Congratulations to Michael E (Year 9) won gold and silver medals at the England Athletics Indoor Championships.
Held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, Michael placed first the U15 800m race with a winning time of 2:09.65 and came second in the 200m final with a personal best of 23:51.
Michael also won the 800m at the South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) Championship in January with a record time of 2:05.25.
At the beginning of the competition, Michael said his initial nerves soon went away after he started warming up and was pleased to beat his personal best. He said: “I was very happy… it felt like all of my hard work had paid off.”
Since joining Eton in September, Michael has thrown himself into School life. He said: “It’s been very easy to settle into boarding. We’ve got really good House spirit and it’s nice because you can always talk to the older boys and ask them for advice.
“They have been really kind, and helped all of us new boys settle in really well.”
In Michaelmas, Michael took part in the Junior Football Ties and loved that his House Master, Dame, Dame’s Assistants, and all the boys came out to support them when they reached the Final. He said: “In our House, we’re quite big on everyone always going out to support each other, so the Junior boys will go watch the Senior boys, and then they’ll come and watch us as well.”
Outside of competitions, he has enjoyed training with the U14 football team three times a week and “working with the coach and the boys” throughout the season.
As a Music Exhibitionist, he is also involved in a lot of music at the College. Michael plays both the piano and tuba, and is a member of the choir and junior concert band which he said “has been really fun”.
Being able to pursue both sport and music has been the highlight of Michael’s Eton experience so far. He said: “The thing that I’ve enjoyed most about coming to Eton has been that there’s a lot of time to do the things that you want to do and you have a lot of freedom to make decisions for yourself and get involved in lots of different things.”
Later this Half (term), Michael is excited to get involved in even more sports fixtures: “I’m really looking forward to the House Athletics Competition. We have a very good relay team for this year and I’ll also try my best in all of the individual events.”
