Stratford duo finish in top-seven at British Indoor Championships

STRATFORD Athletic Club duo Lewis Byng and Rory Dwyer finished sixth and seventh in their respective events at the British Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

Less than 24 hours after winning the ‘Young Achiever’ accolade at the Pride of Stratford Awards, Byng lined up for the shot put final at Arena Birmingham alongside eight other of the country’s best throwers.

By far the youngest in the field and in just his third competition with the senior weight shot, Byng produced a lifetime best of 15.97m to finish a highly respectable sixth.

Only a small handful of British shot putters have ever thrown farther at the age of 17. Byng, however, felt he was capable of an even bigger throw.

“After some massive warm-up throws, I tensed up and couldn’t get back into the right frame of mind,” he posted on his Instagram account.

“I know I’m capable of much more. Now it’s time to work on competition prep for the British U20 Indoor Champs in two weeks.”

Dwyer, who returned to action last year after missing all of 2017 with a back injury, cleared 2.04m in the high jump to finish seventh, his best ever placing at a national senior championship.

One week prior, Dwyer had jumped a season’s best of 2.13m, just two centimetres shy of his indoor PB and a mark that ranks him seventh in the country this year for the high jump.