On Saturday the club’s U13 and U15 athletes travelled to the Julie Rose stadium in Ashford for the first of their four YDL matches. The Bank Holiday weekend fixture meant several team members were absent and this led to gaps in some events. However despite this the young team did well to come in fourth out of seven. There were some excellent performances which bode well for the remaining league matches.
The Under 15 girls were the strongest overall particularly in the field events, with multiple wins and top two places. Hannah Brockbank was first in the (A) discus and (B) hammer; the former, in an English Schools’ qualifying and national standard distance of 30.05m. Eli Fitzgerald made it a double in the discus winning the (B) competition and coming second in her main event the (A) hammer with a personal best of 31.40m. Amber Anning won the (A) High Jump in a PB of 1.55m in a high standard competition, which saw seven athletes over 1.45m including Ruth Noble who cleared the height for the first time to win the (B) event. Amber Pennington and Hannah Williams won the A and B javelin with throws of 30.43m and 26.10m respectively. On the track Amber Anning and Lili Parker won the A and B 100m races.
Possibly the highlight of the day was the U15 girls 4x300m relay. The B&H team consisting of Anna Dornbusch, Flo Robinson, Beth Smith and Amber Anning were in third place, 30 metres down on the leaders Havering AC when Beth handed the baton to Amber for the final 300m. Anning, who is the U15 UK indoor record holder over the distance, ran a breath-taking leg to take the lead and claim victory for the team by a clear 30 metres.
For the Under 15 boys Tom Eames 800m win in 2.07.1 was the stand out performance. Tom knocked a couple of seconds off his PB and is within a breath of the English Schools standard for the event. Sam Wilkinson was second in the B race. Max Brazier ran a PB of 4:54.1 to finish first in the (B) 1500m meanwhile in the A event Finn Halloren‘s PB of 4:53.8 gave him fourth. There were other solid performances in the Long Jump from Danny Ross Horton (5.10m) for second in the A and Alex Dyball ‘s PB of 5.05m in the B. The 4x100m team came second and Tom Eames ran a sparkling 4x300m leg to bring the squad from the rear of the field into third place.
There were many promising performances from the Under 13 girls, in a team which included several year six, first year athletes. Building on her excellent cross-country season, Lois Dooley ran a PB of 4:17.0 for second in the 1200m. First timers Ruby Anning and Minnie Madriaga were both fourth in the 75m and Ruby repeated this position to run a PB of 21.8 in the A 150m, with Minnie third in the B in 22.7. Roxy Jones and Astrid Blackledge were fourth and third in the A and B 800m in times of 2:48.9 and 2:48.22, whilst Ella Matthews non-scoring ran 2:48.5. Roxy also gamely did the hurdles as well as competing in the Long Jump to ensure valuable points for the club. New recruit Chela Ruiz-Cravihno was sixth in the High Jump and fifth in the Long Jump and ran a good non-scoring 75m in 11.2. Emma Carter set a PB in the shot and javelin, as did Keira Short in the latter.
For the U13 boys Connor Fairhall was third in the 100m (A) in 14.5 and ran a PB for sixth in the 200m. Guy Underwood was fifth in the 100m (B) and third in the 200m (B) setting PB’s in both races. He was also fifth in the Long Jump (A). Baxter Fletcher ran a PB of 2:36.7 for third in the 800m (A) race and clubmate Ben Neale was third too in a PB of 2:42.9 in the B race and fourth in the B Shot. Ben had a day of personal bests taking second place in the javelin with 25.98m. Haiden May ran a PB of 5:10.1 for second in the (A) 1500m and Joshua Pay occupied the same position in a PB of 5:22.5 in the B. Nathan McConnell was second in the B javelin with a PB of 23.51, third in the Long Jump B with a seasons best, and set another PB in the shot.
Unfortunately there were no hurdlers or High Jumpers in the U13 Boys age group so we lost valuable points there.
Well done to all the athletes who competed and to the parents who leant their support. Thanks to team managers Pete Witcomb (U13) and Nigel Robinson (U15) and to all our club officials.
The next YDL league match is at home (Withdean Stadium) on Saturday 30th May.
Full Results on the Power of 10 Click Here