St Mary’s EPACC Athletes Excel at British Indoor Championships

The Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham saw 17 athletes compete at the Sainsbury’s British Indoor Championships in Sheffield, 14^th to 15^th February. The highlight of the weekend came in the Men’s 1500m with five of the nine finalists coming from St Mary’s. In a slow and tactical race, current student Charlie Grice waited until the final 200 metres before unleashing a devastating sprint finish to open up a three second lead and to take his first national indoor title. Teammate Ben Coldray finished second having battled back from fourth place at the bell to take the Silver medal in the closing metres of the race. Dan Cheeseman and Adam Clarke took sixth and seventh position respectively with first year student Scott Halsted finishing eight in his senior championship debut. Fresh from her success in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Cross Country Championships two weeks ago, EPACC athlete Emelia Gorecka continued her winning ways with a Gold medal in the 3000 metre event. In what was arguably the strongest field of the weekend Gorecka showed confidence in dictating the early pace before moving clear of her British rivals in the closing stages. In the men’s 800m, St Mary’s Alumnus James Bowness was delighted to win his first national senior medal. In a blanket finish he edged out defending champion Mukhtar Mohammed to take the Silver and finished only 0.06 seconds behind the winner. EPACC Performance Coach Craig Winrow said, “It was a delight to see so many EPACC athletes competing at the British Indoor Championships and to come away with four medals is a great success.” The Championships also incorporated trials for the European Indoor Championships, with the event winners gaining automatic selection to the British team. With their wins, Grice and Gorecka have both guaranteed their selection for the European Championships, which will take place in Prague next month. Director of Sport Andrew Reid-Smith said, “The British Championships were an exciting event for our athletes; Charlie and Emelia travelled to Sheffield as race favourites and performed admirably under pressure to earn their place in the British team.” The indoor athletics season continues with EPACC athletes set to compete next in the BUCS Indoor Championships (20^th to 22^nd February) and the Sainsbury’s Birmingham Grand Prix (21^st February). The national cross-country championships will also take place 21^st February with a number of athletes set to compete.