As the athletics’ summer season continues, AVEAC went to sunny Tamworth on Sunday 23rd June for the second fixture of the 2024 season. Although the stadium is well hidden (so much so, I’m told locals didn’t know it was there when asked for directions!), it’s a well-kept facility which looked good in the summer weather, that may actually have finally landed (I can probably guarantee that, as you read this, I have jinxed things and its now raining …).
We improved on numbers from the Pingles’ fixture and managed to field relay teams in the U11s, 13s and 15s with a mixed team also running in the under 17s. We even managed to loan one of our athletes, Ellise Rogers, to another club so that they could run a team. I am currently negotiating with Ellise’s agent on her loan fee for that act.
Under 11s
We increased our team to seven athletes this time round, with Heart of England debutantes again making their mark. The boys’ team consisted of Joseph Brackenbury and Reggie Taylor (who competed at HoE #1) together with Caleb Cheetham, fresh off his first competition at Mini League. Reggie smashed his howler javelin PB with a huge 31.05 metres; Joseph also pulled out a massive 25.30m as well. Joseph and Calem were separated by 1cm in the long jump and the running races saw all the lads put in good performances.
In the girls’ team, added to Katherine Turner from the first HoE, were Sophie Humphrey, Lola-Rose Funnell and Ellise Rogers. Aside from viciously attacking a spectator with rubber batons, the girls put in a very strong performance to finish 2nd in their category behind the hosts. Lola ran a magnificent 11.5 in the 75m, and broke the 2 minute mark in her 600m in only her second competition. Sophie broke the 13 barrier in the 75m for a PB and also got another with a big throw of 16.88m in the howler which cost her dad money – I think we can all say how fantastic that is. Katherine ran a very good 600m (sub 2.10 is now standard for ‘KT’) and threw 19.27m in the howler whilst Ellise scored PBs in her three events (the 75, 600 and long jump).
The mixed relay team of Katherine, Lola, Reggie and Joseph came a very close 2nd, only 1 second between Royal Sutton and 2 seconds ahead of Tamworth. As I mentioned last time, the under 11s pool of talent means it is getting really difficult to make selections, which is a sign of growth.
Under 13s
We managed to improve on our numbers from Nuneaton and had a larger boys’ team of Marcus Parsons-Loades, Isaac Smith, Charlie Davies and Teddy Wilton. The under 13s is an area where we are looking to grow our numbers but that is not a slight at those in there at the moment; they all competed brilliantly at Tamworth. Charlie Davies came back into the team and ran 2 fantastic PBs. In the 200m, he came third in a time of 28.6 whilst his 800m was a remarkable, painful, run for Charlie as he came up with a 2.20.40 time. That final 100m looked like it hurt, but Charlie is nothing if not gutsy and clearly Mr Lowry’s sessions are having a great effect. Teddy ran a 15 flat in the 100m, whilst setting a PB in the 200m with 31.40. Teddy was joined in the 100m by Isaac who ran 15.2. Isaac also entered the longer runs and did really well to come in with 6.04.00 in his 1,500m. In field, Charlie won the long jump with a 3.85m, whilst Teddy jumped 1.15 in the high jump whilst it would be remiss not to mention Marcus who came second with 8.20 in the shot put and had a victory in the discus with 18.57m. Finally, the boys came 2nd in their relay, behind winners Royal Sutton but pipping Witney for the silver.
Whilst we had a bigger boys’ team, the girls’ team was reduced to 4 members which saw Ruby Hill make her debut as a competing athlete for AVEAC. Ruby was joined by Isla Douglas, Summer Biggs and Bibi Mulholland. The hurdles race between AVEAC competitors saw Isla get the better of Summer by 3 hundredths of a second, sandwiching the Tamworth athlete. The club is really proud to have hurdlers of such calibre in our younger age categories. Bodes very well. In the short sprints, Ruby Hill ran 16.8 in the 100m, Bibi scored a 30.4 in her 200m. Finally, on the track, Isla ran a 2.42.60 in her 800m with her teammate Bibi scoring a 2.59.9 in her race. In the field, ‘Springy’ jumped to a victory in the long jump and also threw a 7.46 in the shot to score gold. Ruby came 2nd in the discus with a good 14.25m whilst Bibi scissor kicked her way to first place in the high jump with a personal best of 1.35m. The girls’ team finished their day with a 61.4 in their relay to come third and score valuable points for the yellow and blues, which saw them finish in 3rd place overall.
Under 15s
We were missing a couple of HoE regulars after their exploits at the Derbyshire Junior Combined Events (for which great congratulations are in order) and so both teams were a little changed from past events; we were missing Joe Moss, Riley Jones, Jasmine Shore and Bella Parsons-Loades. That is some talent not to have on show, but our club has depth and those at Tamworth were great. So great, in fact, that we won the girls’ side and came joint second in the boys’ category.
For the boys, our team featured Ryan Ghai, Harvey Glover, Alfie Ray, Seb McAughtrie, Corey Fisher and Joe Stimson. On the track, Seb ran a PB in the hurdles, ahead of his teammate Joe (the only competitors – credit must go as well to Mr Bobble Boyd for hurdles’ coaching). Corey ran a 12.6 in the short sprint, whilst Seb and Joe ran well in the 200m. In the 300m Corey ran his best this year with a 40.5, followed by Alfie who did the same. Speaking of personal bests, Alfie smashed his PB in the 800m whilst Joe annihilated his best previous by 30 seconds in the 1,500m. Remarkable. In the field, Ryan jumped to 2nd in the long jump, abetted by Harvey whilst Corey set a PB in the shot put with 7.65m (ablely assisted by Ryan with 7.42) and Seb floated a plate 19.36m to second in the discus. Finally, Alfie vaulted 1.35 to take 3rd in the high jump. The relay team of Alfie, Joe, Seb and Corey ran a 55.5 in their race.
As previously mentioned, we were missing some U15 girls as well but still got a good team out: Erin Beresford, Betsy Wilton, Olivia Irvine, Charlotte Slater, Ailsa McMillan and Madeleine Turner. Good enough to win their section as mentioned. In the hurdles, Erin came 2nd whilst her teammate Betsy smoked her PB with a 15.9. Betsy followed up with a 13.5 in the 100m with her fellow yellow and blue, Charlotte, getting a PB of 14.6. Madeleine and Ailsa ran great 200ms (28.7 and 30.2 respectively) whilst in the longer sprint (300m) both girls scored personal bests – Erin and Olivia – who then lounged by the trackside for slightly too long afterwards … In the longer run, Madeleine eased ahead of the field to win the 800m by 10 seconds with a time of 2.21.2. Jumping, Ailsa got a 4.11m aided by Erin with a 3.89 whilst in the high jump, Miss McMillan came 2nd with a 1.30 jump, Charlotte again getting a PB of 1.20m, made even more difficult by having to do double duty with the discus at the same time. Jump and then throw; and then repeat. Finally, with the throws, Charlotte won the B string with 10.79m and Olivia disced 13.95m in the As. In the shot Betsy set a season’s best of 7.29m, Olivia scoring a personal best of 6.85m.
The relay race was an interesting one. The girls – Madeleine, Erin, Betsy and Ailsa – had to overcome an obstacle you generally don’t see in this event; your opponent running slowly, in your lane! Erin managed to sidestep her errant competitor and gave the girls’ team a chance. It was thought that our team had been disqualified for being impeded but the results suggest otherwise and, it seems, we won – when it looked like we’d come 3rd on the day. Go figure … but we’ll take it, if only for moral reasons!
Under 17s
We managed to get teams for both the boys and girls this time around. I say ‘teams’; I’m not sure if you can have a team of 1 but, for the purpose of this report, I will say you can!
The boys’ ‘team’ was Will Stimson. Will won the hurdles for a second HoE in a row. Yet again, Will scared off the competition and was left to run on his own. All joking aside, it is very hard to run against yourself, so Will’s hurdling was superb, especially when you bear that in mind. He also jumped to 4.98m in the long jump and set a PB in the 200m, with a 25.8.
Eleanor Rigby came as the sole female competitor for AVEAC, and she did really well, scoring the club some great points and setting PBs when throwing objects through the air. She ran a 2.47.8 in her 800m, putted 6.97m in the shot and won the discus with 14.77m. We also managed to get a relay team together for the U17 females, albeit a non-scoring one. Will bravely stepped in to join Eleanor and the under 15 girls of Charlotte and Olivia in a difficult but fun race!
Next fixture and thanks!
At the end of the day, we found ourselves third in the day’s standing on 433 points, behind Tamworth in 2nd (608) and Royal Sutton at the top (756.5). Overall, we are now in fourth place only 23.5 points behind Corby. At the top of the table, Royal Sutton (1434.5) and Tamworth (1147) have all but secured the top spots but only 150 points separates Corby from 7th placed Witney, so we need as many athletes as possible for the final fixture on July 21st in Corby.
A big thank you to those officials that volunteered today and got the team some valuable points: Simon, Lucy, Heather, Andy & Becky as well as our team managers – Sarah and Gary. And, not forgetting the gazebo carriers – Andy, Gary, Simon and Dan. Without everyone’s help, simply our athletes could not compete.
See you in about a month for HoE: The Final Instalment subtitled “Bring your spikes”.
Report & Photo – Rich Woodward
