As he prepares for the 2012 outdoor athletics season, Year 8 pupil Nabil Haque is looking to build on his successes of 2011.
During last season Nabil recorded a number of strong performances in both track and field events. These culminated in him representing Middlesex at the National Schools’ Athletics Championships, where he won the shot put with a throw of 11.2m. He was a member of the Middlesex 4 x 100m relay team, which won the event in a UK record time for their age group of 49.48s. And he competed for Shaftesbury Harriers at a national club meeting, winning the 200m in 24.5s and the shot put with 11.5m.
Nabil also received a Jack Petchey Award for his athletics achievement, which was presented to him at Arts Depot in Finchley.
The Jack Petchey Foundation has invested millions of pounds each year in more than 2,000 schools across London and Essex. The organisation offers awards to young people aged 11-25 to recognise their achievements in a range of activities, from athletics to music. Nabil will now choose how to spend the £200 cash award from the foundation, which can be spent on additional equipment for a school or club, but not core administration costs.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It was a very good, action-packed day, with pupils engaging well and relishing the excitement of competition. The weather held out for us, despite predictions of rain storms, although at one point the wind almost made the scorer’s gazebo take off, in apparent imitation of the high jump competition taking place adjacent to it!”
Sports Day was rounded off in traditional style with the running of the QE Mile – a 16 x 100m relay, which saw the six Houses compete against Sixth Form and staff teams and against an additional mixed team comprising both sixth-formers and staff members. The race was won by this joint staff-Sixth Form team, with the staff team second, the Sixth Form third and with Broughton taking the honours as the best of the Houses in fourth place.