Wonder Weekend For Thanet AC

Thanet AC athletes shone brightly last weekend, delivering an incredible triple threat of victories across three major competitions: the U13 County Championships, the County Combined Events Championships (U15 upwards), and the Veterans County Championships.

The club’s talented athletes not only competed but brought home a haul of medals and personal bests across all events.

U13 County Championships

Our U13 squad proved their class with outstanding performances:

Bella Winfield leapt to gold in the high jump with a new personal best of 1.28m. She followed this up with a PB of 10.95s in the 75m to reach the final (6th), and in the 70m hurdles ran back-to-back PBs—12.58s in the heats and 12.45s in the final—finishing a superb 4th place just outside the medals.

Bella Winfield in action over the weekend. Photos By: Lewis Parsons.

Isobel Kenyon launched the javelin to a huge personal best of 29.79m to claim gold, in a fiercely contested competition where the top three all threw over 28m.

Kitty-Rose Hatton also threw a PB of 16.83m in the same event, finishing a strong 5th.

Amber Jackson stormed to victory in the 2km walk, taking gold with a personal best of 13:57.06. Amber now heads to the English Schools Finals this coming weekend.

Amber Jackson storming to victory in the race walk. Photos By: Lewis Parsons. 

County Combined Events Championships

Thanet AC also dominated in the combined events, where all three of our entrants secured medals:

Thomas Hatton made a dream debut in the U15 Boys Pentathlon, achieving personal bests in all five events. Highlights included a 5.30m long jump, 1.61m high jump, and an impressive 2:23.95 in the 800m, sealing gold with 2344 points after only five weeks of event training.

Thomas Hatton bringing home the gold medal in U15 boys Pentathlon. Photos By: Darren Hatton.

Millie Vas ended her junior career in style before heading to university, claiming Kent County Heptathlon titles across U17, U20, and Senior Women’s age groups. Millie produced four season’s bests on Day 1—including 18.06s in the 100m hurdles and 29.03s in the 200m—before setting a personal best javelin throw of 20.96m and finishing with a strong 800m in 2:52.35 to total 3320 points.

Millie Vas claiming her 3rd consecutive Kent Championship title. Photos By: Lewis Parsons.

Gracie Lawton battled through a tough U17 Women’s Heptathlon field to take silver. Personal highlights included a PB of 28.84s in the 200m, a strong 29.27m javelin, and a near-PB 800m of 2:50.36, moving her into 2nd place after a thrilling two days of competition.

Gracie Lawton taking control of the U17W heptathlon. Photos By: Lewis Parsons. 

Veterans County Championships

Thanet’s experienced athletes proved age is no barrier to success:

Aaron McKeown took gold in the shot put with his third-best career throw of 10.95m.

Julien Lawton, competing across three events, claimed silver medals in the discus (20.44m), shot put (7.77m), and javelin (15.84m)—setting personal bests in all three.

Aaron and Julien leading by example. Photos By: Lewis Parsons 

Head Coach Darren Hatton said “Wow, what a weekend!! We filled all the competitions and came away with many medals, many great performances and many fantastic memories. This now closes the season off in a great way and all the athletes can now take a well deserved rest………. Roll on next season!!”

Team Thanet AC at Medway Park sporting their motto. Photo By: Lewis Parsons.

Chair and Masters competitor, Julien Lawton adds "What a fantastic way to bring the season (almost) to an end. Multiple medals in a plethora of disciplines against a strong field. To pick up a medal myself in my first County Championship at 55 years is evidence it's never too late to be an athlete! We have talented athletes taking part this weekend (20/21st September) at Canterbury and English Schools finals in Chelmsford - go Thanet AC!!"

• Darren Hatton