OWEN Merrett is celebrating an amazing finale to the season.
The Yate & District AC hammer thrower and his coach Matt Spicer were at the recent Manchester International where Merrett was making his debut for the Great Britain Juniors in a match against England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the National Athletics League.
And what a debut!
The 17-year-old threw the 5k weight for a huge personal best of 73.00m which puts him seventh in the World Rankings in that age group.
“The whole experience was amazing, really amazing,” said Merrett.
As a first year under 20 athlete Merrett has spent most of the summer throwing the 6k hammer weight but as a final year under 18 he was eligible to throw the 5k weight.
So, Merrett took full advantage of throwing the weight for the last time and while no medals or trophies were at stake the significance of the throw can’t be under-estimated.
“Obviously, it is the senior age group that counts and in the future no-one will remember the under 18s,” added Merrett.
“I am on the right path.”