Ben Pitts produced one of the outstanding performances at last Saturday’s Derbyshire Schools Championships at Moorways Sports Village, Derby. The talented multi-eventer who a few weeks ago at the YDL match in Loughborough cleared a personal best of 1.97m in the high jump went one better this time clearing 2 metres exactly. Beating the significant two metre barrier secured the gold medal and ensured that he will be going all out to jump even higher this weekend when he travels to Chelmsford to contest the England under 20 championships.
This years event was one of the best school’s championships for a long time with record entries in many of the Junior and Intermediate events. As well as Ben’s victory there were three other gold medal winning performances by AVEAC athletes representing their respective schools.
In the Junior Girl’s 800m Madeleine Turner hardly broke sweat in her heat comfortably qualifying in 2:43.55. She upped the ante in the final recording 2:27.06 securing the title by a margin of over seven seconds.
Javelin duo Freya Kirby and Gino Franco continued their fine start to the season taking javelin golds in the Junior Girl’s and Boy’s age groups. Freya once again got over the English School’s qualifying standard propelling the 500 gram spear out to 35.72m while Gino throwing the heavier 600 gram implement managed a new personal best of 35.74m to take the title in a close contest with Finley Collings representing the Erewash schools team.
The Junior Girl’s 100m attracted the biggest entry of the day with thirty four sprinters lining up at the start. The sheer number necessitated the running of five heats and two semi-finals. Isla Hiscocks kicked off her morning winning the first heat in 13.22 seconds. A slightly slower semi final time of 13.24 placed her second and secured her a place in the final.
It was anticipated that the final would be a close contest between Isla and Derby sprinter Kaylah Mackenzie who have been chasing each other for several years at mini league matches. School championships, however, will occassionally bring to prominence athletes who are not part of the club scene and this was the case in the final. Chesterfield representative Hollie Flint ran what can only be described as a blistering sprint in which she shattered the previous county record with a magnificent winning time of 12.34 seconds; all the more remarkable in that she was running in training shoes! Hollie’s lightening quick time pulled Isla to a new personal best of 12.98 seconds, picking up the bronze medal behind second placed MacKenzie. Isla then went on to take the silver medal in the 75m hurdles in 13.27, completing what was a busy sprint schedule.
It was nice to see Jasmine Shore break new ground in the Junior javelin. She finished runner up to Freya and was rewarded with a new best ever throw of 24.02m. She also contested the 200m and following a heat win in 29.85 seconds, she improved to 29.36 in the final, to pick up a well deserved bronze.
In the Junior Girl’s long jump Ailsa McMillan was unlucky not to get among the medals finishing fourth with a fine effort of 4.17m.
By virtue of their performances, Madeleine, Freya, Jasmine, Isla and Gino have all been selected to represent Derbyshire in the prestigious Mason Trophy involving ten counties from across the Midlands and North West this Saturday in Stoke.
Although not getting among the medal winners there were some additional fine performances in the heats by several other junior AVEAC athletes. Ryan Ghai ran a PB in the 100m in 13.01 seconds while there was also a personal best for Corey Fisher in the 200m with a 26.92 clocking. Jack Moss also contested the 200m and registered a time of 27.24 seconds. In the long jump Ryan had a best of 4.42m, eight centimetres off his best ever.
In the Intermediate age group, Hugo Thomas took part in a very competitive long jump contest. He finished fourth on 5.98m, his second furthest jump ever behind winner Kevin Masukume and Kaiden Ramsay, both of whom got over the English School’s qualifying standard of 6.40m.
In the Senior age group Grace Young picked up a silver medal in the long jump. Struggling with a virus in the lead up to the competition she jumped 4.75m behind training partner Tilly Mycroft who produced a lifetime best of 5.50m, booking herself a place at the the national school’s finals.
We started off by celebrating Ben Pitt’s fantastic high jump achievement. By the end of the day’s competition he also had lifted the senior javelin title with excellent throw of 50.17m. This weekend Ben will be in action in the high jump at the England under 20 and 23 championships which this year will include some under 18 events for athletes chasing qualification for the Commonwealth Youth Games.
As well as Ben, Michelle Yalekhue will take part in the under 20 triple jump which promises to be one of the most competitive events at the meeting, with nine of the field having jumped over 12 metres this season. Michelle will be joined by AVEAC second claim member, Louise Hirst, who will be taking part in her first national championships. Last year’s under 23 javelin bronze medalist Jessie Brown will be pushing for another podium postion this year while her training partner Daisy Kaye will also be in action contesting her first national event in a specially convened under 18 throw.
The weekend will also see our younger athletes taking part in their second Heart of England league match while a few of our older athletes will be in action at the Northern and Midland Senior League fixtures for their higher claim clubs.
Credits
Report – Joe McColgan
Photo – Ian Pitts
In the Intermediate age group, Hugo Thomas took part in a very competitive long jump contest. He finished fourth on 5.98m, his second furthest jump ever behind winner Kevin Masukume and Kaiden Ramsay, both of whom got over the English School’s qualifying standard of 6.40m.
By virtue of their performances, Madeleine, Freya, Jasmine, Isla and Gino have all been selected to represent Derbyshire in the prestigious Mason Trophy involving ten counties from across the Midlands and North West this Saturday in Stoke.
Javelin duo Freya Kirby and Gino Franco continued their fine start to the season taking javelin golds in the Junior Girl’s and Boy’s age groups. Freya once again got over the English School’s qualifying standard propelling the 500 gram spear out to 35.72m while Gino throwing the heavier 600 gram implement managed a new personal best of 35.74m to take the title in a close contest with Finley Collings representing the Erewash schools team.