Junior Inter-Counties Match, Cudworth – September 9th
Freya Kirby retained her under 15 javelin title while Joe Moss picked up two gold medals in the long jump and 200m at the recent junior inter-counties match on Saturday 9th September. As well as Freya and Joe, AVEAC had ten other young athletes in action representing Derbyshire against six more counties in the region including; Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, Humberside and Warwickshire. With two athletes per county in each event, run on a A and B basis, the competition ensured quality fields throughout.
Freya who is the current under 15 Midland Counties champion threw 32.92m to retain the A title she won last year when the match was held in Derby. She had over four metres to spare over Rubie Slater-Rowley (Nottinghamshire) in second place. Freya also competed in the B discus and finished a creditable third with a best effort of 16.43m.
Joe Moss’s victories came in the under 13 A long jump and A 200m. He sailed out to 4.99m in the long jump ahead of Edward Wilkinson (South Yorkshire) on 4.83m. In the 200m he clocked 26.76 seconds to finish five metres ahead of Cruz Francis (Leicestershire and Rutland). Joe also picked up a silver medal in the A shot with a personal best throw of 10.46m, a centimtere behind Logan Cowling (Humberside).
Madeleine Turner finished just outside the medals in the girl’s under 15 A 800m. In a hotly contested race which was won by Maya Schofield (South Yorkshire) in a very quick time of 2:12.53, Madeleine was pulled round to a new personal best of 2:18.69 to finish fourth, missing the bronze position by a mere three tenths of a second.
Also competing in the under 15 girls team were Isla Hiscocks and Jasmine Shore. Isla placed third in the B long jump with a best of 4.43m and fourth in the B 75m hurdles dipping under 13 seconds yet again this season with a respectable 12.93 seconds while Jasmine also had a third place spot in the B javelin throwing 18.41m and then went on to take fifth in the B high jump clearing 1.30m.
In the girls under 13 match, Isabella Parsons-Loades in only her second ever shot put competition finished with a bronze medal in the A pool. She added forty four centimetres on to her debut throw at the Mini League fixture in July.
Other fine performances in the under 13 girls age group were recorded by Betsy Wilton, third in the B 200m with a personal best of 29.20 seconds and eighth in the A long jump on 3.81m and, Isla Douglas sixth in the B long jump with a best of 3.53m.
Sebastian Taylor had a fine run in the boy’s under 13 B 75m hurdles finishing third in a time of 15.16 seconds while Alfie Ray and Charlie Davies put together pleasing performances in the sprints. Alfie placed fourth in the B 200m in a time of 30.53 seconds with Charlie coming sixth in the B 100m recording 14.10.
In the under 15 boy’s competition Corey Fisher was our sole representative. He finished third in the B 300m in 42.20 seconds and earlier in the meeting returned a time of 12.93 to place 6th in the B 100m.
Disappointment for Ben at English School’s Combined Events Championships
Bedford, 16-17 September
Ben Pitts pulled on his Derbyshire School’s vest last weekend hoping to finish highly in the senior boy’s decathlon at the English School’s finals. Unfortunately things did not go to plan for Ben with a reoccurence of a back strain during the high jump. He had started the competition well with solid performances in the first three events, the 100m, long jump and shot put. In the high jump, however, he could feel that things were not right and only managed to clear 1.77m, well below his personal best. He gallantly carried on to complete the 400m at the end of day 1 and even began day 2 with the 110m hurdles. Event seven of the ten was the discus and although Ben produced a fine effort of 32.38m, his back was continuing to hamper his movement, so he made the sensible decision to pull out of the contest.
Despite the disappointment Ben has had a great season in which he has won the Midland School’s decathlon title and had his first ever international call up in the high jump for the England Junior under 20 team. He now heads off to Sheffield Hallam University to undertake his degree and will avail of the excellent training facilities at the EIS Arena. Everyone at AVEAC wishes Ben the best of luck as he undertakes his next journey academically and athletically.
Report – Joe McColgan
Photos – Chris Kirby and Becky Moss