Dacorum hurdler Mia McIntosh added to her successes this weekend competing at the England Athletics Age Group (U15/U17/U20) Indoor Championships in Sheffield.
Mia came into the tournament as someone to watch, as she currently holds the British under 15 and under 17 outdoor hurdle records (75m and 80m respectively) as well as being second in the under 15 all-time list for 60m hurdles. But moving into under 20 is always going to be a challenge at this highly technical event. Mia had already made a good start to the season setting a PB of 8.41 at Loughborough.
Mia managed to win her heat despite hitting a couple of hurdles in the process and managing 8.70 to be third fastest finalist. This seemed to set up a 3-way competition between Mia, ex-Dacorum hurdler Marli Jessop and Philippa Ellis of Gateshead, assuming they could all execute well. Mia and Marli started side by side in the middle lanes and didn’t disappoint, both reaching the first hurdle ahead of the rest. Hurdle by hurdle Mia pulled away but the gap remained small all the way to the line. As if winning wasn’t enough the clock showed 8.23 which was later rounded down to 8.22, not only a massive PB but putting Mia second on the British all-time list alongside Lesley-Ann Skeete and Cindy Sember (both Olympian hurdlers) and 0.01 behind Alicia Barrett who’s represented GB at the World Championships. This time also puts Mia equal top of the World rankings for 2022!
