The first match in the Upper Youth Development League took place in wet and windy conditions in Stoke on Trent on Sunday 30th April. AVEAC are in the Midlands Division 1A and will contest a total of 3 matches against teams from Burton, Stoke, Tamworth, Charnwood, Derby, Leicester and Saffron.
There were eight U20 athletes in action on the day, two men and six women. George Reynolds and Corey Tatum kicked the day off with the long jump, where George recorded an excellent jump of 6.47m for second place in the A string, whilst Corey won the B string with a best of 5.41m. Meanwhile, over on shot put, Nicole Bonser and Louise Hirst got the women off to a similarly good start. Nicole added 40cm to her PB, set last year whilst still an U17, with a put of 7.82m to take third place in the A string. Louise (Peterborough and Nene Valley AC) joins us as a second claim athlete for the YDL matches this year, and started well with maximum points in the B string recording a best distance of 7.65m.
The women had their turn in the sandpit later on, with three long jumpers and two triple jumpers in action. Grace Young managed a massive leap of 5.01m taking her over the 5 metre mark for the first time, much to the delight of her coach. This earned her 2nd place in the A string, just a few centimetres behind the winning Tamworth athlete. Nicole Bonser had a best jump of 4.77m, slightly behind her PB but good enough for the B string victory and maximum points for the team. Maddy Fahey appeared as a non-scorer and was rewarded with a PB of 3.63m.
Triple jumpers Michelle Yalekhue and Louise Hirst came away with maximum points, winning the A and B string competitions respectively. English under 20 indoor bronze medalist Michelle produced a hop, step and jump of11.99m in her first outdoor competition of the year whilst Louise performed consistently to record a best of 10.80m.
On the track, George ran the 100m in 11.8 and the 200m in 24.2 for 4th and 5th place respectively, whilst Corey completed his preferred distance of 400m in 53.3 to equal his PB and finish 4th during a particularly awful downpour of rain! For the women, Nicole ran a good 200m to finish 3rd in a time of 28.3, whilst Fran Howett also finished 3rd in the 800m in a time of 2:46.4 minutes, completing her first track race of the season. Maddy Fahey was the only competitor in the 400m hurdles race, and was cheered over the finish line by the crowd, completing the one lap race in a new best time of 87.50 seconds.
On the track, George ran the 100m in 11.8 and the 200m in 24.2 for 4th and 5th place respectively, whilst Corey completed his preferred distance of 400m in 53.3 to equal his PB and finish 4th during a particularly awful downpour of rain! For the women, Nicole ran a good 200m to finish 3rd in a time of 28.3, whilst Fran Howett also finished 3rd in the 800m in a time of 2:46.4 minutes, completing her first track race of the season. Maddy Fahey was the only competitor in the 400m hurdles race, and was cheered over the finish line by the crowd, completing the one lap race in a new best time of 87.50 seconds.
Four men and two women made up the U17 team. Twins Ellis and Lewis Carter both competed in the 100m sprint and both finished in 4th place in their respective races, with Ellis recording a time of 12.3 seconds in the A race and Lewis finishing in 12.6 seconds in the B race. In the 200m, Ellis stepped up and ran in the U20 B race, finishing a very creditable third in a time of 25.2 seconds in his first attempt over this distance. Lewis crossed the line in 5th place in the U17 A string race in a time of 25.9 seconds, whilst Sebastian Banks came 4th in the B string race with 26 seconds dead. He then ran in his first ever competitive 400m, running a very composed race to come fourth in a time of 58.4 seconds. Sebastian had a busy afternoon, also taking part in the javelin competition, throwing a PB of 24.13 metres to take 3rd place. The final U17 male was Eden Klugman, who ran a very calm 800m watched by his proud coach. Eden ran his own race and was rewarded with a new best time of 2:22.2 minutes beating his previous PB by 7 seconds. The four athletes finished the day with the 4x100m relay, running well as a team for 5th place.
Scarlett Beddoe had to wait for a long time on the track in the cold and rain for her 100m race to start. She crossed the line in 4th place in a time of 13.3 seconds. She then had to dash over to take part in the long jump competition which had already started, but showed great maturity, she remained calm to jump 3.77m and take 4th place.
The final competitor for AVEAC, Daisy Kaye, had an excellent day of competition. She started the day with a win in the Shot Put, achieving a distance of 10.67 metres and then ran well in the 200m to finish 4th in a time a 28.3 seconds. In the last event of the day, the javelin, Daisy launched the 500g implement out to 43.87 metres, winning the event by over 4 metres and beating the AVEAC U17 club record in the process. Daisy has been creeping ever closer to the 40 metre mark with each competition so far this season and achieved the significant mark twice on the day, which bodes well for the rest of the season. The distance also moved her up to fourth in the U.K. rankings in the under 17 age group.
Overall, the AVEAC team finished in fifth place with 235 points; an excellent performance considering the low turnout for the club due to injury and unavailability. Team Managers will be hoping for more athletes to step forward for the remaining two matches – keep an eye out for an email invitation to the next match on 28th May at Loughborough. Thanks are due to our officials, team managers and coaches who supported the athletes both before and during the competition.
Credits
Report – Sarah Kaye
Photos – Sarah Kaye and Joe McColgan