Upper Age Group YDL 30/5/2021

01 June 2021

After being cancelled in 2020 league competitions made a long awaited comeback on Sunday was the first fixture of the Upper Age group Youth Development League taking place in Yate. Although there is no promotion to play for this year it is still important for the team to come together and compete well. Only a small team made the trip but some impressive individual performances and team spirit helped Cheltenham finish 3rd on the day.

In an impressive double Kaitlyn Sheppard took the win in both the 1500m and 3000m all within the space of 90minutes. The under 20 athlete has been flying all season and took to the challenge with determination finishing with times of 4:40.0 and 9:59.7,  both within 10seconds of her PBs. U17 Ruby Brook finished 1st in the 300m setting a new PB of 41.4 bettering her previous PB set just the day before by half a second. Training partner and fellow U17 Jessica Duncton won the 200m in 25.9. Billy Buxton threw a  2.5metre PB to win the U17 men’s Discus with 36.00. There were also wins in the field for Alfie Wood in the U20 long jump with a clearance of 6.61 and Lily Carpenter in the U20 shot put with a PB of 9.95.

U20 Tom Samuel competed in the 100m running 11.5 to beat his PB by 0.5 seconds and start his 2021 season in top form. Also competing in the 100m Max Lancett made his YDL debut finishing 4th in 12.6. Multi eventer, Gemma Veal returned to racing for the first time since 2021 running strong to finish 4th in the U20 200 in 30.3. Running twice in two days, Lily Marchant bettered her 200m SB by 0.1 to finish 3rd in the U17 200m in 28.2. Lulu Skurek performed well in the U17 300m finishing just outside her PB in 45.7 and in the U20 400m Bathsheba Kayley finished 3rd in 69.0. In the U17 distance events Kiya and Taya Dee competed in the 3000m coming 2nd in the A and B string in times of 10:14.6 and 11:24.9. Chloe Sheppard ran a 13second PB to finish 3rd in the 1500m in 5:06.2 and Molly Dibden won the B race in 5:38.8. Competing as a guest Hetty McCartney ran well to finish in 5:51.4. Charlie Boulton was out lone male endurance athlete running a PB of 2:18.4 for 5th. There was a 2nd place for Tamsin Hatton in the Shot put with 7.47, Hatton also competed in the javelin finishing 5th in 16.12. Jessica Duncton backed up her sprint win with a 3rd place in the shot with 10.24 and Celia Darwent finished 3rd in the high jump with a clearance of 1.45.

It was amazing to see Cheltenham put out so many relay teams and the athletes working together so well. The highlight being a win for the U17 4x 300m in 2:56.9 the team consisted of Lily Marchant, Jessica Duncton, Lulu Skurek and Ruby Brook.

(Photo: The winning U17W 4x 300m team)

There was a 2nd place finish in 4:39.0 for the U20 women’s 4X 400m team consisting of Hetty McCartney, Chloe Sheppard, Gemma Veal and Bathesheba Kayley. The U17M and U17W 4x 100m teams both finished 3rd, with the U20W 4x 100m team finishing 5th the same as the U20M 4x 400m team.