TWO local athletes have been selected to represent England at the ETC Throws Fest at Moulton College on Saturday September 3rd and Sunday 4th.
Bristol & West AC’s javelin thrower Sophie Hamilton (coach Ken Holmes) and Yate & District AC’s hammer ace Owen Merrett were named in the 20-strong team which has been designed to showcase the different throws disciplines, allowing throwers to compete in an environment where they take priority over track events.
The team will be taking on athletes from Scotland and Wales and will be made up of U23s, U20s and U18s.
For Merrett, coached by Matt Spicer, the England call-up caps a brilliant season which saw him represent Great Britain at the World Junior Championships in Colombia.
Merrett (pictured right) conducted himself well on his international debut in South America.
While he narrowly failed to make the final he threw a lifetime best of 70.50m in qualifying which confirmed his position as the UK’s No 1 hammer under 20 men’s thrower for 2022.
Hamilton is currently second on the UK U20 Rankings for the javelin with a PB of 50.08m which she threw at Yeovil on June 11th to win the Somerset Schools’ title.
No doubt she would love to eclipse that distance and maybe even leap above Basildon’s Harriette Mortlock (50.38,) into the No 1 spot.