Smashing time for City of Portsmouth's Callum Crook

A brilliant performance in the England Championships saw Callum Crook achieve a podium position in the steeplechase.
City of Portsmouth's Callum Crook ran superbly in the final race of the Lakeside 5k SeriesCity of Portsmouth's Callum Crook ran superbly in the final race of the Lakeside 5k Series
City of Portsmouth's Callum Crook ran superbly in the final race of the Lakeside 5k Series

It has been a really good summer for the City of Portsmouth racer who has managed to get personal bests across a wide range of distances.

He ran his first sub-16 minute 5k in the final race of the Lakeside Series with a time of 15min 58sec.

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That was off the back of a brilliant race in Bedford when he took the national bronze medal for the 1,500m steeplechase in 4min 37.92sec.

His hard work with  his  training group has really seen him make great strides.

First he started the summer brightly and then had to focus on school work before really coming back strongly culminating in the national success.

Coach Vince Stamp was thrilled to see the under-17 athlete get his rewards from a busy summer with GCSE exams.

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He said: '˜Once Callum had his exams out of the way we focused on the nationals at the end of August.

'˜In the past six weeks we have seen him getting better and better. In the parkruns he has been picking up and picking up. 

'˜He went and smashed it at Bedford. He did. He got national bronze and he beat loads ranked way higher than him. He was only ranked 14th in the country.

'˜Not only that he was in the fight for silver until the home straight. 

'˜It comes with confidence.'

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Kristian Imroth won the race in 4.31.14 with Archie May second in 4.36.60, just holding off the challenge from Crook who was comfortably clear of the fourth-placed athlete Hugo Hewitt.

Meanwhile, Ellie Farrow was selected for the triathlon in the Loughborough School Games representing the England south central team.

She finished he track season with fourth place at the nationals, just outside the medals after a brave race when she went out hard.

It's been a good summer for the multi-talented City of Portsmouth athlete.

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She has won the southern 800m title, got a silver medal in the English Schools Championships and got a bronze running for England in the Schools' International.

In the county championships she was one of the stars of the show for City.

She won the middle-distance double of 800m and 1,500m at the Mountbatten Centre, along with also winning the county schools' 800m gold medal.