Tom breaks club record as City also toast double success

Top youngsters from the club have been making a big impression in championship action.

At Lee Valley, the Under-20 and Senior Southern Counties Indoor Championships took place.

Tom Farres won the men’s pole vault with a personal best and new club best-ever performance of 4.70m.

This weekend he moves on to the national pole vault series in Cardiff, where, for the first time, he is included in the elite men’s group of vaulters.

Then he will be in action in the under-20 national championships in Sheffield.

Meanwhile, Harry Pocock made his senior bow indoors and performed strongly in the 400m to take third place with a time of 49.66sec.

City coach Paul Farres said: ‘Harry showed great form in his first indoor event as a senior.

‘He had a gruelling set of two rounds and a final within a very short space of time.’

Charlie Craddock, 17, returning from injury, ran well in the 60m sprint to clock a personal best of 7.26sec.

Farres believes the trio will be flying this summer.

He added: ‘It was a great effort from these athletes who will, in the summer, provide the young backbone to the City of Portsmouth British Athletics League team looking to improve on last year’s performance by gaining promotion.’

Also at Lee Valley, Olivia Breen enjoyed an excellent first run out of the season.

Proudly wearing her City of Portsmouth kit, Breen ran the 60m in 8.66, very close to her personal best.

City’s Olivia Wiseman finished second at the Welsh Indoor Championships, with a time of 4min 58.46sec for the under-15 1,500m race, in Cardiff.

Farres feels Wiseman will take a lot from her experience.

He said: ‘This was the first time Olivia had run indoors on a banked track – always an interesting experience for a middle distance athlete.

‘This performance also sets Olivia up for a successful outdoor season.’

In the Southern Region Indoor Athletic Championships for the under-15 and under-17 age groups, City of Portsmouth completed an incredible double, with Serena Vincent and Gaia Osborne taking the two shot put titles.

In the under-15 age group, Vincent was well clear of her nearest rival with a distance of 11.96m.

Osborne, threw 13.47m to win the under-17 title and break the regional record.

Vincent is currently ranked first in the UK and Osborne is ranked second so they will be going for national glory.

Coaches Bronwin Carter, and Graham Arnold, along with their assistants, have been the driving force behind these amazing performances after a hard winter of training.