Reading ACs combined events athlete Sammy Ball, coached by Mike Dyer and Kevin Cranmer, has won the English Schools intermediate boys’ octathlon in a UK all time best score of 5,820 points. The competition was held at the Bedford Stadium on 18 and 19 September 2021 and was the culmination of this year’s combined events calendar.
Representing Berkshire Schools Sammy led the competition from start to finish and contributed to Berkshire also winning the gold medal in the team competition.
Although Sammy did not achieve any personal best performances in the eight events (long jump, discus, javelin, 400m, 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 1,500m), when all the performances were added together his overall score surpassed his own previous UK best ever performance by seven points.
Training buddy Joe Frew competed in the senior boys decathlon finishing in fourteenth place from a field of thirty-five with a score of 5,535 points. Two other members of the Reading AC training squad who had qualified for the championships, Hal Rust D’eye and Charlotte Bigmore were unfortunately not able to compete.
Sammy will now go on to represent England against Scotland, Wales and Ireland at an indoor pentahlon on 4 December 2021 in Glasgow.
For the competition results, please follow the link below.
To see the YouTube video of Sammy’s performance, please follow the link below.
Sammy Ball
2021 English Schools’
Octathlon Champion