Athlete
List
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Sotherton
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Holmes
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Radcliffe
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H
Lizzie
Hall
Nikki Hamblin
Ashia Hansen
Joanne Harvey
Melissa Hawtin
Blue Haywood
Adam Hickey
Jessica Hicks
Ron Hill
Kate Hindle
Aine Hoban
Angus
Holford
Miles Hollinshead
Claire Holme
Kelly Holmes
Katie Holt
Sarah Hopkinson
Tom Humpheries
Ben Hunter
|
Full Name: |
Sarah
Hopkinson
|
Sex: |
Female |
Age: |
|
Club: |
Gloucester
AC |
Coach: |
David
Farrow |
Trains: |
Blackbridge
Track, Gloucester |
County: |
Gloucestershire |
Event: |
Middle
distance, Cross-country, steeplechase |
Personal Bests:
Cross-country |
Outdoor
Flat - women's only |
300m
|
43.6
|
May 2004 |
Gloucestershire,
GBR
|
800m
|
2:13.4
|
13
June
2004
|
Worchester,
GBR
|
1200m
|
3:44.5
|
2003
|
GBR
|
1500m
|
4:33.8
|
12 June 2004
|
Watford, GBR
|
1 Mile
|
4:59.61
|
6th May 2004
|
Oxford, GBR
|
3000m
|
10:31.73
|
30 June 2004
|
Birmingham, GBR
|
Outdoor
Flat - Mixed |
3000m (mixed)
|
|
|
|
Indoor
Flat |
800m
|
2:15.01 |
2004 |
Birmingham,
GBR
|
1500m
|
4:42.47
|
4th Jan 2004
|
Cardiff ,GBR
|
Steeplechase
|
1500m s/c
|
4:50.5
|
23rd
May 2007
|
Southampton,
GBR
|
2002
Sarah holds the UK record
for the mile at age 10.
2003
|
Sarah won the Cheltenham Race
for Life. |
Winter 2003 -
2004
Sarah
is the English
Schools' Junior Girl's Cross Country Cup champion. She won the
title at Middlesbrough, where she ran a superb race to claim victory by
four seconds.
"It was nice for Sarah
to win because she was third last year,"
said David Farrow.
|
She
confirmed as Britain's No 1 over 600m, 800m, 1,200m and 1,500m in the UK U13
girls' ranking in December 2003. She also tops the UK Under-13s all-time
list in the 300m (44.5), 1200m (3.44.5) and 1 mile (5.14.1) and features in the
top four in the other middle distance events.
Sarah
won the junior girls' race in the Gloucestershire Schools' Cross-country
Championships over Forest trails at
Heywood School in Cinderford.
|
Sarah
was 5th at the Reebok Challenge in Cardiff
in a time of 11:56. She was able to move up from Under 13s
because of the different age group rules operated by Schools authorities.
|
1st Feb - Sarah (currently) tops the U15 girls indoor rankings
2004 (4th U17/U20) with 4:42.47 for 1500m on 4th Jan 04 in Cardiff, 16
seconds ahead of her nearest rival, Kayleigh-Ann Brown (Carm).
Sarah
Hopkinson also came away with a personal best in the Under-15s 800m in the AAA
Indoor Championships in Birmingham. The 12-year-old Gloucester AC runner
finished second in a time of 2:15.01 in a race won by Edinburgh's Lynsey Sharp
in a championship record and UK Under-15 best time of 2:12.79.
"It was a fantastic turn of speed for Sarah and her time was only 0.2
seconds outside the European Age 12 record," added
Farrow. "It was also
a great thrill for Sarah as it was her first medal at a major
championships."
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire
|
English Schools
cross-country
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire
Pre-race:
English Schools, Kent: Sarah Hopkinson will line up in the English Schools
for the first time in the junior girls' race and will be hoping for a top 10
place to atone for last week's disappointing result in the Inter-counties
Championships.
|
In
March, Sarah took the Bronze in the Junior Girls' race at English Schools in
Maidstone, Kent, only 2 seconds behind winner, Joanne
Harvey.
On
top of this, Sarah has been selected to represent England in the Home Countries
International next month, and will now finish her season by running for England against Northern
Ireland, Scotland and Wales in Ayr on Saturday, April 3.
The 12-year-old Gloucester AC runner trains with Emily
Pidgeon in David Farrow's coaching group and it is the first time they have
run internationally together.
"I'm really looking forward to running in Ayr
with Sarah. It will be nice to go away together," said
Pidgeon.
Hopkinson, 12, will be hoping to follow in her footsteps next year and she can
be satisfied with her bronze medal on her English Schools debut.
"We were looking for Sarah to bounce back
after her disappointing run in Nottingham and she did just that,"
said coach Farrow.
|
British Schools
cross-country
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire
After
her training partner,
Emily
Pidgeon's, withdrawl from the
Home
Nations Schools Cross
country championships in Ayr.
Pidgeon's withdrawal was equally
disappointing for her Gloucester clubmate
"I think Sarah was
really looking forward to having Emily along and without her it will be more
demanding and challenging for Sarah,"
added Farrow. "It will
be an interesting experience for Sarah and it represents another step up the
ladder for her."
This upset in her
preparations didn't seem to hamper Sarah though, as she was just outsprinted
into the silver medal position in the closing 50 metres of the junior girls' race by Devon
athlete Joanne Harvey.
|
Summer
2004
British milers' club PB
Classic
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire
Sarah
Hopkinson opened the 2004 summer in superb style by setting a new UK Age record
in the British Milers' Club PB Classic at Somerset's Millfield School.
She took full advantage of the conditions and the good competition in Monday
(3rd May) night's meeting to set a personal best at 1500m.
Hopkinson
shaved four seconds off her personal best in the 1500m. Her time of 4:35.86 was
a new UK Age 12 best and again was only a fraction shy of the European record
for that age group.
"It was a terrific run
by Sarah in what was a very high quality race,"
added Farrow.
|
Roger Bannister memorial
mile
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire |
|
For the second time in four days
Sarah Hopkinson has re-written the track history books. Her latest exploits took
place in front of one of the legends of British athletics, Sir Roger Bannister.
On the same Iffley Road track in Oxford - now a modern all-weather surface
compared to the cinders in 1954, Gloucester AC runner Hopkinson set a new European Age best times in Thursday
(6th May) night's Under-20s mile race, which was held at the meeting staged to
celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bannister's ground-breaking first sub-four
minute mile. She finished fourth and just dipping under the five-minute barrier
with a time of 4:59.61. Clubmate Emily
Pidgeon won the Under-20s race in a time of four minutes 50.68 seconds. Non
Stanford was second with Hannah England third.
"Emily's
time was a new British and European Age 14 record while Sarah's was a British
and European age 12 and 13 record,"
said proud coach David Farrow.
Sarah was presented with a special commemorative medal to celebrate the
Bannister mile by Diane Leather, who was the first British woman to break five
minutes for the mile in 1954, and also spoke to Bannister.
|
Rodger
Bannister at the meeting
|
21st May
- Sarah won the 300m and 800m at the Gloucestershire County Track & Field
Championships at the Prince
of Wales Stadium
with times of 43.6 and 2:13.9 respectively.
Hopkinson, 12, shadowed her clubmate all the way round
before falling back slightly over the final 100 in her 800m race. Her time of
two minutes, 13.9 seconds was a new stadium age group record and an European age
12 record. Pidgeon's winning time of two mins, 12.4secs was a new stadium
under-17 record.
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire |
In Birmingham, Sarah Hopkinson was left reflecting on what
might have been.
When the 12-year-old Gloucester AC runner crossed the finish line of the 800m in
2:12.5 it appeared she had set a new UK and European Age 12 record.
But within minutes, it had been confirmed that the unfortunate Hopkinson had
been disqualified after breaking from her lane too early on the first lap.
"It was a real shame for Sarah because she ran
out of her skin and it was a great time,"
said coach David Farrow.
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire |
Sarah
Hopkinson clocked an impressive 2:15.75 in the 800m despite blustery winds that
slowed all the times in the British Milers Club meeting in Cardiff.
Sarah
Hopkinson, coached by David Farrow, was in gold medal form at the Midland
Championships.
The talented 12-year-old burst clear at the bell of the Under-15s 800m and she
raced to victory in a time of 2:15.38.
"It was a very
pleasing win for Sarah and nice for her to win a title,"
added Farrow.
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire
|
Sarah Hopkinson ran an Age-12 best at the British Milers Club meeting in Watford
on 13th June. Hopkinson finished down the field but clocked a startling 4:33.8
in the 1500m B race.
Sarah
Hopkinson set two personal bests at the Worcester Open meeting on Tuesday [15th
June] evening. She ran 13.3 over 100m, which she ran for speedwork, and
then ran the 800m, setting a new best and UK age 12 best of 2:13.4. The time
shaved half a second off her own UK record that she set earlier this season in
the Gloucestershire County Championships and made up for the disappointment of
being disqualified from a recent BMC race when it looked like she had run as
quick.
"It was a
tremendous run because it was only a low-key meeting and there was quite a
blustery wind," said
coach, David Farrow. "We
knew she had the time in her because she ran around 2:13 in the BMC race at
Solihull before she was disqualified."
Coming four days after her UK record over 1500m at Watford (4:33.8), it
completed a superb couple of days for Hopkinson.
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire |
Sarah had a great race against Devon's Joanne Harvey in the South West
Schools' Championships at Yeovil, the pair racing neck and neck until the
closing stages when Harvey pulled clear for victory in a new championship best
time of 2:12.5, the fastest in the UK this summer by a junior girl, Hopkinson
finishing just below her best in 2:14.2.
Sarah set a championship best of 10:31.73 in winning the Under-15 girls
3000m, held in conjunction with the senior championships at the Midlands
Championships in Birmingham.
English Schools T&F
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire
Pre-race English Schools
Track and Field Championships, Junior Girls 1500m:
Cheltenham Ladies' College pupil Sarah Hopkinson will be competing in the
under-15 girls' 1500m. Her best time for the distance is four minutes, 33.8
seconds, and she is favourite to take the title. |
12-year-old
Sarah Hopkinson was running her first Schools' track and field championship.
But
Hopkinson, who trains alongside Emily Pidgeon
in David Farrow's group, is already a wise head on young shoulders and she
proved too strong for her rivals pulling clear for a marvellous victory, predeceasing her training partner Emily Pidgeon in the Junior Girls'
category, after winning her heat convincingly. Her time in the final of 4:37.25
was just enough to pip Greater Manchester's Lucy McLoughlin for the top spot! |
Gloucester
Ac members were on top form in the recent Watford Open Graded and British Milers
Club Meeting. In the BMC events, Sarah Hopkinson finished third in the women's
800m B race in 2:13.63, only 2 tenths of a second outside her PB.
Winter
2004 - 2005
Sarah
Hopkinson opened her winter season at the Bristol Year of Sport/British Milers
Club Road Races.
On a tight five-lap, traffic-free
course next to the Cathedral in Bristol City centre, the 12-year-old Gloucester
Athletic Club was pushed hard by Bristol and West AC's Katie Knowles in
the opening stages, but Hopkinson eventually pulled clear to win by 12 seconds
in a time of 5:25.
"That was a good start
to my winter programme and I enjoyed the race,"
said Hopkinson.
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire |
26th September
- Sarah tops the U15 girls' seasons outdoor rankings for 1500m with 4.33.8, and
lies 6th on the 800m rankings with 2:13.4 and 4th on the 3000m rankings with
10:31.73.
Pre-race:
Natalie Grant (Rotherham Harriers) will be looking to repeat her victory
in Falkirk in the Under 15 Girl’s race. Grant, will be joined by Kate
Hindle (Preston Harriers) runner-up in Falkirk and last year’s Under 13
Girls Series winner Eilish McColgan
(Dundee Hawkhill Harriers). Gloucester’s Sarah Hopkinson is also in the
field.
|
|
Sarah
Hopkinson won the U15s race at the Reebok Cross Challenge race in
Birmingham. |
Despite
an early lead by Blue Haywood (Lincoln
Wellington AC), Sarah
Hopkinson
(Gloucester AC) took control in the final stages of the 3km course, to
come home first in 13:21 ahead of Jordan Kinney (Royal Sutton Coldfield)
who chased her hard to the line. Rebecca
Gough (Team Southampton) finished strongly to take third spot.
Hopkinson
said: “I’m really pleased with how the
race went. I felt strong, especially towards the end. I plan to run in
most of the Reebok Cross Challenge races this season.”
|
Gloucester
Ac members were prominent at the Nike British Milers Club Four Kilometre
Cross-country Classic held on Clifton Downs, Bristol.
Sarah
Hopkinson retained her intermediate girls title with a win over three
kilometres in a new course record of 10:48. |
The
top three from the Under 15 Girls race at the Reebok Birmingham Cross
Challenge are all in the field: Sarah Hopkinson (Gloucester AC), who also
won the Inter Girls race at the BMC Cross Country Classic in Bristol last
weekend, Jordan Kinney (Royal Sutton Coldfield) and Rebecca
Gough (Team Southampton). Current Under 15 Girls Series rankings
leader Kate Hindle (Preston Harriers) also runs. |
|
Parliament hills |
|
|
|
Sarah
Hopkinson was 3rd in the U15s race at the Reebok Cross Challenge race in
Liverpool. |
|
GLOUCESTER
AC runner Sarah Hopkinson finished runner-up in the Under-17s 800m in a personal
best time of 2:17 at the Sheffield Indoors meeting on Sunday.
Hopkinson
was just edged out in a sprint finish by Danielle
Walker, one of the girls who has just spent the last month training
with Kelly Holmes in South Africa.
|
Pre-race:
SARAH'S
BIG TEST
Thanks
to thissisgloucestershire
Sarah
Hopkinson will start among the medal contenders for tomorrow's English
Schools cross-country final in Oswestry.
The 13-year-old Gloucester AC runner is
representing Cheltenham Ladies College in the competition, which she won
last year in the junior age group.
But tomorrow, due to different age groups used in
this competition, she is stepping up into the intermediate girls, so she
will face girls at least a year older.
"I
think a top three place is a reasonable expectation because Sarah will be
up against some good girls,"
said her coach, David Farrow.
"I
think a top three place is a reasonable expectation because Sarah will be
up against some good girls,"
said her coach, David Farrow. |
Sarah
Hopkinson enjoyed a successful race in Oswestry. Representing
Cheltenham Ladies College, 13-year-old Hopkinson, who also competes for
Gloucester AC and is coached by Farrow, finished runner-up in the English
Schools Cross-Country Cup final.
Despite being one of the youngest girls in the
intermediate age group, Hopkinson came a close second to Devon winner Joanne
Harvey from Ivybridge. |
20
January 2005 - Sarah Hopkinson was
a distant 3rd in the UWIC/BMC Indoor meeting 3000m around the tight indoor
track in Cardiff behind Emily Pidgeon
and top Welsh senior Catherine Dugdale. Hopkinson's time of
10:03.99 was also a personal best and moved the 13-year-old to second on
the UK Under-15 rankings - behind, of course, Pidgeon.
Adapted from
thissisgloucestershire |
12th March |
English Schools XC |
Norwich |
Junior girls |
38th |
Summer 2005
The
Women’s 800m A race yielded two meeting records. Emily Goodall (Crawley
AC) won in 2:11.26, becoming the fastest yet Under 17 over the distance at
this meeting. Danielle Walker (Royal Sutton Coldfield AC), one of the
teenagers to benefit from being On Camp With Kelly, was second in 2:11.59,
also inside the previous Under 17 meeting record. And Sarah Hopkinson
(Gloucester AC) took third place in 2:12.41, the quickest time registered
by an Under 15.
|
13-year-old
Sarah Hopkinson (Gloucester AC) lowered her PB to 2:10.6 – entering the
UK all-time top 10 – in winning the Gloucestershire Under 15 800m title
at Cheltenham. |
BMC,
Manchester: Sarah was 3rd in the Women's 1500m B race in a time of
4:33.60. |
Winter 2005/6
Sarah
Hopkinson
was third in the Under 18 Women's race at the Cinque
Mulini in Italy. |
Pre-race:
Under
15 girls (year 8 & 9) 3km – UK Cross Challenge leader Blue
Haywood (Lincoln Wellington) will renew battle with Charlotte Purdue
(Aldershot, Farnham and District), who has already won Challenge races in
London and Liverpool this winter; Sarah Hopkinson (Gloucester), who is
another fine prospect in the same training group as Emily Pidgeon; and
Tamara Armoush (Amber Valley), who was second in the Under 13 Girls’
race her 12 months ago and has run so consistently well this winter that
she currently holds third place in the UK Cross Challenge standings.
|
|
Sarah
was 4th in the Under 15 girl's race at the UK Challenge in Cardiff. |
|
|
|
|
|
25th
March |
English
Schools XC |
Mansfield |
Intermediate
Girls |
2nd |
Winter 2006/7
25th
November |
UK
Challenge |
Liverpool |
U17 |
9th |
21st
January |
UK
Challenge |
Cardiff |
U17 |
3rd |
10th March |
National XC |
Sunderland |
U17 |
5th |
24th
March |
English
Schools XC |
Temple
Newsham, Leeds |
Intermediate Girls |
10th |
Summer 2007
23rd May |
Aqua Pura Steeplechase |
Southampton |
1500m s/c |
1st |
4:50.5 |
Aqua-Pura
Steeplechase speeds-up
Under
17s Sarah Hopkinson (Gloucester AC) and Louise Webb (Team Southampton)
both ran quicker than Jo Ankier’s Senior Women’s 1500m Steeplechase
UK record of 4 minutes 52.5 seconds in an Aqua-Pura Development Race at
Southampton on Wednesday May 23. Both were also well inside the UK
Junior Women’s mark of 5.13.7 recorded by Bryony Frost at the 2003
European Junior Championships.
From
the gun, Hopkinson made her intentions clear and the first 400m was run
in a quick 74 seconds with Webb tracking her. Both girls looked very
proficient over the barriers and water jump.
Hopkinson’s
training partner Jessica Sparke (Woodford Green with Essex Ladies),
running the event for the first time, lost ground at each obstacle but
was never far away from the leaders, using her strength over 3k and
cross country to maintain contact.
Running
stride for stride down the home straight, Webb took the last barrier
slightly better to have the edge but Hopkinson proved stronger in the
run to the line to win by half a second.
These
excellent performances bode well for the Aqua-Pura 2,000m steeplechase
event during the St Mary’s Relays meeting at Twickenham on 6 June.
Both Hopkinson and Webb are young enough to gain selection for the IAAF
World Youth Championships to be staged in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where
the UK Athletics selection time to chase is 6:48.00.
Race
result: 1 Sarah Hopkinson (Gloucester AC) 4.50.5; 2 Louise Webb (Team
Southampton) 4.50.9; 3 Jessica Sparke (Woodford Green with Essex Ladies)
4.56.4; 4 Charlotte Bates (Unattached) 5.35.6; 5 Becky Neale (Poole AC)
5.38.8.
Geoff
Watkin, Aqua Pura Steeplechase Coordinator, was delighted with the
performances of all five competitors, adding it was clear that this
year’s Aqua-Pura programme was paying dividends.
He
explained: “At
the start of the year, Louise Webb hadn’t been over a barrier but
through attending the Aqua-Pura sessions at the UK Athletics Endurance
Performance Centre at St Mary’s University Twickenham, she has already
made so much progress in the event. I know that the 1500m steeplechase
is not run too often but these were cracking performances.”
|
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