Harries strikes gold with a UK 200m best


Harries, from Chichester, plays rugby for most of the week and trains specifically for athletics just a handful of times a month.
He took gold and broke Tim Benjamin’s 17-year-old UK best by 0.05 of a second, clocking 21.46 in his first-ever indoor championships. He also earned bronze in the 60m.
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Hide AdTwo Chichester Runners & AC athletes also fared well at the championships.
Alyssa White (under-15) was drawn in an outside lane for the 60m heats and didn’t get the best of starts, but drew upon her excellent pick-up phase to finish second in 8.24sec and go through to the next round.
In the semi-final and without blocks, she produced a good start and drive to finish fourth in a great new personal best time of 8.07sec.
The under-17s’ 60m event had to be re-seeded at the last minute, which resulted in Sophie-Anne Haigh being held in the call rooms for nearly an hour after warm-up and before racing.
She did respond well with a technically-sound performance in the high-quality field to finish fourth in 7.98sec, just 0.01 off her personal best.