Gold rush for WSEH: Club trio shine at UK Athletics trials

WSEH athlete Tyri Donovan won the 400m hurdles in Birmingham on Sunday. Credit: Getty Images for British Athletics

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Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow Athletic Club (WSEH) have three national champions in their track and field stable after Morgan Lake, Tyri Donovan and Michael Allison all claimed victory at the Novuna UK Athletic Championships at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham this weekend.

Doubling up as both the national championships and the official trials for the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo this September, there were several WSEH athletes who caught the eye in Birmingham.

This was familiar territory for Lake (Yannick Tregaro, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow), who claimed her 17th British title, however, there have been promising signs in recent weeks that Lake can also compete with the best high jumpers on the world stage.

Fresh from her recent Diamond League victory at the London Stadium, Lake - now being coached by Yannick Tregaro - made first time clearances at 1.83m, 1.87m and 1.90m to win the women’s high jump.

Those clearances were more than enough for a commanding victory over her British rivals, with Gabrielle Garber (Andrew Wood, Leeds City) taking second with a 2cm personal best of 1.83m and Halle Ferguson (Andrew Wood, Trafford) finishing in third with a jump of 1.79m.

Lake has consistently jumped over 1.90m this season and was a whisker away from breaking the 2m mark for a new personal best in London on July 19.

“I am really happy – it is another competition over 1.90m, and with a win,” said Lake.

“It has been a good season – the fact this is one of my most disappointing heights tells you I am in a good place this season. I still have to get the qualifying standard of 1.97m – I’ve hit 1.95m and 1.96m, so hopefully I will get that in the next few competitions.”

WSEH’s Tyri Donovan (Marina Armstrong, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) was one of three UK athletes in 48-second form heading into the men’s 400m hurdles final on Sunday.

Alastair Chalmers (Matt Elias, Guernsey) and Seamus Derbyshire (Alex O’Gorman, City of Stoke) have also been in fantastic form this year and the trio battled it out for the top two qualifying places alongside eventual faller Jake Minshull (James Wright, Coventry).

Chalmers and Derbyshire went out hard, but Donovan was able to recover ground after clattering a hurdle on the back straight.

The four athletes came into the final straight neck and neck, but Donovan was able to lean into the line to take gold in 49.18, with Chalmers in second on 49.20 and Derbyshire another three tenths back on 49.50.

Donovan reflected: “It was another mature performance on the back straight, and again, I am so happy to get the win. The strategy in my mind was to go off conservatively because I can race with a bit more patience. The guys know I can go off fast, but I’ve learned to hold it back a bit in recent weeks.”

Michael Allison (Tom Dobbing. Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) was involved in the first national final on Saturday, with the lead in the men’s javelin changing hands on multiple occasions.

Allison wrestled back control of the competition with a monster new personal best of 78.48m to edge in front of silver medallist and 2023 champion, Ben East (John Trower, Team Kennet), who also threw a personal best of 77.40m.

For the second year running, Daniel Bainbridge (Tom Dobbing, Shaftesbury Barnet) finished in third having thrown another personal best 76.86m, bettering his previous best by over a metre.

Also competing, Paralympic and world champion Dan Pembroke (John Trower, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) produced a best throw of 63.62m, the effort coming in the sixth and final round.

On his victory, Allison said: “I’m absolutely ecstatic – it’s nearly a two metre PB, but more importantly it’s an 11m season’s best. It was awesome to compete here – I competed two years ago in Manchester and the crowd here is five times the size. The fact all three of us on the podium PB’d just shows how good the crowd is.”