Amber Valley & Erewash AC launched their 2026 Lower Youth Development League campaign at Moorways, Derby, with 28 athletes in action across the four age groups. From Charlie Davies knocking five seconds off his 800m personal best to Joe Moss hitting England Athletics standards up to Level 9, there was no shortage of standout moments on a day that showed just how much progress has been made over the winter. Personal bests tumbled across the board, relay teams pulled together impressively, and every age group made its mark.
U14 Girls
Seven U14 girls made the trip to Derby and threw themselves into the competition with real enthusiasm, picking up valuable points across track and field alike.
The standout performance came from Katherine Turner, who ran a superb personal best of 5:28.63 in the 1500m to finish fourth. Elsewhere on the track, Evelyn Maye (15.27) and Sophie Humphrey (15.77) both competed well in the 100m, while Aimee Brackenbury clocked 31.26 over 200m with Evelyn doubling up for 32.20 in the B string. Amie Saxby and Florence Protheroe both gained valuable experience over 800m.
The hurdles brought two encouraging displays, with Aimee running a confident 15.32 in the A string and Amie recording 15.94 in the B string. The day finished on a high as Aimee, Sophie, Evelyn and Katherine combined in the 4x100m relay, bringing the baton home in 60.55.
In the field, Aimee cleared 1.25m in the high jump to equal her best, while Katherine contributed 3.54m in the long jump with Florence adding 2.87m in the B string. Chelsea McCondach was busy across the throws, recording 6.34m in the shot, 14.27m in the discus and gaining useful experience in the hammer. Florence (5.35m, shot) and Sophie (10.78m, javelin) completed a solid all-round effort from the group.
U14 Boys
With just three athletes available, the U14 boys were always going to be stretched but what they lacked in numbers they more than made up for in effort and personal bests.
Adam Banton set the tone early with a personal best of 14.68 in the 100m, before Owen Watson ran an EA Level 5 performance of 29.04 over 200m. Owen also showed his range by finishing third in the 800m in 2:37.96. Dylan Knowles then delivered another PB with 5:12.06 in the 1500m, finishing just six seconds behind the third-placed athlete. With only three boys available, a relay was unfortunately not possible.
The trio kept busy in the field too. Adam jumped 3.55m in the long jump with Dylan recording 3.26m in the B string. In the shot, Owen threw 6.13m in the A string with Dylan adding 4.31m in the B string. Adam rounded off his day with yet another personal best 14.07m in the javelin.
U16 Girls
Nine U16 girls turned out for AVEAC, producing the club’s largest squad in any age group and finishing a strong second behind Burton AC in the age-group standings.
The sprints saw Olivia Irvine (14.20) and Erin Beresford (14.43) share the 100m duties, while Maggie Flinders ran 31.40 in the 200m A string and Katelyn Taft produced a personal best of 29.65 in the B string. In the 300m, both Isla Douglas (45.81) and Lucy Norman (45.75, PB) came agonisingly close to dipping under 45 seconds, a target they will both be eyeing at the next fixture.
Katelyn doubled up to run 2:56.22 over 800m, with Layla Knowles close behind in 3:13.20 in the B string. Lucy then stepped up to 1500m and delivered another personal best with an excellent 5:04.36 (an EA Level 5 performance) to finish third.
One of the highlights of the day came in the 300m hurdles, where Bibi Mulholland made an impressive debut over the distance, clocking an EA Level 7 time of 49.01 in the A string to finish second. Isla backed her up superbly with a personal best of 49.21 in the B string (also an EA Level 7 performance). Over the 80m hurdles, Erin ran smoothly for 14.31 in the A string, with Maggie Flinders recording 16.90.
Erin, Maggie, Olivia and Layla then combined in the 4x100m relay to bring the baton home in 56.89.
The field events were equally productive. Bibi equalled her personal best of 1.43m in the high jump (an EA Level 6 performance) to finish second, while Maggie cleared 1.30m in the B string despite juggling a clash with her hurdles event. In the long jump, Layla recorded 4.06m with Katelyn adding 3.88m in the B string.
The throws squad was in fine form. Olivia Irvine won the hammer with an excellent 26.69m and added 16.91m in the discus, while Ruby Hill (6.98m) and Layla (5.83m) shared the shot duties. Erin produced a strong 25.60m in the javelin, with Bibi contributing 16.15m in the B string. Isla (14.03m, discus B) and Ruby (15.03m, hammer B) ensured AVEAC picked up points across every event.
U16 Boys
The U16 boys produced the performance of the day as a squad, topping the age-group standings with 175 points (ten clear of Notts AC) thanks to an outstanding all-round effort from nine athletes.
The day began with a statement of intent from Joe Moss, who ran a non-scoring 11.23 in the 100m, an England Athletics Level 9 performance. In the scoring events, Alfie Ray clocked 12.57 in the A string 100m with Ethan Ray recording 14.08 in the B string, while Joe Falivena ran 26.96 over 200m and Charlie Davies clocked 41.27 in the 300m.
The standout track performance came from Charlie Davies over 800m. Running with real confidence, he crossed the line in 2:13.28, a personal best by nearly five seconds, to finish fourth in a competitive field. Seb McAughtrie supported well with 2:23.95 in the B string, while Joe Stimson ran 4:51.31 in the 1500m.
Seb then showed his versatility by placing second in the 100m hurdles in 16.29, while Harvey Glover won the 300m hurdles in a time of 49.08.
Squad depth was evident in the relays, where AVEAC fielded two teams. Joe Falivena, Seb, Joe Moss and Ethan combined for 51.02 in the 4x100m, while Charlie, Harvey, Alfie and Joe Stimson finished second in the 4x300m.
Joe Moss dominated the long jump, winning the A string with 5.74m (an EA Level 7 performance and nearly 70cm clear of the field) while Alfie took the B string with 4.52m. In the high jump, Alfie cleared 1.45m for third place and Joe Falivena won the B string at 1.40m.
The throws brought further success. Joe Moss won the shot with 12.85m, an EA Level 8 performance, with Gabe Parr taking the B string on 8.31m. Harvey threw 20.07m in the discus and Gabe again won the B string with 17.44m, before adding 11.71m in the hammer.
Seb rounded off an excellent day by throwing 31.82m to win the javelin, with Ethan securing the B string on 22.83m.
Standout Achievements
Special congratulations go to Joe Moss, whose 100m (11.23, Level 9), shot (12.85m, Level 8) and long jump (5.74m, Level 7) performances all met England Athletics standards, a remarkable treble. Bibi Mulholland (Level 7 in 300m hurdles, Level 6 in high jump), Isla Douglas (Level 7 in 300m hurdles), Lucy Norman (Level 5 in 1500m) and Owen Watson (Level 5 in 200m) also achieved EA standards on the day.
Team standings
AVEAC finished fourth overall on 508 points, 112 points clear of fifth-placed Tamworth AC. With Notts AC (620), Burton AC (581) and Derby AC (570) ahead, there is ground to make up but with two fixtures still to come, there is every reason to be optimistic.
The next Lower YDL fixtures take place on 31 May at Tamworth and 18 June at Newark.
A big thank you goes to all of our officials, volunteers and team managers whose support makes these competitions possible. If you would like to help at future fixtures, please speak to Alice.
Report – Rosemary Norman and Heather Douglas