Will Barnicoat among winners as Osian Perrin breaks Welsh under-17 3000m best

Coverage of the Müller Anniversary Games can be found here, while European U20 Championships reports are here.

SIAB International, Swansea, Wales, July 20

The SIAB International was held at Swansea University Athletics Stadium and hosted by the Welsh Schools’ Athletics Association and Welsh Athletics, Nathan Phillips reports.

In traditional Welsh style, the weather brought a mix of sun, wind and rain to make the event more of a challenge for the athletes. However, this did not stop some of them who broke three championship best performances and one under-17 Welsh record that had stood for over 40 years.

There was a whole host of strong and talented performances throughout the day. The day started with a championship best performance in the girls’ hammer by Scotland’s Kirsty Costello with a throw of 64.07m. Her team-mate Isla Calvert also ran a CBP in the 800m in 2:06.41. Then came England’s turn in the shot with Nana Gyedu throwing a massive 15.64m which beats the old record by over 50cm.

England’s Sam Brereton won gold in the high jump and was close to jumping a CBP but missed out by just 3cm, jumping 2.09m. His team-mate Sophie Ashurst was also just one jump away from a CBP but had to settle for gold in a big jump of 3.76m.

Off the back of his championship best performance set at the Welsh Schools just a few weeks before, Osian Perrin ran in the 3000m determined to win gold. English runner William Barnicoat took it out followed by the Welshman and despite trying twice on the last lap to get the win, Perrin had to settle for silver but his determination to drive all the way helped him break Colin Clarkson’s Welsh record of 8:25.2, setting a new mark of 8:23.64.

Clarkson said: “I live in the United States but I still follow what is going on in athletics in the homelands. I honestly can’t believe that it has taken 40 years to break that record, it’s probably one of the last ones I held! Congratulations to Osian, I hope he goes on to have a successful career.”

The SIAB International is a chance for young talented athletes to compete alongside each other and get their first taste of international and high level competition. Meeting manager Steve Jones said: “It has been a fantastic day of athletics with plenty of young talent on display.”

Full results can be found on the Welsh Athletics website and photos of the event on bowdensphotography.com

Castell Howell International Snowdon Race, Wales, July 20

Over 600 runners raced Wales’ top mountain race, which uses a 10-mile out and back route, starting and finishing in Llanberis and scaling Wales’ highest mountain, Alex Donald reports.

Light rain throughout the morning cleared leaving good conditions for the race which incorporated the fourth round of the 2019 WMRA World Cup.

Andy Douglas had already amassed a lead of around 15 seconds early on the course where the steep road section makes way for the start of the mountain path, with the Scotsman reaching the summit in 40:48, over a minute ahead of Italy’s Martin Dematteis.

The fast descending Inverclyde AC athlete increased his lead on the way back down to the village, posting a time of 64:04, with a margin of two and a half minutes over Dematteis who finished in 66:34. It was one of the fastest times seen at the race and close to Kenny Stuart’s 62:29 course record from 1985.

The Italian’s twin brother Bernard was not far behind in third.

Zak Hanna was the next man home, leading his Ireland team but unable to prevent Scotland winning the team event with Douglas supported by James Espie in fifth and Ewan Brown in seventh. Mark Hopkinson was the first athlete home for hosts Wales in ninth place.

Ireland’s Sarah McCormack has won at Snowdon twice before and the WMRA World Cup leader was unstoppable this time after passing early race leader Hatti Archer of England and battling with Italy’s Elisa Sortini all the way back to the finish.

McCormack’s victory came in 74:49, just 22 seconds ahead of Sortini, with Archer third in 67:17.

England were comfortable victors here as Kelli Roberts and Megan Wilson followed Archer home in fourth and seventh places.

ASICS London 10K, July 21

The 10km event in the UK capital was won by Josh Griffiths and Rebecca Murray with times of 29:47 and 33:46 respectively.

Behind Griffiths, Joshua Grace was second in 29:56 ahead of Dewi Griffiths in 30:12.

Women’s race runner-up was Mhairi Maclennan in 34:01, while Grace Lynch was third in 35:01.

Pan American U20 Championships, Costa Rica, July 19-21

Matthew Boling won the 100m and 200m in personal best times of 10.11 and 20.31 and then formed part of USA teams to set world under-20 records in both the 4x100m (38.62) and 4x400m (2:59.30).

British Miler’s Club Grand Prix, Eltham, July 20

There were 800m A wins for Mari Smith in a 2:01.46 PB and Archie Davis in 1:49.81.

George Mills won the 1500m in 3:43.72, while Amy O’Donoghue won the women’s race in 4:16.59.

Amy O’Donoghue of Ireland wins BMC women’s 1500 in 4:16 pic.twitter.com/tvE9FqMhaV

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 20, 2019

World Para Athletics Grand Prix, Bydgoszcz, Poland, July 19-21 

Britain’s Zac Shaw ran a personal best to win the T12 100m, clocking 11.10 (+0.3m/sec).

Prize money total more than $7.5m
By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent

The Professional Squash Association (PSA) has today announced that a record prize money total of $7,569,706 was on offer on the PSA Tour during the 2018-19 season, in which the organisation’s new tour structure came into effect.

The 2018-19 season saw the PSA launch the PSA Challenger Tour alongside the PSA World Tour as part of the organisation’s new vision for professional squash, while the WSF and PSA Satellite Tour was also created in partnership with the World Squash Federation (WSF) in order to help up-and-coming players transition from junior tournaments to the professional circuit. This has resulted in a 10% increase in prize money compared to the season before.

Prize money on the women’s tour amounted to $2,937,248 – a 6.6% increase – while the men’s has increased by 12.2% to $4,631,000.

The top earning female player on the tour earned $209,998 last season, an 84.9% increase since the integration of the women’s tour into the PSA in April 2015, with her male counterpart earning $257,153, which is up 59.0% over the same time period. Average earnings for the men’s and women’s top 25 totalled $76,245 and $61,567, respectively.

A total of 639 events took place across the PSA World Tour, PSA Challenger Tour and WSF and PSA Satellite Tour (405 men’s and 234 women’s), an increase of 15.5% on the previous season, with 65 countries hosting a PSA event, including key territories such as United States, Egypt, England, Hong Kong and Canada.

“We are delighted to announce that record prize money was on offer for the 2018-19 season, particularly in light of launching our new tour structure,” said PSA Tour Director Hannah Ridgard-Mason.

“The new tour structure was put in place with the aim of increasing earning potential and playing opportunities across the entire PSA Tour. We are pleased to see that the prize money figures and number of events are continuing to move upwards and are equally content to report a record-high membership total of 971 as well.

“The 2018-19 season was a landmark one for professional squash, with the sport’s first $1 million tournament taking place at the PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family in Chicago, while we also announced a major broadcast deal with Facebook which has allowed us to showcase squash to more people than ever before.

“With squash returning to the Great Pyramid of Giza for the CIB PSA Women’s World Championships 2019-2020 and CIB Men’s Egyptian Squash Open, and new tournaments such as the Mauritius Open joining the calendar, we’re forecasting continued growth over the next 12 months and believe that the future of squash has never been brighter.” 

Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA

US to host event for the first time
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad International Correspondent

Defending champions Egypt are likely to be favourites for the 2019 WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship title in December when the USA hosts the biennial World Squash Federation event for the first time in its 52-year history in Washington DC.

A total of 23 nations will compete in the 26th edition of the championship which will be held, under the auspices of US Squash, at Squash On Fire, the new state-of-the-art membership-free eight-court facility in the U.S. capital from 15-21 December.

Hosts USA will be joined by teams representing Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong China, Ireland, Jamaica, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland & Wales.

USA will be making their 23rd consecutive appearance in the championships since 1973. The 2019 hosts finished in 10th place in the 2017 championship in Marseille, France – where Egypt claimed the title for the fourth time, beating defending champions England in the final.

South American interest will be led by Colombia, featuring 2018 British Open champion Miguel Rodriguez, who will be making only their third appearance in the championship – as will Republic of Korea, who last competed in 2011.

While the 1987 runners-up New Zealand and eight-time champions Australia are two nations which have competed in all previous 25 events, Jamaica will be celebrating only their second appearance after making their debut two years ago in Marseille.

The 2019 championship will also be marking the long-awaited returns of Nigeria and Singapore, who last battled for the men’s title in 1999 and 1997, respectively.

Commenting on hosting the international championship for the first time, Squash On Fire Co-Founder Philippe Lanier said: “Hosting the WSF Men’s World Team Championship at Squash On Fire is an honor – and that it’s is happening in DC is also very exciting. We want to make DC the squash capital of the US, and we can’t wait to welcome players from around the world to our game-changing facility.”

Since its launch in 1967 in Australia, the Men’s World Team Championship has been staged in 12 countries – including Canada in 1977 – but never before in the USA. 

2019 WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship.

Entry List:
Argentina
Australia
Canada
Colombia
Egypt
England
France
Germany
Hong Kong China
Ireland
Jamaica
Kuwait
Malaysia
New Zealand
Nigeria
Republic of Korea
Scotland
Singapore
South Africa
Spain
Switzerland
USA
Wales

Pictures courtesy of WSF

Danny Cipriani has been left out of England's latest training camp in Treviso, Italy.

The Gloucester fly-half was named in the official World Cup training squad earlier this month.

But the Premiership player of the year is not among a 38-man group travelling to Italy on Monday for a 12-day camp.

"We have left some good players doing work at their clubs and they must be ready if called up," said head coach Eddie Jones.

Cipriani was part of a small group of players who spent last week's Bristol training camp doing specialised strength and conditioning work off-site.

But while the Bath pair of Sam Underhill and Anthony Watson are both travelling to Italy this week, Cipriani, who is not injured, has been left at home.

While the RFU says Cipriani will continue to train with an England programme and is certainly not out of contention, his absence suggests his chances are slim of making the final 31-man World Cup squad, which is named on 12 August.

Exeter prop Ben Moon has also been omitted, while Harlequins centre Joe Marchant has been called up.

Experienced full-back Mike Brown is also included after initially missing out on selection.

The trio of injury concerns - prop Mako Vunipola, lock George Kruis, and wing Jack Nowell - are all involved.

"Treviso is a hard-yards camp with conditions similar to Tokyo," Jones explained.

"Team training will be about being adaptable and off the field enjoying each other's company."

Jones will finalise his World Cup party the day after England's opening World Cup warm-up match, which is on Sunday, 11 August against Wales at Twickenham.

England then face Wales in Cardiff, and Ireland at Twickenham, before their final pre-World Cup game, against Italy in Newcastle on Friday, 6 September.

England training squad

Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Brad Shields (Wasps), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Jack Singleton (Saracens), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs), Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons / Sale Sharks)

Backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Piers Francis (Northampton Saints), Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Joe Marchant (Harlequins), Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Ruaridh McConnochie (Bath Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Spencer (Saracens), Ben Te'o (unattached), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Axalta will serve as the primary sponsor of David Gravel and the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 sprint car during the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals.

Representatives from the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series team made the official announcement on JJR’s Twitter page late Monday morning.

The news was first revealed by Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal.

Per Stern, Axalta joins the JJR organization on the advice of retired four-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, who was backed by Axalta throughout his NASCAR career and raced sprint cars before moving to stock cars in the early 1990s.

Gravel moved over to JJR this season from CJB Motorsports, and the pairing has produced impressive results through the first half of the season.

Driving the No. 41, Gravel has earned four wins, 23 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes in 41 feature starts through July 22. His most recent victory came on July 12 at Hartford (Mich.) Speedway.

Jason Johnson Racing won the Knoxville Nationals in 2016, with late team owner and namesake Jason Johnson holding off modern-era Outlaw kingpin Donny Schatz for the win.

Meanwhile, Gravel put up a perfect score of 500 points during his Knoxville preliminary night in 2017, but an engine failure during the championship feature left him unable to claim the $150,000 top prize.

CONCORD, N.C. — Another Indy 500 has come and gone and I am convinced THE RACE is back to the all-caps version I lived as a kid.

That is, THE RACE means the Indy 500, not any other (lowercase) race, for now and for all time.

For most of my life, that event has been among the brightest of lights for me. It was on par with Christmas, my birthday and basketball state championships (I am a Hoosier, by the grace of God).

Amid the past troubles with the formation of CART, the subsequent outing of USAC, the formation of the IRL, which morphed into IndyCar, there were some lean years for the 500, which resulted in the de-capitalization of the word race.

No longer.

It’s as if I blinked and the 500-Mile Race reappeared, in all its glory and portent, the same way it had been when I started attending during the 1970s.

Now, Indy 500 purists (and I count myself one) have differing opinions of the event. Some like it, some tolerate it and some outright despise it, for his or her own reasons. I never despised it, regardless of some ham-handedness from certain parties, but there were a few years when the interest factor waned a bit.

I always paid attention and always watched the race, usually from Charlotte Motor Speedway, seeing as how I worked in NASCAR at the time.

The past five or so races? They were for sure and certain the pure quill.

This year’s race was gold, too. Simon Pagenaud owned the month, but Alexander Rossi’s ride amid the Red Mist was the stuff of legends, harking back to stirring drives by guys such as A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Gordon Johncock and Mario Andretti. He fell a few feet short, but the show was one for the ages.

Pagenaud became the first French driver to win since Calvin Coolidge was in the White House (1920, to be exact) and he did it with a gritty drive of his own. He was on a mission, too, leading more than half the race to earn his likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

The racing was better too, these past four or five years, than at any time since the heyday of the 1970s and 1980s. At no time was any driver just a mortal lock to cross the finish line three-quarters of a lap ahead of the runner-up. The formula seems to be working in terms of competition and the new cars look damned smart.

I love the fact that the drivers, from the oldest driver in the field down to the kids just out of high school, can point these missiles where they need to go and generally don’t cause the kinds of stupid wrecks we’ve seen in years past.

The pageantry was spectacular as always and I thought NBC did justice to the pomp and ceremony the way ABC had done for many years. The flyover was by-God wonderful, too, though I wonder how the F-15 was able to hang low and slow with the other planes.

Feelings are fleeting at times and difficult to describe at others. There’s an essence about Indy for me that had been, if not missing, then not nearly as evident as it was for the past 40 years. That essence was in full bloom and glory this year and it was a wondrous feeling.

I’ve often said the Indy 500 is the race of all races, the Boss Daddy of all motorized contests the world over. It was when I was a kid, it was when I was a young man and it has returned to its unquestioned position atop the motorsports mountain.

Sure, there aren’t any more Unsers, Foyts or Rutherfords in the field and Tony Hulman has been gone since 1977. Most of the people I knew from my earliest days at the speedway are either gone or no longer involved, and it was the people who made it great.

But this past May, at The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, I could feel them all watching and smiling and clapping and shaking their heads at the race that was put on that day.

The all-caps version of THE RACE was back, and it appears that it will remain in all caps for the foreseeable future.

LONG POND, Pa. – The nickname for Pocono Raceway – the Tricky Triangle – is a cute and fitting slogan.

It might win the overly obvious award because the speedway’s triangular layout is indeed tricky for drivers and teams alike.

For the drivers in Friday’s FortsUSA 150 at Pocono, the track’s three distinct corners present a challenge. Each has a different radius, a different degree of banking, and a different way to approach each one.  For some drivers, the best way to approach the track’s challenging turns is to use skills from road racing.

On a road course, every one of each circuit’s turns is vastly different. The same thing goes for Pocono, except there are no turns to the right. So drivers with a little road racing expertise may have a slight advantage over the competition.

At least that’s what Michael Self is hoping.

Self, who has a 90-point lead in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings over second-place Bret Holmes, made the transition to stock cars after starting his career in road racing. Although he doesn’t compete regularly in sports car events on road courses, he’s still an active driver coach. He recently guided recent Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner Justin Haley to the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship and assisted Haley when he raced in the SCCA Trans-Am TA2 Series.

Even with expertise that other drivers don’t have, Self and his Venturini Motorsports team led by veteran crew chief Shannon Rursch found the Tricky Triangle to be just that.

“This year the biggest challenge we had the first time we were there was setup,” Self said. “We fought it all weekend long before we had a mechanical issue with the car. As far as driver goes, Pocono is very demanding. It’s very disciplined. It’s easy to over drive even though it’s so big. You can bite yourself really badly and not even realize you’re doing it until you watch video or on Dartfish.”

Dartfish is a program that allows a driver and team to overlay video of two laps to make a direct comparison. Self and his team use it extensively and it helped him figure out the best way to handle Pocono as a driver.

“On test day I was over driving it really bad,” he said. “I watched the Dartfish video and decided that I was going to calm down and we went out and finished third that day.”

Self can pinpoint exactly why that road racing background helps him in his quest to score a victory at Pocono.

“The variety of corners you get in road racing, every corner is different,” he said. “It’s the same at Pocono. You expect something different every time. The techniques you use in road racing, wanting to be back on the throttle early, that applies. The discipline it takes to be good at road racing applies as well.”