AVEAC Stay Top as Title Race Heats Up!

For the first time in living memory (perhaps ever!), Mini League was held on a Sunday. On 13 July, AVEAC, Chesterfield and High Peak travelled to Derby’s Moorways for the third instalment of this year’s programme. It was a beautifully warm day, and the sun lotion was in ample supply as athletes and officials tried to avoid sunstroke!

AVEAC checked in 59 athletes; the most at a Mini League post lockdown. The numbers are definitely improving, and it is great to see. What was great was the number of debutants. As far as it seems, there were X number of newcomers wearing the yellow and we really hope this is just the start. Training is pivotal but competition allows athletes to see what they have achieved through their practice.

It was also great to see plenty of AVEAC support in the field with people officiating in many of the field events. This is key. The discus was taken from the schedule this fixture because of a lack of level 2s. If we do not get more help in the sport, more and more events (and possibly competitions) could be removed, and I’m sure we all what to avoid that.

Under 11s

The under 11 teams expanded yet again as we brought a total of 22 athletes to this fixture; 13 girls and 9 boys. This bodes very well for the future of the club; foundations are incredibly important in growth.

During the competition, we managed to put at least 2 athletes in all events except high jump. In the 75m, we had 12 competitors – only Flo Sibley was absent from that one! Eva Price was the first AVEACer home in a time of 12.05. Grace Meehan got us the second tranche of points, running a 12.48. The other yellows were Mya Offler (12.63), Jessica Wright (12.78), April Malone (12.88), Maddie Szabo (12.89), Sophie Wright (12.89), Sophia McBain (13.06), Macey Offler (13.20), Thea King (13.77), Claudia Sangster (13.96) and Esme Wainwright (14.08).

In the 150m, again 12 of our athletes picked this one – only Claudia electing for something different. Sibles picked up 8 points for AVEAC with a 25.09 with Eva a fraction behind on 25.12. Following the 2 point scorers were Sophia (25.52), Pacey (25.61), Maddie (26.09), Mya (26.39), Sophie (26.69), Jessica (26.89), April (27.06), Macey (27.68), Esals (28.75) and Thea (28.86).

The final track event was the 600m, on a hot day. Sibles set a PB to come home in 2.02.51 and take first place, followed by Sophie who sprinted a 2.17.52. Jessica (2.19.69), Claudia (2.24.86) and Esals (2.25.38) also ran well.

There were 2 field events at this fixture. One, the high jump, saw sole competitor Sibles jump an impressive 1.12 to take second place. Meanwhile, in the howler javelin (officiated by the ever cheerful Bob), Eva came second with a 26.25m. April was a squidge back in third with a 21.33m. The other throwers were Macey (15.14), Grace (14.90), Maddie (14.64), Sophia (13.83), Mys (12.55), Claudia (12.42) and Thea (11.87).

For the first time in a while, we managed to enter three point-scoring teams. And it was a great competition – only 0.18s separated the 3rd placed AVEAC team from the winners, Chesterfield, sandwiching one of the other AVEAC teams. The team of Eva, Mya, Sibles and Pacey came 2nd in 68.15, slightly ahead of the side of April, Maddie, Sophie W and Sophia. Our third team, Thea, Macey, Esals and Jessica also ran a competitive 75.69.

Heading over to the male side of the competition, only 9 athletes did really well as well. In the 75m, Joseph Brackenbury again steamed back to win, in 11.57. Harley Alldread took 7 points breaking 12 seconds for the first time (11.88). Kobi Elliott-Grey, on debut, ran a 12.03, with fellow newbie Eddie Straker who sprinted a 12.15. Ben McLaren ran a good 12.94 and Wenzo Rebelo, also on debut, clocked a 14.57.

The 150m was a competitive race with Joseph just edged out into 2nd with a 23.19. Harley again scored points running a 23.93. Daniel Straker (24.83), Chris Maye (26.16) and George Whittleton (27.62) all put in strong performances.

The 600m also saw plenty of yellow with a hugely impressive run by Chris who scored 7 points for us with a 2.08.71. Harley continued his good track day with a 2.11.39, followed by Eddie (2.13.65) and George (2.17.43).

Off the track, Joseph took another gold with a 3.72 leap in the long jump whilst Eddie scored points with a 3.14 leap. In addition, Kobi (3.06), Daniel (2.93), Chris (2.79) and Ben (2.67) jumped well. On the throws, Daniel cemented himself with another howler win, this time throwing 28.08. George (23.22) grabbed 6 points whilst Kobi (17.06) and Wenzo (7.74) assisted for us with good attempts.

Finally, the relay team of Joseph, Kobi, Eddie and Daniel took first with a 65.40 run. Unfortunately, athlete departure meant a second team was not possible.

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Under 13s

Decent numbers at under 13 at this fixture, as we saw 7 competitors in both groups. We haven’t had 14 athletes at this age group for a while! For the girls, the team comprised Summer Biggs, Sienna Carlton, Sophie Humphrey, Evelyn Maye, Amie Saxby, Katherine Turner and Elsie Whittleton. The boys lined up as follows: Adam Banton, Daniel Halton, Dylan Knowles, Eli Metson Scott, Wesli Rebelo, Jasper Sangster and Elliott Wright.

Amie and Elsie lined up in the hurdles’ race for the girls and scored 11 points together with a 15.69 and a 16.91 respectively. In the 100m, Katherine was first home for AVEAC in 14.95, with Evelyn a fraction back on 15.01. Amie (16.00), Sophie (16.03) and Sienna (19.48) also ran well. In the longer 200m, Summer took the win in nearly 2 seconds from 2nd – she ran a 28.65. Katherine got the 2nd lot of points with a time of 31.54. Also running for the yellows were Evelyn (31.66), Sophie (36.98), Elsie (40.14) and Sienna (43.05).

We had no one in the 800m ….

Only two fields on (with discus cancelled). In the jumps, Summer took first with a 4.64m leap. Evelyn grabbed 4 points with a 3.44m ahead of Katherine (3.36), Sophie (3.29), Amie (2.78) and Sienna (2.24). And in the throws, Summer got us 9 points with a 9.13 with Elsie a late entrant so that we got points. Her 2.83m putt got the club an additional 5 points. Excellent commitment.

We managed to put out a scoring relay team and a non scoring version. Our scoring team of Summer, Evelyn, Katherine and Sophie ran 61.21 to take 3 place whilst the team of Sienna, Amie, Elsie and Harley (helping out) crossed the line in 71.10.

Normally the boys’ side can be written quickly but having 7 athletes makes a real difference. Whilst we had no hurdlers, all 7 took part in the 100m sprint. Elliott was the quickest for us, sprinting a 13.91. Adam grabbed the secondary points with a 14.71. Dylan (14.86), Eli (15.73), Wesli (16.78), Jasper (16.94) and Daniel (17.55) also took part in the short sprint. The longer 200m saw fewer yellow but we still had 4 as Adam ran a 31.32 with Dylan scoring a 31.53, Welsi a 36.60 and Jasper with a 37.01.

The boys did enter the 800m; Dylan completed 2 laps in 2.41.49 to take 2nd place. Jasper took 4 points with a 3.01.58 whilst he was ably assisted by Eli (3.08.15), Elliott (3.12.96) and Daniel (3.48.44).

Unfortunately, we had no high jumpers, but we did maximise points in the shot. Elliott threw a 4.80 to take 7 points, Adam got 6 points with 4.53m. Eli (4.13) and Wesli (3.60) also threw.

The relay side of Adam, Dylan, Eli and Elliott came third in 59.64.

 

Under 15s and 17s

Twenty athletes for the under 15s at Mini League; 11 in the female category and 9 boys. In addition, we had 2 under 17 girls and 1 under 17 boy guesting.

Plenty of girls in the hurdles at this fixture. Erin Beresford took first place with a 12.62, with Bibi Mulholland taking 7.5 points in a joint third finish (13.27). Isla Douglas did a 14.16, Layla Knowles a 15.51 and Catherine Wayne back in 17.18. Great to see all those in the sprint jumps.

Bevy of athletes in the 100m. Betsy Wilton came second in 12.94, with non scoring u17 Leah Parkin storming the line in 13.22. The 2nd scorer for AVEAC was Olivia Irvine who went under 14s (13.79). Also running for AVEAC were Erin (13.95), Charlotte Slater (14.44), Ruby Hill (14.52), Batman (14.92) and Xanthe McAughtrie (u17) who came home in 15.18.

In the 200m, Betsy took back the win from Chesterfield with a 26.08 run. Leah ran a 27.34 but Bibbals was our second scorer, get back across the line in 28.03. Our other runners were Lucy Norman (29.11), Ruby (29.57), Maggie Flinders (30.20) and Layla (33.48). In the middle distance 800m, Lucy came 2nd in 2.29.58; Isla ran a 2.37.76 to give us 6 additional points.

In the high jump, Bibbals came 2nd, jumping 1.40m. Maggie also got us points clearing 1.25m. Meanwhile, Batman (1.15) and Lucy (1.10) jumped well. Finally, we had a few in shot – Betsy came second with a 8.36; Erin grabbed the secondary points with a 7.72. Also throwing were Biscuits (7.60), Ruby (6.82), Charlotte (6.51), Maggie (6.36), Xanthe (5.93), Layla (5.85) and Isla (5.77).

We managed to get 3 teams out in the relay. The team of Bibbals, Biscuits, Erin and Betsy won with a 53.40. The other teams also ran well – Batman, Ruby, Charlotte and Leah ran a 56.35, just ahead of Isla, Maggie, Layla and Lucy who crossed in 57.28.

Unfortunately, we did not have any under 15 boy hurdlers, but we had plenty of interest in the 100m. Joe Moss won in 11.19. Ashton Hayes (u17) crossed in 12.56 whilst Alfie Ray (12.61) took 6 points. Additionally, Joe Falivena (13.03), Isaac Smith (13.55), Gabe Parr (14.06) and Lucas Sangster (14.66) sprinted for AVEAC.

Joe M doubled up with a 200m win, coming back in 22.75. Ashton followed up his 100m with a good 25.21; Shadez again grabbing points for us with 25.87. Joe F ran a 27.10 with Lucas adding a 30.97. In the 800m, Harvey Glover ran a great 2.15.59 to come 2nd. Joe Stimson continued to do well in the middle distance – he ran a 2.23.11 to take 7 points. Charlie Davies did a 2.24.50 800m, with Joe F completing in 2.31.47.

In the field, Shadez jumped 4.40m in the long jump; Joe S also cleared the 4m mark (4.04). Isaac (3.96), Gabe (3.88) and Lucas (3.59) also jumped well; in fact, I’m sure I heard Gabe say he’d get a buzz-cut if we cleared 3.5m …

In the throws, McGlovin putted 6.71, just ahead of Joe S (6.39), Gabe (5.93) and Isaac (5.47).

Our sole boys team of Joe M, Shadez, Joe F and McGlovin won their race in 50.50.

Standards

As with the last Mini Leagues, we had several athletes who achieved PB Award standards at level 5 and above. They were:

  1. Katherine Turner (U13G) : L5 (100m)
  2. Evelyn Maye (U13G) : L5 (100m)
  3. Summer Biggs (U13G) : L9 (long jump), L8 (200m), (shot)
  4. Elliott Wright (U13B) : L5 (100m)
  5. Erin Beresford (U15G) : L5 (75mH)
  6. Betsy Wilton (U15G) : L9 (200m), L7 (100m), L5 (shot)
  7. Bibi Mulholland (U15G) : L7 (200m), L6 (high jump)
  8. Lucy Norman (U15G) : L6 (200m)
  9. Ruby Hill (U15G) : L5 (200m)
  10. Joe Moss (U15B) : L9 (100m), (200m)
  11. Alfie Ray (U15B) : L5 (100m)

 

Current standings

Despite an impressive field of athletes, we missed out in game 3 to Chesterfield. The scores were as follows:

  1. Chesterfield 533.5 match points (4 league points)
  2. AVEAC 483.5 (3)
  3. Derby 407.5 (2)
  4. High Peak 300.5 (1)

 

Overall, that means the table sits like this:

  1. AVEAC 1519.5 match points (11 league points)
  2. Chesterfield 1510.5 (9)
  3. Derby 1357.5 (7)
  4. High Peak 912.5 (3)

 

Going into the last fixture on 9th August, we stand 3 points from retaining the trophy, so we need all the support we can get. We have no doubt Chesterfield will bring a team to challenge and it’s our job to go toe to toe with them, and Derby who competed well again at Match 3.

Match 3 was great again for Amber Valley. Some great performances, and lots of new faces. And finally, a big thank you to all the officials that helped make sure this fixture went ahead. Without their help, simply competitions cannot happen.

See you all again, for the final time, on 09 August at Moorways! Let’s bring the trophy home – every point counts, and every athlete, parent and official makes a difference!

Report – Rich Woodward, Photos – Various Parents & Athletes