GB call-up and records broken as DAC athletes start the summer season in style

Derby Athletic Club athletes have had a great start to the season with PBs, county championship golds, club records and a GB call-up.

Middle-distance runner Molly Hudson has continued to build on her excellent indoor season by opening the outdoor campaign with a PB and a club record (breaking her own record) of 4.07:27 in the 1500m. Molly set the time at the Belfast Classic on 9 May.

Molly (DAC vest, left) during her 1500 race at the Belfast Classic.

400m specialist Caitlin Hadfield was delighted to receive a GB call-up for the Loughborough International event on 17 May at Loughborough University. U18 sprinter Caitlin, who had set an age-group East Midlands lead in the 400m in April (54.00 sec at the Loughborough Open) was chosen to run in the mixed 4 x 400m relay as well as the match 400m race as part of the GB Juniors team.

Caitlin had a great run in the individual 400m race, finishing in 54.13, fifth in a strong field which included 2026 World Relays sprinter Charlotte Henrich and BUCS 2026 outdoor 400m champion Jess Astill. And in the 4 x 400m mixed relay, the final event of the day, Caitlin ran the last leg and used her 400m experience to pull past the Scottish athlete inside the final 200m to claim a fifth place for the team.

Focused: Caitlin in her GB vest gets ready for her 400m race at LIA.

Caitlin with the rest of the GB Juniors mixed relay team.

Other DAC athletes competing at LIA were:

Valentina Costa, who ran an SB of 2:11.28 for Loughborough Students in the 800m match race
Sam Flaherty, who placed fourth in the 1500m men’s guest race with 3:58.27
Evie Jones, who ran an SB of 4:46.56 in the 1500m women’s guest race
Kaylah McKenzie, who placed fourth in the 100m women’s B race in 11.90

DAC middle-distance runner Osniel Segal won the inaugural Barry Parker Memorial Trophy for the U16 boys 800m race at the Derbyshire County Championships.

Barry, who died last year, was a former DAC chair and for many years a leading light in county athletics, and in his youth was a strong 880-yard runner, winning the Junior Boys 880-yard race at English Schools in 1963.

Osniel, known as Ozzy, which by chance was also Barry’s nickname as a young man, surged past Burton AC athlete Jacob Dutton in the closing stages of the race to win the U16 800m race in a PB of 2:01.48, also a new DAC age-group record.

Osniel with the Barry Parker Memorial trophy for the 800m at Derbyshire County Championships.

The County Championships also saw DAC’s Ruby Arnold set a UK lead for the shot in her U14 age group with 12.92, a club age-group record, along with a club age-group record in the 0.75kg discus with a throw of 47.79m. Ruby extended her PBs in 1kg discus (40.20m) and 3kg shot (12.33m) at the Staffordshire Midweek Open on 18 May.

Many County Champs successes for DAC athletes included more than 40 county championship titles:

Sprint gold medals for Kaylah McKenzie, Caitlin Hadfield, Ella Blakey (Yorkshire CCs), Lauren Blakey, Emily Hayden de Carbonnieres, Liam Skipper, Henry Booth, Oliver Hume, Levi Heath, Joel Akande and the U18 men’s relay team
Hurdles gold medals for Alice Britten, Bobby Rushton and Samuel Coulson
Distance gold medals for Joyce Lenton, Olivia Lee, Isobel Shipley, Constance Jenneson, Lillie Jeffries-Williams, Steph Spencer, William Saunders, Osniel Segal, Frederick Harrison, Remi Clifford and Joseph Lang
Throws gold medals for Ruby Arnold, Chloe Gates, Jodie Kennedy, Maizie Kennedy, Kelse Hutchinson, Jenson Woolley, Shay Tarbit, Barry Hawksworth and Trevor Tarbit
Jumps gold medals for Oscar Fuller, Samuel Coulson, Richard Coulson and Dan Leonard

Another club record broken this year is the senior men’s discus, with Shay Tarbit throwing 50.08m in Doncaster in April to beat a record that had stood for more than 10 years.

Well done to all our athletes for their success and let’s hope for a great rest of the 2026 summer season.