This weekend was spent in Sheffield at the British Universities and Sports Indoor Athletics Championships. It was such a fun and exciting event, and it was also the first test of the Exeter University sprinters since I took over their coaching in September. Let’s see how everyone did:

60m
► Ali Klemz. 7.21. SB and 0.05 off PB. Only 0.1 off a semi-final place.
► Cellan Robinson. 7.52. PB as a late call-up (he had been training for the 200m).
► Hannah Bolt. 8.08 and 8.10. PB in the heats and qualified for a semi-final.
► Abbie Mills. 8.59. PB.

60m Hurdles
► Hannah Bolt. 9.70. PB.

200m
► Akeem Akintokun. 22.86. SB and narrowly missed out on a semi-final.
► Vlad Levchenko. Disqualified for running out of his lane. This was one of the biggest disappointments of the weekend as Vlad could have comfortably reached a semi-final. This highlights the importance of our athletes getting indoor track experience before BUCS next year. Running on a banked track is an unusual experience and, understandably, an athlete would struggle.
► Ayo Cole. 26.61. Missed out on a semi-final by 0.01 and ran an excellent time for her first competition since the summer.
► Harriet Reese. 30.15. Fastest 200m for 8 years, despite struggling with the banked track.

4 x 200m Relay
► Men. 1:31.1. Fastest relay result (by 1.5 seconds!) since we have records (back to 2010). We were very close to a semi-final and, had Vlad not been boxed in, we could have qualified.
► Women. 1:48.17. Fourth fastest relay result since we have records (back to 2010).

Both relay teams performed incredibly well. Changeovers were smooth and efficient; I did not spot another team who were as polished in this aspect. On some changeovers, we gained 1-2 metres. I was delighted because we’ve put a lot of effort into practising.

4 x 200m Relay Splits
► Akeem Akintokun. 22.70. SB equivalent.
► Coleman Corry. 23.30. Fastest this winter and possibly a PB equivalent (none on Power of 10)
► Callum Gregson. 23.40. PB equivalent
► Vlad Levchenko. 22.30. SB equivalent despite being boxed in.
► Ayo Cole. 26.50. SB equivalent.
► Abbie Mills. 28.20. PB equivalent (by full second!).
► Kate Bain. 26.80. PB equivalent.
► Ella Barker. 28.70. A solid run from an athlete who had qualified for a 400m semi-final the same day.

By SB equivalent, I’m referring to race results and time trials in training. It was great to have so many SB equivalents because it shows that we were doing lots of things right to peak at the right moment.

These results read very well. It was a fantastically successful, enjoyable and positive weekend.

I am my biggest critic, so I have been thinking hard about what we can do better for future years. I will also be seeking feedback from athletes on this. Several things immediately come to mind:
► We need to have competitions on indoor tracks before BUCS, preferably with other Universities in the south and southwest. I began to realise this at the end of last year, but it was too late to arrange anything.
► I need to help athletes manage the competition weekend. Athletes may have performed slightly better if they had been given guidance around basic lifestyle choices when away from home for 3 days. Unfortunately, it's easy to find yourself living off service station meal deals and not getting enough sleep. Athletes need to keep hydrated, rested, well-fed and active on days when they’re not competing.

I ended the weekend slightly disappointed that we didn’t have more sprinters in the semi-finals. However, this is in no way a criticism of the athletes. The athletes undoubtedly brought their best form to the competition, and this is all we can influence. It was, statistically, a fast year, with lots of very good 60m and 200m runners. Had the standard been the same as the last few years, we could have had up to 7 semi-finalists.

On a final note, the success of these athletes is primarily down to their hard work and good attitude. In addition, their coaching has been collaborative and cooperative. Akeem coaches himself in London. Kate is a middle-distance athlete coached by Dave Newport. Ella, Callum and Coleman are 400m runners coached by Rob Grew. Hannah’s hurdling sessions are coached by Piers Mizen. Lastly, all the athletes have home clubs, so other coaches have influenced their performances.

In summary, for the sprinters, this was a fantastic first BUCS competition with me on the team. However, this is just the beginning. We need to keep improving until we are regularly competing with the biggest athletics Universities. Exeter University is the fourth-best University in the UK for sports, and we should be one of the top five universities for athletics.