A FAIRFIELD Farm College student recently competed at the National Junior Athletics Championships after being selected to represent the South West of England at the competition.
After encouragement from staff, residential student of Fairfield College, 17 year-old Mitchell Brown, found himself competing on a national level last week at the National Junior Athletics Championships organised by the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS).
“Mitchell’s sporting talents were going unnoticed in school until Rachel Bown, sports coordinator at Fairfield, and sports inclusion lead for Wiltshire, supported Mitch to enter the regional athletic trials in Exeter earlier this year,” explained principal of Fairfield Farm College Dr Tina Pagett.
“Mitch was one of only eight young people that qualified to represent the South West of England at the National Junior Athletics Championships held at Warwick University last weekend.
“Mitch qualified for the 100m, 200m and 400m in the T20 (learning disabilities) category.
“On day one of his first ever competition, he came second in the heats and ran 13.27 seconds to come second in the final, that’s second in the country for his age and category!
“Mitch went on to come 4th in the 400m against really experienced athletes from clubs and schools from across the country, running in 65.5 seconds and taking a whole 12 seconds off from his regional qualifying time.
“On day two he qualified for the final in the 200m, coming in second and finishing in 28.38 seconds, going on to come 4th in the final.
“A fantastic end to an amazing weekend for Mitch, well done Mitch, we are all so proud of you. Thanks to Rachel Bown for recognising Mitch’s talents and supporting him through the regional trials and national competition.”
This is only the beginning of Mitchell’s athletics career and his mentor agrees. “This boy has a big future in athletics,” said Rachel Bown
Fairfield Farm College is a specialist college for young people with learning disabilities. More information about the college can be found on their website http://ffc.ac.uk/
