Classy Capes wins a fourth straight English Schools Championship title
Bourne Grammar School student Lawson Capes won his 4th consecutive gold medal in the English Schools Championship at Birmingham over the weekend.
On an exceedingly hot day, with temperatures in excess of 32 degrees, Capes opened the competition with a throw of 17.49m and progressed through each round, throwing 18.30m with his last effort to remain undefeated in his Schools Championships career.
That followed a gold medal win for Capes in the shot put at the World Youth Games in Gothenburg, Sweden earlier this month.
Lewis Capes (father and coach) said: “It has been a tough two months for Lawson with taking his GCSEs (24 exams in total), as he takes his studies seriously, and with the additional travelling this season to Germany and Sweden (twice). He has shown true grit to get through it. He continues to work hard and now we want to close out the season with the National Under 20 and Under 17 titles.
"He competes again for England against the home nations this weekend in Derby so hopefully he will bring home another International gold as well.”
Capes was among a record number of PANVAC athletes who qualified for the prestigious championships. Thomas Preston clocked 9:02.99 in his 3,000m heat, qualifying for the final where he finished 7th in 8:39.47
Jack Wheatley qualified for the final of the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.71. Racing with the best young hurdlers in the country Wheatley placed 7th in the final with a time of 14.65.
Finlay Harris ran a club record 2:06.79 in his junior 800m heat, but just failed to advance while Lewis Legge ran an impressive 5:18.9 in his intermediate boys 1,500m heat.
Sean O’Donnell clocked 10:84 when finishing 4th in his senior boys 100m heat while Charlotte Stannage ran 42.24 in the junior girls 300m.