Sunderland College student-athlete Megan Costello has become the youngest sprinter to compete at the British Athletics Indoor Championships.
The 17-year-old lined up alongside some of the world’s best in the women’s 60 metres heats including British Winter Olympian Mica Moore and Scottish record holder Alisha Rees, recording a personal best of 7.74 seconds.
Megan qualified for the competition after an impressive showing at the North of England Championships at Sheffield in January where she finished fourth and is recognised as one of the top 10 sprinters in the UK for the 60 metres.
This showing has rounded off a successful two years for Meghan as she claimed silver in the North East Indoor Championships in February 2020, won bronze at the 2019 U17 English Championships and gold at the Indoor Scottish Championships in 2018.
Megan, who runs for Gateshead Harriers, said: “I was both happy and disappointed with my 4th place finish at Sheffield but to get the call to represent at the Senior British Championships for the first time is a real honour.
“I was determined to enjoy it, and the experience of the Senior’s with the exposure and opportunities that will come from this are really exciting and give me greater motivation to succeed.
“I would like to thank my coach Geoff Fenwick, my mam, Adam Barclay and MN Elite Performance at Sunderland College for the continued support.“
Megan is a student-athlete on the TASS (Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme), a Sport England funded partnership between talented athletes, education institutions and national governing bodies of sport who work together to bring the best out of the country’s most exciting young talents.
The TASS scheme helps athletes in education – aged 16-plus – to get the very best from their sporting and academic careers without having to choose between the two.
Carl Jones, TASS dual-career co-ordinator, added: “Megan is an outstanding TASS student-athlete here who continues to go from strength to strength.
“The scale of her recent success, aligned by the recognition and rising reputation this has brought has driven Megan on to succeed.
“Everyone at Sunderland College is delighted by Megan’s recent successes and we wish her well in both her academic and sporting achievements.”
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98% of our students progress to a positive destination
(*Destination data for Sunderland College students aged 16-18, academic year 2017/18).
Our achievement rates are well above the national average.
We are the College of the Year.
(*Top college nationally for BTECs, Pearson 2019)
100% of our HND and HNC students progressed to employment or further study.
(*Destination data, academic year 2016/17, HNC 19+)
We have recently invested £50 million in our facilities.
