, which I hope sets me up for some bigger races in June and July.. That’s where my focus is now.. ‘There was so many good performances from others in the team as well, which is nothing but brilliant to see.’ The other Island Games sprinter in the team, Daniel
Pike, ran a 23.01 for silver in a tailwind-assisted U20 men’s 200m and just missed the age-group 100m podium with a season’s-best 11.32.. A highly decorated athlete of recent Hampshires, Friedrich continued his strong early-season form over 800m with a triumphant run of 1-58.60 in the U16 category.. He finished a huge 5.66sec.. clear of the second-place athlete, Basingstoke’s Oliver Maxwell.. He was given a much closer run in the 300m, where he posted 36.69
to overcome Jersey’s Cole Selby and claim another gold.. Although he could not quite match Basingstoke’s Tobi Adeniran in the 4kg shot put, his stunning 14.06m final attempt – nearly 2m beyond his best ever to that point – was easily good for silver.. Younger brother Paul Friedrich had a gold-medal moment of his own in the 1,500m, the event where he has already put down an English Schools qualifier.. He produced a storming last
lap to win the U14 boys’ race in 4-24.73 as his closest challenger, Winchester’s Eddie Shawcross-Campbell, followed in 4-28.94.. U16 Amelie Van Heerden stood out among the up-and-coming female athletes, including coming through three rounds of the 200m to strike gold.. Her winning 24.90 in the final was just outside her recent Guernsey U20 record and beat silver medallist Maisie Hibberd of Basingstoke by a quarter-second.. She had already taken a silver behind Winchester’s flying
Alexa Divers in the 300m, which came alongside a PB of 40.59.. Grace King took the U16 girls’ 1,500m glory in 4-48.58, so close to the Faroes 2027 A standard, after a fast finish.. She came in a convincing 2.80sec.. clear of Team Kennet’s Harriet Saunders.. The other county crown came from U14 girl Charlotte Tucker, who put in a dominant long jump performance.. Her first three efforts of 4.48m, 4.42m and 4.50m were all
beyond her PB and what any other competitor could achieve on the day, with the latter sticking as the leading effort.. Runner-up went to Havant’s Edith Leighton with 4.41.. That enabled her to inflict revenge for the previous day’s 75m hurdles, where Leighton came in ahead of a Guernsey two-three.. Isabella Watson took the silver in 12.44 as Tucker followed in 12.77, both improving significantly on previous efforts, though the tailwind only just exceeded the
legal limit.. Blake Jackson came away with his own silver in the U14 boys’ long jump, putting the pressure on eventual winner Finlay Stark of Southampton with a 5.13m on the second attempt, which remained his best of the day.. Two U14 Thomases – sprinter Graham and discus thrower Smith – just missed out on the medals with fourth in their highest-placing events.. The same was true of versatile jumper Finley Nicolle, with the U16
going fourth in both the long and triple, and fifth in the high with a PB 1.50m clearance.. Middle-distance runner Erin Greenfield, busy hurdler Daisy Le Page, the versatile Willow Warren and high-jumper Jack Biggins also registered top-five finishes on this county stage.
Guernsey athletics, Hampshire championships, Charlie Le Tissier, junior sports, track and field, athletics, youth sports