Heart of England League – Saturday 30th April at Coventry
The first match in the Heart of England League took place on Saturday April 30th in Coventry. AVEAC are in Division 1, and selected athletes from the U11 to U20 age groups competed against 7 other teams from across the Midlands. Conditions were ideal – warm, dry and with barely any wind – and the excitement, good spirits and teamwork from athletes and parents were lovely to see after 2 years without this type of competition.
The U11s compete in their own discrete scoring match at Heart of England and our boys and girls certainly rose to the occasion, with both teams finishing the day in second place overall behind the Solihull team, with the girls only one point behind the leaders.
The boys got off to a fantastic start in the first event of the day, with Jacob Adams and Marcus Parson-Loades winning the A and B string howler Javelin with throws of 32.00m and 22.65m respectively. Jacob went on to score well in the 75m, finishing third in the A string race with a time of 11.6 and then stepping out of his comfort zone to run the 600m in a respectable 2.16.97, earning extra points for the team. Marcus was 6th in the A long jump with 2.81m and ran a non-scoring 75m in 12.85 to gain valuable experience competing at this level. AVEAC’s other two U11 boys also contributed well, with Elliott Barnett gaining 4th place in the A 600m with a time of 2.07.91 and 3rd place in the B 75m with 11.8. Ethan Ray was 5th in the long jump with 2.60m and ran the non-scoring 75m in a time of 12:99.
There was more success in the Howler for the U11 girls, where Isobel Weller and Summer Biggs took the second place spots in the A and B string throwing 21.73m and 12.44m. Izzy went on to finish 3rd in the A String 600m with 2.08.35 and completed her day with another 3rd place in the A Long Jumo with 3.27m. Summer ran an excellent 75m to finish 2nd in the B string in 12.3 and ran a gutsy 600m in 2.21.15 for 6th place in the B race. The third member of the team, Aimee Brackenbury, was 5th in both the B long jump with 2.75m and the A 75m with 12.6.
The U13s were slightly low in numbers due to injuries and lack of availability but there were some excellent performances against strong competition. Joe Moss scored almost half of the total points for the U13 boys coming second in the A 800m with a time of 2.36.38, 7th in the A long jump with 3.53m and 3rd in the A 200m with a PB time of 29.5. Joe was the only AVEAC athlete who ran in the 200m across all age groups – lengthy delays on the track resulted in many parents and athletes deciding to leave before the later events took place.
Alfie Ray took part in the Javelin despite his wrist being strapped up following an injury that morning and recorded a throw of 12.28m for 7th place in the A string whilst Ethan Barnett took 5th place in B Long Jump with 3.42m. In the 100m, Alfie and Ethan recorded almost identical times of 15.10 and 15.12 for 7th and 5th places in the A and B string races respectively.
The U13 girls had 3 athletes running in the 800m race, finishing in 5th, 7th and 8th places overall in a field of 13 runners. In terms of scoring, Madeleine Turner was 4th in the A string with a time of 2.44.76, Jaimie-Lee Scott came 2nd in the B string with 2.50.65 and Amelia Whittaker with 2.52.95 was a non-scorer on this occasion. In the Long j Jump, Madeleine’s best jump of 3.57m was 6th in the A string and a PB for Amelia of 3.36m was good enough for 2nd place in the B string. Jasmine Shore recorded two PBs on the day – she came 6th in the A 100m with 14.72 and 3rd in the Shot where she added 14cm to her previous best with a put of 6.14m. She finished off a successful day with 3rd place in the Javelin with a best throw of 18.18m.
The three U15 athletes who travelled to Coventry will be hoping for more teammates to join them at the remaining 2 matches to help with the points scoring. They nonetheless did themselves proud with their individual performances on the day. Eden Klugman, in his first competitive 1500m, finished 7th in a time of 5.20.5, well inside the target of 5.30 set by his coach before the race. Poppy Weller was 7th in the A long jump with 4.03 and won the B string Javelin with a best throw of 19.56m. Freya Kirby added 40cm to her previous best in the Shot to come fifth with 6.34m and continued with her consistent Javelin this season with a throw of 25.56 for 2nd place in the A string. She also recorded a best of 2.39 in the B long jump for 7th place.
Alfie Ray took part in the Javelin despite his wrist being strapped up following an injury that morning and recorded a throw of 12.28m for 7th place in the A string whilst Ethan Barnett took 5th place in B Long Jump with 3.42m. In the 100m, Alfie and Ethan recorded almost identical times of 15.10 and 15.12 for 7th and 5th places in the A and B string races respectively.
The U13 girls had 3 athletes running in the 800m race, finishing in 5th, 7th and 8th places overall in a field of 13 runners. In terms of scoring, Madeleine Turner was 4th in the A string with a time of 2.44.76, Jaimie-Lee Scott came 2nd in the B string with 2.50.65 and Amelia Whittaker with 2.52.95 was a non-scorer on this occasion. In the Long j Jump, Madeleine’s best jump of 3.57m was 6th in the A string and a PB for Amelia of 3.36m was good enough for 2nd place in the B string. Jasmine Shore recorded two PBs on the day – she came 6th in the A 100m with 14.72 and 3rd in the Shot where she added 14cm to her previous best with a put of 6.14m. She finished off a successful day with 3rd place in the Javelin with a best throw of 18.18m.
For the U17 men, George Reynolds had an excellent day, scoring maximum points with 3 first place finishes and 3 PBs. He took the A string Shot with a best of 10.37m, the A string Long Jump with 6.38m and the B string 100m with a time of 11.63. Luca Manadiakis was also in PB form in the 800m where he finished 7th in a time of 2.24.64 – Luca also competed in the Javelin finishing in 3rd place with a best throw of 26.62. Ryan Rawlinson took 2nd spot in the A string 100m with a time of 11.66 and Corey Tatum was third in the 400m with 53:9.
The U17 Women got the day off to a great start with Javelin throwers Daisy Kaye and Millie Walster continuing their excellent recent form to win the A and B string competitions. Daisy, who is now consistently throwing over 30 metres, achieved 32.42 whilst Millie’s best on the day was 29.02. Daisy also competed in the B string High Jump where she finished joint first with 1.45m.
Multi-eventer Imogen Laugharne had a very successful day. In the high jump, she was delighted to achieve 1.60m for the first time, something she has been working towards this season and which earned her a well-deserved 2nd place on count back. She also won the 80m hurdles in a time of 12.24 and a PB of 9.13m in the Shot put placed her 2nd in the A string. Nicole Bonser won the B string Shot with 9.03m and produced some excellent long jumping to finish 3rd in the A string with a best of 4.74, not far off her PB. The U17s were ably assisted by U20 athlete, Grace Young who came 7th in the 100m in a PB time of 14.4 and was 2nd in the B string long jump with a best performance of 4.57m. U20s can be called on to support the U17 teams in running and jumping events, as long as priority is given to available U17 athletes, something which the Team Managers will aim to make more use of in the remaining matches this season.
Overall, AVEAC finished in 7th place with only Radley beneath them on the scoring table. This is certainly not a reflection of the excellent efforts of all the athletes who took part, but a result of the low numbers of selected athletes who were available on the day. The team managers and club coaches will be working hard to encourage a better turn out for the next fixture on 19th June in Kettering. Well done to the athletes and thank you to the many volunteers who stepped up on the day to assist with team managing and officiating duties.
British Universities and Colleges Championships – Saturday 30th April and Sunday 1st May at Chelmsford
AVEAC Senior athlete Jessie Brown made the long journey to Chelmsford, Essex last weekend to compete for Nottingham University at the BUCS Championships in the Women’s Javelin. In a highly competitive event which attracted most of the top British throwers, Jessie finished 5th in qualification with a throw of 41.03m to make the final group of twelve out of the two qualification pools. In the final her distance was marginally better with a best effort of 41.46m and she ended up 7th overall. Jessie’s training partner at AVEAC Nicky Bell representing Nottingham Trent University finished 8th in the final with a throw of 39.89m.
Another Javelin specialist out of the Scott Knighton camp, Joss Foot (Nottingham Trent) picked up a Bronze Medal in the Men’s final with a excellent throw of 61.58m.
Northern League March – Saturday 30th April at Moorways
Four of our U20 and Senior athletes, Ben Pitts, Charlie Yates, Henry Knighton and Katie Potts competed for Chesterfield in the Northern Senior League East on Saturday last against seven other clubs from across the region.
Multi-eventer, Ben recorded two personal bests in the Pole Vault and Long Jump. He cleared 3.70m in the vault to won the competition outright and finished 4th in the Long Jump, reaching the 6 metre mark exactly for the first time.
Charlie Yates held off Boston athlete Louise Hirst to won the Women’s Triple Jump by two centimetres. Charlie’s best effort was 10.72m. Earlier in the afternoon she finished 2nd in the High Jump clearing 1.55m, the same height as the winner, Susie Palmer (Derby).
Henry Knighton won the Men’s High Jump with a height of 1.80m and then went on to finish 2nd in the Triple Jump and 3rd in the Javelin. In a closely fought Women’s Long Jump, our final representative, Katie Potts finished 3rd with a best of 4.96m, eight centimetres behind the winner Sophia Danielle (Grantham).
DADA Open – Tuesday 3rd May at Moorways
Quite a few AVEAC athletes from U11s to Seniors took part in the second Derby Athletics Development Association (DADA) Open at Moorways on Tuesday evening .
Five U11s lined up for the graded heats of the 75m. Jacob Adams was the fastest of the quintet retuning a time of 11.86. Olivia Irvine almost equalled Jacobs time on 11.88, Summer Bigg’s crossed the finish in 12.50, Rosie Boyer recorded 13.85 and Rupert Turner finished in 13.72.
The Under 11s also long jumped. In the Boy’s pool Jacob Adams and Rupert Turner finished 2nd and 3rd with distances of 3.69m and 3.20m., In the Girl’s Long Jump, Summer Biggs topped the proceedings with a 3.36m effort. Rosie Boyer finished 6th with 2.76m.
A few of the U11s then took part in a 600m run and recorded the following times; Rupert Turner (2.31.84), Olivia Irvine (2.22.67), Jacob Adams (2.20.53), Rosie Boyer (2.24.11) and Sunmer Biggs (2.31.56).
Joe Moss was our only U13 in action and he came away with two personal bests winning the 75m sprint in 10.89 and then later in the evening running a fine 600m race with his second PB of 1.52.08.
In the graded sprints over 100 and 200 metres, U15 sprinter Isla Hiscocks was in top form. Isla won her 100m race with a new PB of 13.64 and later in the evening broke 29 seconds for the first time in the 200m finishing 2nd in 28.75.
Three AVEAC athletes, Katie Potts, Daisy Kaye and Imogen Laugharne lined up together for Heat 3 in the 100m and it was a closed run affair between the trio. Under 20 Katie just edged it between the three running 13.51 with her Unde 17 teammates finishing almost identically on 13.64 and 13.65.
Senior multi-eventer Alice Robison returned PB times of 14 04 in the 100m and 29.65 in the 200m. Daisy Kaye also doubled up and ran a seasons best of 28.44 in the half lap..
Under 17, Ryan Rawlinson continued his good early season sprint form with an electronic best time in the 100m of 11.64 and a new PB of 23.53 in the 200m. In the 1500m, first year U17 Charlie Halford returned a season’s best of 5.33..91.
Acknowlegments:
Heart of England report – Sarah Kaye
Heart of England photos – Chris Kirby
BUCS, Northern League and DADA – Joe McColgan