East has sights set on Europeans after dominant performance to win UK title
Team Kennet javelin thrower Ben East dominated the competition to win his first ever senior title at the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester.
Still only 19, East threw over 70 metres in all six of his attempts - all of which would have been good enough to win him the gold medal.
East's biggest throw of 72.97m saw him finish more than three metres clear of runner-up Michael Allison, who threw 69.73m.
Having caused a real surprise when finishing second last year with a mammoth effort of 73.49m, the Kennet star was far more consistent this time around as he demonstrated his considerable development during the last 12 months.
"It was an absolutely incredible competition," he said.
"Last year I was second but it was almost a fluke, it was a massive p.b.
"All the other throws around that were much less, in the high to mid-60s.
"This year I was so much more consistent, all my throws were over 70m and three were over 72, so it was a much better competition in terms of consistency."
East, who studies mechanical engineering at Loughborough University, has access to a host of state-of-the-art facilities in the Midlands as well as the tutelage of Great Britain coach Dave Turner, while back down south in West Berkshire he maintains a working relationship with Team Kennet's inspirational Luke Angell.
With the teenager closing in on the world's top 100, he's now more determined than ever to double down his focus on the technical aspects of javelin throwing as he looks to continue to progress and mount a serious challenge at the elite end of the sport.
He said: "I'm still missing a few technical aspects.
"At the competition in Manchester, the two warm-up throws that I did were technically a lot better than my competitive throws.
"It's a balancing act because when I'm practising alterations to my technique it tends to be on short throws on the grass.
"In a full run-up competition throw, you lose a bit of that technique so it's all about bridging that gap.
"If I can dial those things in then there's a lot more in the tank."
During the pandemic, East was reduced to training in his back garden and throwing on Hungerford Primary School's playing field.
Since starting at Loughborough last summer, he's swapped the playground for the professional arena, with some of the best equipment and training facilities in the world.
"There's literally anything you could want," he said.
"I've started doing gymnastics once a week to help with the stabilisation of my muscles.
"It gives me that extra opportunity that I just didn't have before and I hope it will give me that extra edge too."
East became Kennet's first ever senior national champion, doing so in the club's blue and yellow colours.
The outgoing, mature and engaging thrower has represented the club since he was seven and credits its considerable role in his ongoing development.
He said: "It's awesome to keep wearing the vest and it's nice to be able to represent my home club.
"I remember starting out doing my Quadkids and it's surreal to think how far I've come.
"It's a great club and will always be important to me."
Last month, East threw a new personal best of 74.03m to win the English Under-23 Championships in Chelmsford but missed out on the European Under-23 Championships, which were held in Finland last week.
East will still be eligible for the next edition of the event in two years time and is now committed to continuing to improve so that he can not only qualify but compete for a medal in 2025.
Like all sports, javelin is expensive and time-consuming and so East has passed up a place at the English Senior Championships in favour of competing and training close to home.
"We've decided I won't be doing the English Seniors," he said.
"With the competition starting at 10am, we had a choice between driving up there and getting a hotel, which adds a lot more expense, or leaving at five in the morning.
"Neither of those made sense so I'm going to compete on the 29th of this month at Loughborough and focus on facilitating this technique.
"Now we can really knuckle down and really get those distances up."
Meanwhile, chairman Nick Bull was delighted after East became the first ever Team Kennet athlete to win a senior British title.
“It’s only taken us 22 years!” he said.
“I’m so proud – I have seen Ben come into the club aged seven and have seen him develop with his coach Luke Angell.
“Ben is an amazing talent and will be in the athletics top flight for a long time.
“We all look forward to seeing what else he can achieve.”
To help continue to make Ben's dreams a reality, he's seeking financial support to aid him with the cost of equipment, training, travelling and competing.
If you'd like to help him out, you can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/team-kennet-support-ben-east?utm_term=eAd3dJ698
