Five young AVEAC athletes got the opportunity to rub shoulders with their athletics heroes recently when they were invited to take part in a 4 x 200m sprint relay at the World Tour Final in Birmingham as part of U.K. Athletics Club Connect programme. The Club Connect relays have been a feature of Diamond League and World Tour events when held in Birmingham and have provided a curtain raiser to the international events following on in the programme. The AVEAC Boys selected to take part were; Joe Moss, Riley Jones, Ryan Ghai, Corey Fisher and reserve Charlie Davies. They lined up against two teams from Rugby and Northampton Athletic Club after being invited to participate based on their high national ranking over the shorter 4 x 100m relay set at last year’s Mini League meets. You wouldn’t have known that this was the first time the Boy’s had run the longer relay as they raced intelligently with the right amount of pace throughout to finish each of their legs strongly.
Joe Moss was given the job of kicking the race off for the team. Running a solid race, he positioned the Amber Valley quartet into second place handing over to Riley Jones on the second 200m leg. Riley found himself chasing a very strong Rugby and Northampton sprinter and ensured that the gap between the two teams was kept at a reasonable distance to give Ryan and Corey a good chance of hunting down their opponents in the third and fourth legs. Ryan didn’t let up in his stint and began to narrow the gap to within five or six metres as he handed the baton over to Corey on the anchor leg.
The temptation for Corey, of course, would have been to start off too quickly and then perhaps suffer in the closing stages of the race. This didn’t happen and he ran an excellent well paced leg gradually gaining ground on the Rugby and Northampton runner as they sped down the back straight. When he entered the final straight the space between the two teams had narrowed to around two metres. The last fifty saw Corey’s superior strength and endurance paying off and he finally caught his rival, a few metres from the finish to give the AVEAC foursome a much deserved victory. As the final time of 1:51.19 flashed up on the main score board overlooking the arena, the letters NR appeared beside the mark indicating that the AVEAC team had set a new U.K. U13 record, beating the previous mark that had stood since 2005.
The team along with Coaches, Dan Humphrey and Rich Woodward and the Boy’s parents, were jubilant about the won with the national record making it an extra special occasion. The team were then able to relax and watch some high class, elite athletics. They soaked in the atmosphere created by the thousands of spectators in attendance and witnessed three other national senior records being set during the action packed afternoon. World 2019 Champion over 200m, Dina Asher-Smith beat her own record in the 60m dash with a new mark of 7.03 in the heats and followed this up with a comprehensive victory in the final in 7.05 seconds. Keely Hodgkinson was equally impressive in the 800m with a new British record and world lead recording 1:57.18 minutes. The third record fell to classy middle distance runner Neil Gourley who powered his way around the final lap of the 1500m to clock a new national mark of 3:32.48. The Boy’s were equally impressed by bucket-hat clad and mask wearing USA long jumper, Marcus Dendy. The eccentric American leapt 8.28m, one of the furthest jumps recorded this year.
This Sunday the five young record breaking athletes along with their team mates will be in action at the final fixture in this year’s Sports Hall Mini League match at Queen’s Park Leisure Centre, Chesterfield and the following week they will line up for Derbyshire team along with seventeen other AVEAC members at the East Midland’s Sports Hall Regional finals in Grantham.
The team along with Coaches, Dan Humphrey and Rich Woodward and the Boy’s parents, were jubilant about the won with the national record making it an extra special occasion. The team were then able to relax and watch some high class, elite athletics. They soaked in the atmosphere created by the thousands of spectators in attendance and witnessed three other national senior records being set during the action packed afternoon. World 2019 Champion over 200m, Dina Asher-Smith beat her own record in the 60m dash with a new mark of 7.03 in the heats and followed this up with a comprehensive victory in the final in 7.05 seconds. Keely Hodgkinson was equally impressive in the 800m with a new British record and world lead recording 1:57.18 minutes. The third record fell to classy middle distance runner Neil Gourley who powered his way around the final lap of the 1500m to clock a new national mark of 3:32.48. The Boy’s were equally impressed by bucket-hat clad and mask wearing USA long jumper, Marcus Dendy. The eccentric American leapt 8.28m, one of the furthest jumps recorded this year.
Ella places 5th at SEC Championship debut – Fayetteville, Arkansas – 24 February
Ella Rush finished fifth in the Pentathlon at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships with a score of 4081 points. The regional championships involves eight leading American Universities located in the South Eastern United States and is one of a number of regional conferences that feed into the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA).
The standard of competition in the Pentathlon was very high with the winner Annika Williams (Kentucky) scoring 4346 points. Ella’s best event of the five disciplines was the Long Jump where she leapt 6.08m placing her 4th in that event out of the twelve competitors. Her other scores were 8.90 seconds in the 60m Hurdles, 1.69m in the High Jump, a Shot Put of 11.58m and the final 800m in which she recorded 2:21.68 minutes.
Ella’s Pentathlon and Long Jump performances in her first season in the United States rank her first in the UK at Under 20 level. Her indoor season is now finished and she looks forward to starting outdoor competition in a few weeks time before returning to take part in championships in the U.K. later in the Summer.
Credits
Blog – Joe McColgan
Relay Team photo – Becky Moss
Ella Rush photo – University of Georgia