National championship for Langholm’s Lewis: Gold medal win in Grangemouth makes athlete National U20s champion

Athletics

LEWIS Bell was pronounced the new Scottish National Under-20 200m Champion after he secured the Gold Medal at the FPSG National U20 Athletics Championships at Grangemouth in a time of 21.86 seconds.

One of his local training partners, 16-year-old Finlay Waugh from Annan, followed closely behind to win the silver with a personal best time of 21.89 seconds.
Lewis was in good form and entered the Championships following a recent win in Pitreavie. This was a highly competitive event, with several of the top 10 ranked U20 athletes competing, including the current U17 Champion, Finlay Waugh and Stewart Greenhalgh from England, who outranked them all.
Lewis’s heat went to plan with him winning in 22.51 seconds and the final was a tremendous race with the aforementioned athletes battling up to the line and Lewis held strong to win in his new personal best time of 21.86 seconds.
Following many years of rugby, through Primary and Secondary School, Lewis turned his focus to athletics in 2015 and has had successes in the 400m and latterly 200m, reaching silver medal at both Scottish Schools Championship and Scottish East District Championship level. He has also won his age group at the Edinburgh & Lothian Trials for the last four years. On attending University of Abertay in Dundee, the successes have continued. He has gained podium level at both the National indoor and outdoor University & College Championships.
Lewis is focussed on his training regime which comprises sessions dedicated to power and acceleration, maximum velocity, anaerobic capacity and speed endurance, topped up with regular gym sessions, and he is thankful of the support provided by the ‘Welcome to Langholm’ Athlete funding programme.
Earlier in the season Lewis was invited by Scottish Athletics to attend athlete/ coach development sessions. He found these most beneficial and feels it has aided his development. He was selected to compete as part of the Kingdom Athletic Team in the Youth Development League and they have made it through to the UK Finals in Trafford this September. Lewis will be heading back to University to continue his studies and is looking forward to training with his Hawkhill Harriers Athletics Team and coach Dave Combe on their new track. He will also continue to train when visiting home, with his local training partners Finlay Waugh and Ryan Milligan.
Lewis is also supported by “Welcome to Langholm” talented athlete funding.
This was the first gold medal for Lewis at a national level while Finlay extended his lead at the top of the U17 national rankings and was elevated to seventh in the U17 Scottish all-time list.