Oaklands Wolves Athletics Academy alumni shine in Sweden

BORÅS, Sweden — The past two weeks saw current and former Oaklands Wolves Athletics Academy alumni take on the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Sweden. 

Throughout July members of the Oaklands Wolves Athletics Academy had been hard at work, preparing for the upcoming Under 20s European Championships at their local training centre, the Lee Valley Athletics Centre.

As well as organising visits from former Oaklands Alumni graduate Reece Prescod, who departed from the Academy in 2015, Head of Athletics Academy Ryan Freckleton and his experienced coaching staff had been hard at work preparing all of the wolf-pack for a tough and demanding summer in Sweden.

With a plethora of Oaklands College students selected for Team GB’s 69 athlete Under 20s team, including long distance runner Kristian Imroth, 400m runner Hannah Foster and wolfpack graduate sprinter Chad Miller to name a few, the event was a proud moment and a true celebration of the hard work and determination of both students and staff within the Athletics Academy.

Incredibly, the Oaklands Wolves Athletics Academy have had representative students in the GB team for seven consecutive years, further highlighting the professionalism and hard work of the academy.

Academy alumni Chad Miller impressed, taking home the 100m European Championships Bronze medal, missing out on the Silver medal by just 0.01 of a second, an inspiring achievement for Chad, who narrowly missed out on the finals at last year’s World Junior Championships.

Level 3 Sport and Exercise Sciences student Hannah Foster, who entered the U20 European Championships fresh off the back of securing the ESAA National Championship, helped anchor the 4x400m GB team through to the finals, where they won the Gold medal, meaning all seven competing athletes took to the podium to share the experience.

It was a proud European Championships for 3,000m steeplechase runner Kristian Imroth, studying the same course as Hannah Foster. Kristian made the finals of the 3000m steeplechase, unfortunately landing awkwardly after a hurdle, but proudly perceived to finish the race despite in pain.

On behalf of all at Oaklands College, we would like to congratulate our Athletics Academy on a hugely success European Championships and we look forward to following our athletes at the upcoming International Championships in Cardiff.