Lower Age Group YDL - 5/6/2021

07 June 2021

A team of U15 and U13 athletes headed to Swindon for the first fixture in the Lower Age Group Youth Development League. The team performed well with lots of PBs, wins and a strong team spirit. The athletes efforts were rewarded with a brilliant 2nd place just missing out on the top spot to the home team, Swindon.

In the field events there were 3 A string victories from Othniel Harris in the U15 high jump with 1.57, Alana Hazell in the U15 shot put with a big PB throw of 9.38 and Megan Amey in the U13 long jump with a PB jump of 4.17. In the respective B string events James Keenan took 1st place in the high jump with a 1.45, Florence Hampton took the shot put with 9.10 and Zara Collins jumped 3.53 for 2nd. Oliver Belbeck came 2nd in both the U15 shot (7.90) and discus (20.73) his first time competing in both events. Belbeck was supported by Fred Fowler who finished 2nd in the B string shot with 5.77 and 1st in the discus with 13.63. Ellis Woolley and Evie Henderson teamed up for the U15 discus with Woolley throwing 13.51 for 2nd in the A string and Henderson 11.31 to take the B string victory. Alana Hazell and Esme Rolfe jumped PBs of 1.35 and 1.3 to take 3rd and 1st in the U15 high jump A and B strings. 

In the U13 boys long jump Henry Pope jumped 3.83 for 3rd in the A competition and Eddie Atkins also finished 3rd in the B string with 3.74. Patrick Paul finished 3rd in the U13 A javelin with 9.04 and Edward Andrews-Flint threw 8.82 to win the B string. The U13 girls javelin saw Jessica Asquith throw 12.55 for 3rd in the A string and Zara Collins 11.72 for 2nd in the B string.

In the shortest event of the day Benjamin Parker flew to 2nd in the U13 A string with 10.85 with Robin Nishimura taking 3rd in the B race with 11.95. Competing as a guest Henry Pope impressed with a run of 11.59. In the U13 girls 75m it was 2nd for Izzy Cook in the A race with a PB by over a second of 11.03 and 2nd for Aca Mitchell in the B race with 11.54 PB. In the U15 100m races there was an A string win for Othniel Harris in a huge PB of 12.84, similarly James Keenan also ran a huge PB with 13.74 for 2nd in the B string. Keenan then made his hurdles debut taking victory in the B race with 14.33 and Fred Fowler ran his second quickest 80m hurdles time ever to win the A string with 12.9. Annabelle Wigan (14.32) and Flora Hopcraft (14.61) took on the 100m for the girls coming 3rd and 2nd in the A and B strings respectively. Running as a guest Esme Rolfe ran well to finish in 15.06. In the U15 girls 75m hurdles Florence Hampton ran a great race to finish 2nd in a new PB of 12.43.

Oliver Belbeck has been flying this season and kept the progression going with a huge 300m PB to take the A string victory in a brilliant 40.98. Taking on a tough 300/800 double Freddie Coombe won the 300 B string in 43.72 and came 3rd in the A 800 with 2:19.17. In the U15 girls 300m Milly Foster and Isobel Burfitt made their debuts over the distance to finish 3rd and 2nd in the A and B strings with times of 51.13 and 48.31. Sam Wilson ran a PB in the U15 boys 800 to take 2nd in the B race in 2:25.46. Evie Henderon and Ellis Woolley teamed up again to take on the 800m, both running PBs to finish 2nd and 3rd in the A and B strings with times of 2:27.09 and 2:34.91. Milly Foster and Abigail Thornley competed as guests running well to achieve times of 2:39.87 and 2:50.58.

The distance races saw the U13s take on 1200m with Maddie Thomson running a brilliant 4:10.51 to take the A string win and Oliva Avery running a mature race to take the B string victory with 4:23.28. Patrick Paul and Eddie Atkins came 2nd in the A and B string respectively with 4:03.4 and 4:15.44.

It was brilliant to see the athletes come together to compete in the relays. A strong U13 girls team of Ava Mitchell, Izzy Cook, Taylor Steele and Megan Amey stormed to 4x 100m victory in 56.83. Edward Andrews-Flint, Patrick Paul, Robin Nishimura and Benjamin Parker combined to run 59.61 for 2nd in the U13 boys 4x 100m. 

The U15 boys also took an impressive victory with an on form team of Othniel Harrier, Fred Fowler, James Keenan and Oliver Belbeck running 51.22. With so many athletes prepared to race for the team it was brilliant to see two U15 girls relay teams take to the track. The 4x 100 team of Flora Hopcraft, Annabelle Wigan, Esme Rolfe and Evie Henderson finished a superb 2nd with 57.24 and the 4x 300 team of Isobel Burfitt, Abigail Thornley, Milly Foster and Ellis Woolley finished 3rd in 3:22.17.