Athletics Eleanor strikes gold on her final run at South West event

ON her farewell appearance in the South West Schools Track & Field Championships, Redmaids student Eleanor McIntosh certainly made her mark at the Exeter Arena.

- Kevin FAHEY

The 18-year-old retained her senior girls 400m title in a championship record time of 54.99secs, clipping almost a second off the previous mark. It put her name in the record books but the Bristol & West AC runner admitted she wasn’t overly satisfied with the result.

“I wasn’t happy as I was looking to run a personal best but it wasn’t the right conditions,” said McIntosh.

“I really wanted the record to be fair, but it would have been nice to have run under 54 seconds.”

McIntosh’s PB remains the 54.02secs she ran in a mixed race at Yate at the start of the season, and which put her fourth in the UK U20 Rankings.

That has earned her another GB Under-20s vest in Germany this weekend at the Mannheim International, when she will run a 400m and represent GB in the 4x400m relay.

All being well, McIntosh will secure a place in the Great Britain team for the European U20 Championships in Finland, from August 7-10 and before then end her schools’ career with a medal at the national championships.

“Hopefully I'll make the podium,” added McIntosh.

It was a super day for the Avon athletes in Devon, winning a fantastic total of 30 medals, including 10 golds. McIntosh’s Bristol & West club-mates Holly Sanigar (senior 800m), Kezia Tarzey (inters 80m hurdles), improving from silver in 2024, and Dan Webb (inters 100m hurdles), clocking a big PB of 14.16secs, were also crowed champions.