There was mixed emotions at the weekend for 15 year old Ormskirk pupil, Jamie Hopkins. Jamie was part of a Lancashire schools team competing in the English Schools’ Combined events championships at the international stadium in Bedford.
This is a gruelling event, with each athlete having to compete in eight track & field events, over the two days of the competition. Jamie was delighted to set personal best performances in no fewer than five events, with a long jump of 5.72m, javelin of 36.72m, 100m hurdles in 15.5 sec, shot putt of 8.73m and 1500m in 5:13.8. His other events included the discus (19.84m) and 400m (59.37 sec), but Jamie miscalculated in the high jump which he chose to enter at later height and unfortunately failed to clear the bar, which resulted in no points in this event.
His points total of 3561 did however help Lancashire schools to 4th place overall, narrowly missing out on a medal. Jamie will be buoyed by the fact that he is still young enough to compete in this age category next year.
Wally Bridson
Jamie Hopkins
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