On Sunday 01 December, Chesterfield’s Queens Sports Park played host to the third instalment of the 2024/25 Sportshall season, with AVEAC in second place behind the Chesterfield after some good showings in October and November.
We turned up with 33 athletes, which was the same as we took last month. Both Chesterfield and Derby were down on athletes (perhaps the football played a part) but the hosts still took 11 more than we did.
Under 11s
We seem to have a good tranche of under 11s with 14 of our athletes competing in yellow; the split being 8 girls and 6 boys.
In the short sprints, Sophie Humphrey came 6th overall but was the fastest AVEACer with 14.8, just ahead of Grace Meehan (14.9) and Francesca Parsons-Loades (15.5). Thea King (15.8) & Esme Wainwright (16.5) also ran for us in the 1-lap. In the longer 2-lap, Katherine Turner came 2nd overall with a quick 28.4, ahead of Florence Sibley (29.9) Florence Protheroe (31.1) & Esme (34.2).
In the field, Sibles came 3rd with a leap of 35, ably assisted by Sophie (33), Frankie and Grace (both 32). Katherine jumped 5.31 in the standing triple. Everyone else competing cleared 4 metres with Sibles leaping 4.86m, Sophie 4.55m, FloPro 4.54m, Grace 4.42m, Esme & Thea (both 4.09m). Finally, in the chest push Katherine scored a 1st place win with 5.25m, with Thea coming 4th with 3.75m.
In the relay, slick handovers between Sophie, Sibles and Grace before a storming final leg by Katherine saw them grab a great win in the relay.
On the boys’ side, we had plenty of 1st place finishes across the day. In the 1-lap, Dylan Knowles won with a 13.9, slightly ahead of 2nd place Adam Banton who ran 14.0. Reggie Taylor (14.5), Chris Maye (15.2) & Benjamin McLaren (15.4) also competed in the event. In the 2 lap, Joseph Brackenbury came first with 28.1. Dylan was 3rd with a 28.5, with Adam and Reggie scoring a 28.6.
Adam Banton secured a win with a 41 in the vertical high jump whilst Benjamin jumped 34. In the standing triple, Joseph jumped 5.26m, with Dylan also going over 5 metres (5.23m). Chris (4.44m) and Benjamin (4.11m) ably assisting. Finally, Joseph and Reggie came joint second in the chest push with throws of 5.50.
The boys emulated the girls with the team of Dylan, Adam, Reggie and Joseph winning the relay.
Both teams won their section on the day. The girls are now 50 points ahead overall whilst the boys hold a similar lead in their category. Very promising for the future.
Under 13s
Numbers in the under 13s have been a problem for a little while now. The girls did bring 7 athletes but unfortunately, we only had 2 boys. I am aware the football had an effect this Sunday …
For the girls, Isla Douglas came 2nd in the 2-lap with a good (26.5) only being beaten by a new 2-lap record from the Chesterfield athlete. Bibi Mulholland came 3rd (26.7) just ahead of Summer Biggs (26.8). Evelyn Maye (29.0), Maggie Flinders (29.1), and Ruby Hill (29.3) all ran the 2-lap as well. We had one (well two!) entrant in the 8-lap parlauf – Isla and Evelyn came second.
In the field, in the vertical high jump, Bibi came 2nd with a 49, ahead of Evelyn (46), Ruby Hill (43), Isla (40), and Ruby Shore (33). In the standing triple jump, Summer came 2nd with a big 6.34m, though Maggie also cleared 6 metres with a 6.08, Ruby Shore jumped a spot on 4m. Finally, in the shot, Summer won with an 8.71. Bibi threw 6.76, with Maggie (6.14m), Ruby Hill (5.75m) and Ruby Shore (4.69m) all putting too.
The under 13 girls’ team of Isla, Bibi, Maggie and Summer came second in their section and in their relay.
Our two athletes in the boys’ section did very well. Isaac Smith won the vertical jump with a 49 and the triple jump with 6.08m. He also placed 3rd in the 2-lap. Marcus Parsons-Loades came 2nd in the shot with 8.31, 5th in the vertical high jump with a 42 and 6th in the standing triple jump with 5.09m.
The under 13 boys only fielded two athletes, but they still placed third in their section!
Under 15s
We had decent numbers in our under 15s, though it would be good to see a few more of ours turning out.
In the 2-lap, Erin Beresford came 2nd overall with a quick 25.8. She was joined in the AVEAC ranks by Jasmine Shore (26.2), Jess Dickinson (27.5), Ailsa McMillan (27.6) and Isabella Parsons-Loades (29.9). Moving to the longer 4-lap race, Madeleine Turner took home gold with a 54.5, just in front of third placed Jasmine who ran a dead on 58.
In the vertical high jump, Bella won the AVEAC side with 48. Jess (46), Ailsa (45) and Madeleine (44) also competed. In the shot, Bella also led for Amber Valley with an 8.27m. Jas was a tad short of 8 metres with a throw of 7.97m, Jess (7.67m), Madeleine (7.52m), Erin (7.29m) and Ailsa (6.81m) also threw well.
In their relay, the under 15 girls team placed second. They also came second in their section.
We only had 4 boys at under 15 but they all did well. In the short sprints, we had a 1-2, with Joe Moss (23.2) and Corey Fisher (24.2) taking gold and silver. Ashton Hayes also ran a good 25.5. In the longer run, Corey took 1st with a 53.0. Ashton was 3rd with a 53. & Harvey Glover ran 55.6.
In the field, Joe won the standing triple jump (8.14m) Harvey was a short spot off 6m – he jumped 5.98m. Finally, in the shot, Joe threw 11.49m to win. Corey putted an impressive 8.37, ahead of Ashton (7.10m) and Harvey (6.30m).
Despite only having four athletes, the boys won their section, every individual event and the relay. Well done to those four.
Next fixture and thanks!
To begin with, a big thank you to our officials that volunteered today well as our team managers – Claire D and Bob. Also, a thank you to Trev for recording the results, parents for transport and support and the athletes!
Our turnout has changed over the three meetings so far, but we have fielded 32, then 33 and again 33 this time, which saw us win this match. If we can get a bit more consistency, we can certainly run Chesterfield close.
The match scores for Sportshall #3 were as follows:
- AVEAC 451.5
- Chesterfield 432.5
- High Peak 279
- Derby 179
This means, at the half-way point, the scores are as follows:
- Chesterfield 1382
- AVEAC 1268
- High Peak 832
- Derby 596
The message to the athletes is train hard, and, if you can attend, on 05 January for Sportshall #4. Maybe, just maybe we can catch Chesterfield!
Report & Photos – Bob Boyd