EMILY Dixon took her final bow while Rory Howorth offered a glimpse of the future at the Wiltshire Schools’ Track & Field Championships at the weekend, writes Kevin Fahey.

Eighteen-year-old St Augustine’s College pupil Dixon won the senior girls’ 100m hurdles in a new championship record time of 14.6secs, bettering her own record of 15.1secs set last year and added the high jump title with 1.61m.

“It was my last county schools’ championships so it was a bit sad really,” said Dixon.

“I have been doing the schools’ championships all my life and this was probably my sixth or seventh one but it is time to move on.”

Dixon has been offered a scholarship studying fine art at Elon University in North Carolina, giving her the chance to fulfil her athletics potential as well as pursuing her academic career.

Her final appearance for Wiltshire will be at next month’s English Schools’ Track & Field Championships.

“I was fourth in the 100m hurdles last year so it would be great to win a medal and go out with a big bang,” added Dixon.

Hilperton’s Howorth, also at St Augustine’s pupil, must wait another year before he is even eligible to compete in the nationals.

The 11-year-old is among the best in the country over 800m and set a new county record at Salisbury with victory in 2:12.3secs, breaking the record held by his brother Robert by a massive six seconds.

Howorth also won the high jump with a personal best 1.48m, adding three centimetres to the mark he achieved when winning the Wiltshire Clubs’ title last month.

“I am equally pleased with both wins but especially with a new PB in the high jump,’’ he said.

“Unfortunately I cannot go any further in the schools’ competitions as I am still in Year Seven, but next year I will be able to compete in the junior boys’ age group.’’

Older twin brothers John and Robert came agonisingly close to English Schools’ qualifying standards in their events.

John won the junior boys’ 1500m with a time of 4:23, a personal best of three seconds, and just one second outside the qualifying mark.

Robert was runner-up to Swindon’s Harry Kearns in a close 800m, again recording a best of 2:06.5, half a second outside the English Schools’ standard.

Zoe Mattacks, of John of Gaunt School, struck gold in both the inter girls’ 100m (a season’s best of 12.7secs) and the 80m hurdles in a personal best time of 12.5secs).

In the junior girls’ 1500m, Caitlin Wosika, from John of Gaunt School, won in a time of 4:51 with Corsham School’s Jade Littlechild second in 5:03.

Melksham Oak Community School’s Will Stockley did the double in the inter boys’ 1500m (4:17.5) and 1500 steeplechase (4:51.9), in which he was the sole competitor.

Hayden Bailey, who is at John of Gaunt, came third in the 800m in 2:10.9 and runner-up in the 3000m in a personal best time of 40.0secs.

St Augustine’s pupil William Browne won both the minor boys’ 100m and 200m with times of 12.7secs and 26.8secs respectively.

  • MATRAVERS School’s Will Kennedy won the 100 (11.32) and 200m (22.52) U18 titles at the Northern Ireland & Ulster Championships in Belfast, plus a bronze medal in the senior 200m at the weekend.

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