Sixth Former’s Summer of Sporting Success
A Headington sixth former had a summer of sporting success after being crowned three-time world champion.
After a challenging weekend of events, Evey (L6) picked up three gold medals at the UPIM 2023 Laser Run World Championships.
At the mid-August event, which took place at the University of Bath, the host nation dominated in the U17 category in which Evey was competing. The event saw over 560 athletes representing 33 different countries competing in age ranges from under 9s to over 70s.
Evey qualified for the event at the National Championships earlier this year.
The U17 Laser Run is five shots at 10m followed by a 600m run, four times.
The final was a thrilling event where Evey caught up with the lead in the second half of the competition then raced neck and neck with her GB teammate Immi, closely followed by another athlete from Egypt. At the fourth and final shoot, Evey and Immi arrived with a decent lead on the Egyptian athlete. The wind suddenly picked up and both struggled with their last shot.
Evey’s mother, Mrs Ellen Herlaar said: “It was an edge of your seat moment on who was going to leave the shooting range first for that final 600m run. You could see the others arrive, starting to catch up with the pair. Immi also knew she needed a good lead on Evey to win this race.”
Immi took the lead after getting the final shot in first. After an impressive sprint to the finish, Evey caught up with Immi in the final 300m stretch and finished with a 15m lead in first place: World Champion! Her placing also secured her a team gold.
On the next day, Evey returned to the competiton to take part in the mixed relay day where she claimed the team gold with her teammate Dylan.
Earlier in the summer, Evey raced in the South East Athletics Association Track and Field Championships at Lee Valley, winning gold in the U17 1500m competition.
Mrs Sarah Grant, Headington’s Head of Sport said: “It is so wonderful to hear about all of these unbelievable achievements and really is staggering how well Evey is doing.”
Mrs Herlaar said: “What an amazing few days of sport.
“The icing on the cake was receiving Evey’s GCSE results on the 24th. Great achievements there too and she’s looking forward to another two years at Headington studying for her A Levels.”
