This weekend, the British Athletics Championships were held in Manchester. The competition also acted as the Olympic trials, with top results guaranteeing a flight to Tokyo in the summer. The University of Birmingham Athletics and Cross-Country club had thirty-five athletes competing across the weekend, and they produced some fantastic results.

One of the highlights for the club was the victory of Mark Pearce in the 3000m steeplechase, fending off Zak Seddon on the home straight to take home the British title. Unfortunately, Pearce fell just short of the Olympic qualifying time for the event, but this victory puts him in great stead for the seasons to come. Birmingham’s Will Battershill also raced well in the steeplechase, taking home fifth place after a personal best.

The women’s steeplechase was also stacked with no less than four athletes who either study at the university or are alumni. Kate Seary narrowly missed out on a podium finish, but nevertheless had a fantastic showing by coming in fourth place with a personal best. Maisie Grice could not quite catch Seary, finishing in fifth place with another fantastic run. Lucy Jones and Lauren Hall, both Birmingham alumni, finished off the standings with ninth and tenth place.

Birmingham’s star 800m athlete Oliver Dustin came about as close as possible to also taking home a title from the weekend, finishing just one hundredth of a second behind Elliot Giles. Nevertheless, Dustin’s place at the Olympics was secured – an even more impressive feat in that he is still in the under-23 age category. Issy Boffey also took part in the women’s 800m final, coming home in seventh place in a difficult field.

Another Birmingham athlete to take home a podium was Laura Zialor in the high jump, who secured second place behind Morgan Lake. Zialor has had a fantastic season thus far, achieving the Commonwealth Games standard at the second University of Birmingham track and field series in May. Improving at such a fast rate, Zialor is certainly a name to watch out for in the future for British high jump.

After the event, Laura said that she was “so happy to finally medal at a British championships after multiple fourth places in the past.” She went on to say that her goal for next year is to go to as many of the major championships as possible having already achieved two qualifications for the Commonwealth Games.

Sticking with the field events, Julian Reid finished sixth in the men’s triple jump on Sunday. Reid is a coach at the university, so it is great to see that the current jumps group are in good hands for the future.

In the 110m hurdles, Jake Porter ran extremely well to make it into a difficult final as a fastest third place in the heats. Running slightly off his personal best, the Birmingham alumnus should be very happy with his performance in a tough field.

Finally, Jonny Davis had a searing run in the men’s 5000m to take home fourth place. Only a couple of seconds off the leader, Davis ran extremely well to keep pace with the front-runners and was unfortunate not to come away with a podium finish.

Overall, the British championships were a huge success, and a real testament to the standard of athletics within the university athletics and cross-country club. With the Olympics quickly closing in, we were able to have a sneak peek at the great talents who will represent Great Britain in Tokyo against the best athletes from across the globe.

Like this? Check out more from Redbrick Sport:

Ominous Signs for England After New Zealand Defeat

Sport that Stuck With Me: Checkatrade Trophy Final 2017

Will Overseas Player Drop Outs Put the Hundred at Risk?