Perse athletes on track for national medals
Jasmine Christmas (Year 7) and Noah Karat (Year 8) were both among the medals at the National Prep Schools Athletics Championships.
Both Perse pupils reached the national finals at Nuneaton thanks to their respective performances in the girls’ U13 1,500m and boys’ U14 100m in the East finals at Bedford.
Jasmine, who trains with Cambridge & Coleridge, put in a dominant display to take gold in the 1,500m in a time of 4min 55.18sec, almost four seconds clear of her nearest rival.
Meanwhile, Noah (left) was second in his 100m heat in a personal best of 12.09sec before claiming an impressive bronze in the final in 12.14.
Despite not belonging to a club, Noah said he enjoyed taking part in sprinting events for the school and was delighted to get on the podium at the national finals.
He said: “To get third place in nationals was amazing. Unfortunately I ran slower than in my heat, so although I was a bit frustrated I didn’t get first, I am proud of my performance.
“I have always had natural speed and acceleration, and I have just built on it. I don’t really take athletics seriously as it is not my main sport, but I think if I did, I could perform very strongly.
“For the nationals, I would say that the previous athletics meets for the school was my practice for my nationals, but I also trained with my teacher working on my start a few days before the competition. .
“Next academic year, I am hoping for lots more athletics meets to take place to keep going with my sprinting journey. Although I will not have any competitions during the holidays, I am going to the gym to make sure that I am ready for more competitions to come.”
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