Six AVEAC U15 and U17 athletes were selected for Derbyshire at the Northern Inter Counties match at York on Jubilee Thursday. The match involved ten different counties from across the north of England and our young athletes performed well overall in a highly competitive event.
Javelin specialists Gino Franco and Joe Bennett produced personal best performances. Joe finished 8th in the U17 Men’s event adding 38 centimetres to his previous best with a fine throw of 34.53m. Gino bettered his previous mark by almost a metre . His throw of 31.71m placed him 5th in a field of fifteen competitors.
Freya Kirby was also in good Javelin form with another consistent throw of 27.03m placing 7th overall and was the best placed Year 1 U15 in the field. She also gained good points competing in the Shot throwing 6.39m a few centimetres behind her previous best.
The sprints and hurdles were hampered by a continual head wind throughout the day affecting performances overall. Isla Hiscocks finished 6th in both her 100m and 75m Hurdle races recording times of 13:71 and 14:99 respectively. Isla also ran an excellent leg in the 4 x 100m relay; the Derbyshire team finished 2nd in their heat and were 4th fastest overall.
In the Under 17 Women’s group Imogen Laugharne had mixed fortunes in her two events, the 80m Hurdles and High Jump. She was unfortunately disqualified in the sprint hurdles for a very marginal false start and had to sit out the final which was won in 12:26 considerably less than her PB. Dusting herself down from the disappointment, she went on to take 2nd place in the High Jump clearing 1:55m.
Nicole Bonser also competing the U17 age group had a busy afternoon, finishing 3rd in her 100m heat with a time of 13:54 and went on to throw 8 metres exactly in the Shot gaining more valuable points for the County. Nicole finished the day running a blistering 200m leg in the not often run Medley Relay – two 200m legs followed by a 400m leg and finishing with an 800m leg. The Derbyshire team won their race in 4:12:56 and were the second fastest overall from the two heats.
Derbyshire finished in 5th place out of the ten competing counties and the AVEAC contingent are to be congratulated on the contribution made to the overall team performance.
The sprints and hurdles were hampered by a continual head wind throughout the day affecting performances overall. Isla Hiscocks finished 6th in both her 100m and 75m Hurdle races recording times of 13:71 and 14:99 respectively. Isla also ran an excellent leg in the 4 x 100m relay; the Derbyshire team finished 2nd in their heat and were 4th fastest overall.
Jess’s return to form continues
Jess Turner continues to improve following her return to the track following surgery on her leg last Autumn. On Tuesday she competed at a World Athletics Continental tour meeting in Prague over the 400m Hurdles, securing a good victory in a time of 55:63 ahead of Czech athlete Nicoleta Jichova. Jess is running into good form at the right time in the season and will be hoping to improve further at the British Championships and World Trials in Manchester in two weeks time.
County Schools Championships
This Saturday many AVEAC athletes will be wearing their school vests as they compete in both the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire County Schools Championships. The Derbyshire event will take place at Burton on Trent while our athletes attending Nottinghamshire schools will travel to Newark. The school championships are always highly competitive with those athletes finishing 1st and 2nd in individual events at Junior and Intermediate level being selected for the prestigious Inter County Mason Trophy Event the following Saturday at Stoke. Good luck to all our athletes who will be taking part.
Acknowledgements
Words – Joe McColgan
Inter County Photos – Chris Kirby, Janine Bonser and Antoinette Franco
Jess Turner Photo – @jessicaturner95 on Instagram