Not only did the 18-year-old cross the line third at the England U20/Senior Championships in Bedford, but she lowered her own 3,000m ‘chase’ Guernsey record – which she set last month on her debut – to 10min. 57.93sec.
On paper Brighton’s Ava James and Bath’s Tilly Nickell looked hard to catch, and they lived up to that by taking gold and silver respectively, but the Sarnian appeared well-matched against the two remaining starters.
Yet she took barely a lap to start stretching her rivals and ultimately ran a relatively lonely race to crack the 11min. barrier for the first time.
‘I was incredibly pleased to go under 11 minutes and so proud to get a medal,’ said an athlete who had never competed beyond county level on the track before.
‘It was an exciting experience.’
Ahead of the Commonwealth Games later this month, Abi Galpin placed second in her senior 200m heat with a wind-assisted 24.78 and then inched her season’s best to 24.30 in the semi-finals.
That did earn her a place in the final, as a non-automatic qualifier, but she withdrew as a precaution when a pre-existing adductor issue resurfaced in the warm-up.
None of Guernsey’s three other seniors made it beyond the heats in Bedford.
Gian-Luca Robilliard was unfortunate not to, ending up as the fastest non-qualifier after putting down a 1-53.45 for sixth in a quick 800m heat. Robilliard’s build-up had been hampered by illness.
Island Games champion Nic Ackermann placed fourth in his 400m hurdles heat with a 56.62 but did not progress beyond there.
In a speedy series of 100m hurdles heats against classy opposition and with the wind at their backs, fellow Games champion Rhiannon Dowinton’s 15.48 was also not enough to progress.
