English School’s Championships, Manchester Arena – 8th & 9th July
Five AVEAC athletes had the privilege of representing Derbyshire at this year’s English School’s Championships held at the Manchester Arena last Friday and Saturday. The meeting which attracts the cream of young athletic talent in the country was favoured with good weather and the AVEAC quintet performed well in what was the biggest competition so far in their athletic careers.
Ryan Rawlinson just missed a bronze medal in the Intermediate Boy’s Long Jump. Lying in third place right up to the fifth round with a jump of 6.45m, he was pipped in the final round by fellow Derbyshire athlete Kaiden Ramsay (Burton AC) who ended the competition with a 6.53m effort. George Reynolds was also in action but struggled with his run up and in the first three qualifying rounds had a best of 6.09m, well below his personal best of 6.61m. Placing him 9th, he just missed the cut with the top eight getting three more jumps.
Such is the strength in depth of Derbyshire long jumping in the Intermediate age group that both Ryan and George, along with Kaiden Ramsay have been selected to compete in the U.K. School Games in early September at Loughborough which will feature jumpers from Scotland and N.Ireland as well as the host country. They were selected based on their top six Power of 10 ranking in the U.K.
In the Intermediate Girls 80m Hurdles Imogen Laugharne was up against the two fastest hurdlers in the England in her heat. Although she didn’t make the final finishing fifth, with only the top two and two fastest losers from three heats going through, she was rewarded with a significant improvement in her personal best recording a time of 11.81 seconds. Imogen was pleased with her performance and is eligible to take part in this age group again next year.
In the Senior Boys High Jump Multi-Eventer, Ben Pitts finished 11th clearing 1.82m and had three good attempts at 1.87m which would have been a personal best.
First year Junior, Freya Kirby, was 12th in the Girls Javelin. Her best throw was 29.38m, just below her personal best. Freya will have gained a lot of experience from the taking part in such a high level competition knowing that there was only one first year Junior ahead of her on the day.
In the Intermediate Girl’s Triple Jump Izzy Haworth (Rushcliffe) who competes for AVEAC in the Upper YDL finished 8th with a respectable effort of 10.65m. Like Imogen and Freya she is also eligible to take part in this age group next year.
University of Birmingham Festival of Athletics , 9th & 10th July
Two of our Senior multi-eventers, Scott Ram and Alice Robinson took part in the University of Birmingham Festival of Athletics on Saturday and Sunday at the University’s Edgbaston Track.
Scott finished 3rd in the Senior Men’s Decathlon scoring 6058 points. His total was just below his recent personal best set at the National Championships and included three individual event wins in the 100m (11.54 seconds), 400m (50.57 seconds and 1500m (4 mins 36.11). He also recorded a new PB in the Pole Vault clearing 3.44m.
Alice ended up in 6th place in the Senior Women’s Heptathlon scoring 2952 points. Highlights of her performance included a new best ever Javelin throw of 33.63m and a season’s best in the 800m with a time of 2 minutes 49.95.
Jess Turner also took part in the meeting testing her flat speed over 400m. She finished second behind fellow G.B. International Jodie Williams (Herts Phoenix) with a seasons best time of 53.12 seconds.
Northern League East Division 1S, Newark, 10th July
Four of our U20 and Senior athletes competed for Chesterfield at the third Northern Senior League fixture on Sunday at Newark.
Ben Pitts was in action again following his stint at the English School’s the day before and won maximum points in the Long Jump with a fine effort of 6.15m. He then went on to set a new personal best in the 400m in 57.3 seconds.
Katie Potts did well to finish second in the Women’s Long Jump and was rewarded with a season’s best of 5.07m. Charlie Yates and Henry Knighton also claimed second place finishes. Charlie hop, stepped and jumped 10.56m in the Triple Jump while Henry cleared a season’s best in the High Jump of 1.80m.
DADA Open, Moorways Sports Village, 14th July
Several of our younger athletes took part at the latest DADA Open meeting on Tuesday evening.
Our U11s were in good form with Isla Douglas winning her 75m graded sprint in 12.13 seconds. Summer Biggs returned a time of 12.73 in her race while Rosie Boyer clocked 13.61. In the Boy’s short sprint Jacob Adams sped past the finish line in 11.66 seconds.
In the U13 75m races, there were personal bests for Joe Moss, Betsy Wilton and Amelia Whittaker. Joe and Betsy placed first in their respective races with times of 10.47 seconds and 11.02 seconds; Amelia’s time was 11.57 seconds.
The 100m sprints also witnessed some excellent returns from the AVEAC contingent. Under 13 all rounder, Jasmine Shore ran 14.59 seconds while Betsy Wilson followed on from her 75m victory by recording a personal best in the longer sprint, timed at 14.88 seconds. Under 15, Isla Hiscocks was in good form yet again with a time of 13.32 seconds in her 100m and Jack Moss’s time of 13.94 in his race was a new personal best.
In the 200m sprints Isla Hiscocks broke the 28 second barrier for the first time with a superb 27.94 seconds. Jack Moss also showed good half lap form finishing his race in 28.17 seconds.
Amelia Whittaker ran a high quality 600m to won her graded race with a personal best of 2 minutes 01.97 seconds. Joe Moss also ran a PB over the one and a half lap distance returning a time of 1 minute 51.07 seconds. Other 600m times were recorded by Jacob Adams who placed 2nd in his race with a time of 2:13:39, Isla Douglas – 2:14:31, Rosie Boyer – 2:20:67 and Summer Biggs – 2:22:08.
In the 1500m U17 athlete Charlie Halford finished in a time of 5 minutes 37.97 seconds .
Over in the the field, Freya Kirby fresh from competing a few days before at the English Schools recorded a new personal best in the Javelin with an impressive 31.21m. Our U11s also took part in the Long Jump with Jacob Adams registering a distance of 3.32m, Summer Bigg’s distance was 3.02m, Isla Douglas’s best was 2.61m and Rosie Boyer recorded 2.41m.
There will be one more mid week DADA meeting this season which will take place on Tuesday 9th August at Moorways Sports Village. Entries for the meeting are now open at:
http://runjumpthrowathletics.co.uk/entry
Words – Joe McColgan
Photo – Catriona Lucas
In the Intermediate Girl’s Triple Jump Izzy Haworth (Rushcliffe) who competes for AVEAC in the Upper YDL finished 8th with a respectable effort of 10.65m. Like Imogen and Freya she is also eligible to take part in this age group next year.