Oswestry Olympians returned home with a clutch of medals after they competed in the Shropshire County Sportshall Championships held at Much Wenlock.

Leading the way were Ellen Gray, Aaron Warburton and Tom Hotchkiss who each won three medals, two of which were gold. Ellen Gray made an excellent start winning her under-11 two laps heat to reach the final where she finished in the silver medal position. Ellen returned to the track and secured Oswestry’s first gold of the day by winning a very close two laps hurdles race. A leap of 1.80 metres in the standing long jump was enough to win Ellen a second gold after count back.

Oswestry’s other under-11 star, Aaron Warburton, who like Ellen was selected to compete for Shropshire this season, made an impressive start winning his heats in the two and four laps by significant margins. He then gained his first gold, winning the standing long jump just two-centimetres ahead of Oswestry’s third under-11 county team member Harry Heard who took silver. Harry then gained a gold himself with an outstanding soft javelin throw of 19.5 metres. The efforts in the heats took its toll on Aaron when he came second in the two laps final before he regained his supremacy by taking his second gold in the four laps race.

The under-13 boys’ event saw three Olympians in the final of the two laps race. Tom Hotchkiss ran a well paced race to take the gold just ahead of his Marches classmate and fellow Shropshire athlete, Luke Steel who took the silver. Tom was soon back on the track for the three laps competition in which he finished third with the same time as the runner in second place. Tom’s second gold came in the standing long jump with a leap of over two metres. A silver in the vertical jump earned Markus Tins a silver and bodes well for the future as he will still qualify for this age group next year.

Mia Wyatt, who has already represented the county in cross country this season, showed her versatility by winning her first ever medal, taking bronze in the three laps race just one tenth of a second behind the first and second placed runners. She then went one better, finishing in the silver position in the five laps race to bring Oswestry Olympians’ haul of medals to 15.

That event concludes the Sportshall season for Oswestry Olympians. After the Easter break they will turn their attention to the track and field as they prepare for the Shropshire Young Athletes League fixtures.