Upper YDL 24/4/22 + Gloucester Open

26 April 2022

The first league event of the season took place this weekend with our U20 and U17 athletes competing in the Upper Youth Development League in Yate. Up against tough opposition the athletes rallied together to start the season well and finish in 3rd place. Many of the athletes were competing for the first time in a while and there commitment to competing for the club alongside exam revision was brilliant to see. 

Indoor multi-event star Jessica Duncton opened her outdoor season with a sensational club 5.62 in the long jump, although a long way clear of the club U20 record the strong wind meant it won’t count this time, but the record is definitely within her grasp as the season progresses. The performance added 44cm to her PB set during the indoor season and incredibly was only her first jump over 5m outdoors. Duncton also competed in the U17 200m and 80m hurdles, winning the A race for both events in 25.43 and 11.43 respectively. Duncton was joined in the long jump by Isobel Burfitt who added 13cm to her PB with a jump of 4.55 and was joined by Lily Marchant in the 200m who ran 27.81. The U17 100m and 300m events both featured double PBs for the Harriers with Emily Brown and Flora Hopcraft running 13.98 and 14.03 respectively over 100m and Marchant and Tamsin Hatton ran 44.42 and 47.00 in the 300m. Milly Foster and Isobel Watt had an exhausting day competing in two distance events each. Foster ran 2:47.08 in the 800m and then ran 5:38.58 over 1500m, meanwhile Watt completed the 1500m in 5:28.51 and the 3000m in 12:03.22. The steeplechase is a daunting discipline to debut in but Abigail Thornley did a brilliant job running 6:28.70 over 1500m. On the field Maia Bliss produced a best throw of 21.83 in the U17 discus adding 72cm to her PB. Hatton added to her 300m PB with a shot put PB of 7.96 and Alana Hazell jumped a high jump PB of 1.45. Hazell also competed in the javelin throwing a best of 20.58. Florence Hampton took on three field events, clearing 1.40 in the high jump and throwing 9.17 in the shot put and 25.52 in the javelin. 

In the U17 men’s events Max Lancett and Ralph Nicklin teamed up to take on the 100m and 200m. Lancett ran 12.87 and 26.03 while Nicklin achieved a 100m PB of 12.26 and ran 24.91 in the 200m. George Quartermaine made his club debut in the 800m running well to finish in 2:49.44 and then completed the 3000m in 11:30.43. Bexley Turbard opened his outdoor season in the pole vault clearing a best of 3.30m, just 10cm below his PB, and then made his steeplechase debut running 5:11.20 for the 1500m distance. In the throw events Luca Colombini and Ruben Lombard both competed in the shot, discus and javelin. Colombini produced bests of 10.13 (shot), 25.68 (discus) and 41.68 (javelin) while Lombard threw 8.83 (shot), 19.90 (discus) and a massive 53.60 in the javelin. 

First up for the U20W was Ruby Brook competing in the 200m and 400m. Brook ran 26.33 in the 200m before knocking over half a second off her 400m PB with a fantastic time of 58.42. Kiya Dee cruised to victory in the 1500m with a well controlled effort of 4:44.55 and also took the win in the 1500m steeplechase in 5:07.00. Ciara Thornley made an impressive season debut running just 2 seconds slower than her PB in the 3000m to finish in 9:55.73. Mimi Davis threw 35.33 in the javelin. 

Last but not least the U20M, Sam Howell and Oliver Spencer opened their outdoor seasons with runs of 11.72 and 12.56 respectively in the 100m. Howell then competed in the 200m running 22.94 while Spencer jumped 5.28 in the long jump. 

Philip Hunt ran a 200m PB of 26.69 and competing in the 400m, Oliver Risborough ran 60.25. Risborough also competed in the shot, throwing 10.23, and javelin, throwing 42.63. Another athlete to take on a lot to help the club gain points was Sulaiman Ouiles who competed in the long jump, high jump, pole vault, discus and hammer throw. Ouiles cleared a PB of 5.05 in the long jump, jumped 1.55 in the high jump and 3.60 in the pole vault. In the throws Ouiles produced bests of 25.75 in the discus and 19.71 in the hammer.  

(Photo: U20W 4x400m relay team)

In the 4x100m relays the U20 men’s team of Spencer, Hunt, Risborough and Howell came 3rd in 47.3. The U17 men’s team of Nicklin, Lombard, Colombini and Lancett were 4th in 48.44 and the U17 women’s team took a fantastic win in 50.60 thanks to the efforts of Brown, Marchant, Hazell and Duncton. The U20W 4x400m relay team of Brook, Burfitt, Thornley and Hatton ran 4:20.35.

(Photo: U17W 4x100m relay team)

While our U20 and U17s competed in Yate plenty of other Harriers were opening their outdoor seasons at the Gloucester Open. U15 Oliver Belbeck had a brilliant indoor season and brought his form with him outdoors. Beginning with the 75m Belbeck ran 9.6, he then achieved a PB of 2:25.1 in the 800m and equalled his long jump PB with a best of 5.28, his longest ever outdoors. Fellow U15 Benjamin Parker also jumped out to a PB in the long jump with a distance of 3.94. In the 75m Parker ran 11.2. The 75m also saw U15s Izzy Cook, Charlotte Smith, Esme Rolfe and Charlie Phillimore run 10.7 (PB), 0.8, 11.1 and 11.2 respectively, U13 Amber Tandy ran 11.6 and M65 Robert McGowan ran 11.4. Many of our sprinters doubled up to compete in the 150m too. First up Cook ran 21.6, Smith ran a PB of 21.7, Rolfe ran 21.9 and McGowan finished in 24.0. Usually known as distance runners, the Avery twins showed they could sprint too, with Evie running 23.3 and Olivia running 23.8. They duo also both ran 800m PBs, Evie finished in 2:33.2 and Olivia 2:34.3.The 800m was a successful event for the Harriers with U13 Oliver Wilson and U15 Josh Hill also running PBs of 2:40.9 and 2:43.2 respectively. U15 Kate Mills and Leo Soakell also had good runs in the 800m finishing in 2:44.8 and 2:32.5. The longest event of the day was the 3000m which bore two PBs for U15 Sam Wilson (9:52.7) and U15 Harriet Smith (11:38.50). F65 runner Kathryn Morton ran well to finish in 13:21.0. Lastly, in the long jump Charlotte Smith jumped 3.86, Charlie Phillimore jumped 3.88 and U13 Megan Amey cleared 3.72.

The Open also featured a Quadkids event which was one by Bertie Brookes after a win in the 60m in 9.5, a throw of 32.3 in the howler, a win in the standing long jump in 2.07 and finishing it off with a 600m time of 2:09.9. George Phillimore put together a good day's competition with 10.1 in the 60m, a throw of 30.65 in the howler, a standing long jump of 1.77 and a 600m time of 2:16.6. In the girls event, Sophie Gaskell won the 60m in 9.8, threw 11.3 in the howler, and showed her domination by winning the standing long jump with a best of 1.78 and winning the 600m in 2:15.20