Any questions concerning the meeting including withdrawing should be directed to Luke Gunn
Live results and Start List are HERE on AthleticLive
Live stream from Vinco HERE
Meeting Timetable: Can be found HERE
Start Lists: Can be found HERE
Meeting Details / Venue etc can be found HERE
BRITISH MILERS CLUB PRESS RELEASE – BIRMINGHAM UNI GP PREVIEW
WITH Birmingham University’s Wavelight Pace system being used for the first time in a Grand Prix meeting and with athletes from 22 countries (* see end of article) among the entries it promises to be another pulsating evening of racing on Saturday.
The late addition of British international and Tokyo Olympian Alexandra Bell, buoyed by her 1:59.43 victory in the superb BMC Tooting meeting on Wednesday and two-times Indian champion and national 1500m record holder Harmilan Baines further promises to light up the much-anticipated World Athletics Challenger Continental Tour event.
“Thanks to Luke (Gunn, meeting director) and Birmingham University this will be the first time we have used the Wavelight Pace system and we are very excited about it,” said BMC CEO Tim Brennan.
“There will also be spectators on the in-field to cheer on the runners, music, street food and free entry for spectators. We are always looking at new ways to freshen up our meetings and thanks to Luke and his team at the University we are able to try these innovations on Saturday.
“It is a great partnership that benefits us both.”
Brennan believes the Wavelight Pace system will be of benefit to the regular pacemakers as well as the runners as they seek fast times.
“I think it could be particularly useful on the crucial third lap in the 1500m when the pacemaker has stepped off the track and the runners are left to fight it out,” added Brennan.
Setting or following a fast pace has never been a problem for Bell and the addition of the Pudsey & Bramley runner, who was third in the UK Championships, is a real boost to the meeting.
The A race already had a strong international flavour to with overseas entries from Greece, Saint Vincent and Puerto Rico.
Shafiqua Maloney of Saint Vincent has strong credentials with a PB of 2:01.58 from 2022 and a season’s best of 2:01.63 and the 24-year-old is targeting her first sub two minutes.
Greek athlete Irini Vasiliou boasts a PB of 2:03.83 this season while Aziza Ayoub-Santiago of Puerto Rico has clocked 2:04.23 this summer.
Khahisa Mhlanga has already enjoyed a Grand Prix A win this summer with a fantastic victory at Loughborough, which she marked with a sparkling PB of 2:00.87 to put her 11th in the UK Rankings.
She also knows how it feels to win at Birmingham University having claimed the Grand Prix 1500m title in May last year while last weekend she won the England Athletics title at the distance.
Having also placed fourth in the UK Championships in 2:01.31, her second fastest time ever, Mhlanga is yet another Brit knocking on the door of two minutes.
Other British runners in the field and just behind Mhlanga in the rankings include Jenny Selman (UK No14, 202.70i), whose best time outdoors is 2:03.98 at the Stretford Gold Standard meeting last month plus Steph Driscoll (UK No 16, PB 2:03.05).
Driscoll won the England Athletics U23s title but agonisingly fell 0.05secs short of the qualifying standard for selection.
England U23 1500m champion Sarah Calvert, who went on to finish 11th at the Europeans in Finland, is also in the field and will be looking to better her season’s best of 2:03.44 which puts her 18th in the UK Rankings.
Newly-crowned England Athletics champion Justin Davies is among the entries for the men’s 800m A race. The Team Bath AC runner was an impressive winner at Chelmsford and is looking for a big finale to the season after illness wrecked his hopes of making the GB team for the European U23 Championships.
“I’d love a time of 1:46 something this season,” said Davies, who set his current PB of 1:47.44 in winning the B race at the Sportcity Grand Prix in May.
Highest UK ranked runner in the field is Cardiff AC’s David Locke, whose season’s best of 1:47.31 also came in May, in Belfast and puts him 21st on the current list just ahead of St Albans AC’s James McMurray (1:47.45).
Piers Copeland is the fastest man in the field with a 1:45.77 to his name and he will be looking to improve his season’s best of 1:47.81 recorded when finishing fourth at the Loughborough GP last month.
David Locke, Zak Curran and Rocco Zaman-Browne are also in the field.
Wirral’s Joe Wigfield has certainly made terrific progress this season. The 23-year-old Liverpool Harrier came into the season with a PB of 3:47.07 which he ran to finish third in the C race at the Watford GP in June last year.
This season he had improved to 3:43.19 for eighth in the Loughborough GP before a stunning leap forward in the BMC Regional Meeting at Tooting on Wednesday night, clocking 3:37.54 for eighth place as the top 11, including six Brits broke 3mins 40secs with a BMC All-Comers record of 3:35.15 going to New Zealand’s Sam Tanner and a BMC Members record of 3:35.39 to Callum Elson.
Wigfield’s time propelled him up to 11th in the UK Rankings, just ahead of Henry McLuckie, who recorded his PB of 3:37.57 in the same race.
Also in the field on Saturday is Tom Dodd (UK 17, 3:39.01), Kane Elliott (UK 18, 3:39.24) and James Heneghan (UK 20, 3:40.54), who will be looking to extend his fine Grand Prix form after finishing runner-up in Loughborough and sixth at Watford.
But fastest man in the field will be Rob Napolitano of Puerto Rico, the two-times national champion and record holder with 3:35.63 from 2021. He has been progressing nicely this summer and just recently recorded a season’s best of 3:37.79 in Belgium so could be running right into form.
Niamh Bridson Hubbard warmed up nicely for the women’s 1500m with a PB of 2:04.45 in the BMC A race at Tooting on Wednesday – a nice way to celebrate her recent 25th birthday!
The Blackheath & Bromley athlete is the fastest Brit in the field having run a PB of 4:10.60 in May and having also finished a strong seventh in the UK Championships and third at the Watford GP looks set to go sub 4:10 for the first time.
Interestingly at Tooting Hubbard was sandwiched by two Americans, who are also in the field for Saturday with Michaela Meyer clocking 2:03.81 and Ella Donaghu 2:05.74.
Both Americans boast sub 4:10 PBs with Meyer boasting a lifetime best of 4:04.02. though that dates back to 2018. This season she has finished just one 1500m, a 4:15.83 at the Morton Games, Dublin, earlier this month.
Another overseas runner to watch will be New Zealand’s Rebekah Green, who was third at Tooting (4:13.92) on Wednesday, her second fastest time this summer after the 4:11.49 for second at the Loughborough GP last month.
The late addition of Indian national record holder Hermila Bains – 405.39 in 2021 – adds extra quality to the field. The 25-year-old recently finished runner-up in both the 800m and the 1500m at the Indian Championships and at the Watford Grand Prix clocked 9:01.30 for second place.
Also in the field is Megan Davies (UK 19), who has run 4:12.76 this season, and has a solid GP record with third at Sportcity, fifth at Loughborough and eighth at Watford.
With Luke Gunn as meeting director you can be guaranteed there will be strong fields for the steeplechase and this weekend shouldn’t disappoint.
The 2000m distance has attracted a strong entry across the age groups with the men’s field headed by Mark Pearce, currently UK No 4 over the 3k event and Phil Norman, who will be tackling the barriers for the first time this season having raced little.
It is also encouraging to see the next generation well represented with Freddie Copper, No 2 in the UK U20 2000m ‘chase Rankings and current UK U17 No 1 over 1500m Dillon Millard also in the field.
The women’s field is as equally intriguing with UK U20 No 1 Gabriella Phelan and No 3 Rachel Clutterbuck both entered as is UK senior champion Poppy Tank, who is coached by Gunn.
The 3000m races have also attracted strong fields with Megan Keith, Jenny Nesbitt and top junior Innes Fitzgerald among the women while the men’s field includes Jack Rowe, Osian Perrin, Zak Seddon and Scott Beattie plus Australian Jackson Sharp.
· The 22 countries represented at Birmingham University are: Andorra, Australia, Cook Islands, Chillie, Denmark, Greece, England, India, Malta, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Qatar, Puerto Rico, Republic of Ireland, Saint Vincent, Scotland, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States of America, Wales.
