Catalonia's U16 athletics team, featuring several athletes from Avinent Manresa, achieved significant success at the national championships for autonomous regions this weekend in Pereiro de Aguilar, Galicia. The women's team claimed the national title, while the men's team finished as runners-up.
Anna Recuenco and Eduard López secured individual victories. Hugo Gallardo and Júlia Planas also delivered strong performances in both individual events and relays, contributing to Catalonia's overall standing.
Recuenco Breaks Catalan Record
Anna Recuenco delivered the standout Manresa performance of the championship in the discus throw. The Avinent Manresa athlete won clearly with a best attempt of 48.18 metres. This mark is a new personal best and a new Catalan U16 record.
Recuenco's throw places her as the second-best Spanish athlete in history for this category. She is very close to the 48.51 metres national record held by Eva Maria Paulinne. Eduard López also took first place, winning the 300 metres sprint with a time of 35.21 seconds. This time is a new personal best and a new Avinent Manresa U16 record for the distance.
Strong Showing in Sprints and Relays
Hugo Gallardo competed in the 100 metres sprint, recording 12.11 seconds in a race affected by a strong headwind of -4.5 m/s. Júlia Planas finished seventh in the women's 100 metres final with a time of 12.57 seconds, after clocking 12.76 seconds in the semi-finals.
Gallardo and López were also part of the Catalan men's 4x300 metres relay team, which posted a time of 2'28"68. This was the fourth-best mark among the participating teams. Júlia Planas joined the Catalan women's 4x100 metres relay team, which finished fifth with a time of 48.86 seconds.
In the final team standings, Catalonia's women's team won with 258.5 points, ahead of the Valencian Community and Andalusia. The Catalan men's team was runner-up with 231 points, tied with the Valencian Community and only surpassed by Andalusia.
