Club Records, PBs and Debuts Galore
EAL Fixture 3 – Cambridge
by David Killick
Before the detail some simple stats:
4 club records broken, 8 debuts in a club top and roughly 25 PBs broken.
Keeping this brief will be difficult so anyone not mentioned many apologies now but I have been asked to limit my ramblings. (Not by me! Ed.)
At U11s we started the day with 6 athletes, ended up with 8 (6 girls and 2 boys) as 2 juniors there decided it looked fun and wanted to do it. Unfortunately this got me into trouble with the league for having too many athletes in events… I did my grovelling and have taken the penalty we have from the league committee (more on that later) and no, I am not sorry for encouraging children to participate in sport when athletics is in decline at a younger level (it was my admin error on not checking the rules as I got carried away with the excitement!) What a great job they did and had a wonderful time and the 3 girls who did the 4x100m relay for the U13 girls did so with a massive smile, which is what it is all about!
The U13 girls were slightly thin on the ground this time but saw Julia Bell break 3 minutes for the first time at 800m, and Imogen Chesterton hit another PB in the 1500m edging ever closer to 6minutes.
U13 boys were full of spirit and whilst not having the best hurdles results, Oscar Butlin blitzed around the 800m in a PB, and Stanley Hackett continued to improve at discus. Aaron O’Dwyer found the high jump conditions slippery but still equalled his best of the season. Daniel Colman on his debut lived up to what we had seen in practice and pretty much shocked the other teams whacking out a club record 34m in Javelin (in context that is 12th Nationally on Power 10 and was 8m further than anyone else in the competition), broke the shot record with 9.72m (14th Nationally) and the discus record (didn’t win but is 25th nationally). Not bad for a club debut and proves why clubs are important in supporting what schools can’t offer. Some slightly dodgy handovers hampered a good 4x100m time but baton got around safely and was a big effort.
U15 girls once again came out in large numbers and put in some solid efforts. Amelia Butlin and Jenny Abington PB in the hurdles, Niquole Carter also found the high jump conditions tough but put in a debut performance in 200m after a solid 1500m. Amy Killick knocked another 5 seconds off her 1500m time to finish 2nd in 5:12 and also beat senior women who were running in the same race, followed up with PB in Long Jump and Javelin. Zara Brooks and Daisy Giltrow managed PBs in Javelin and the reliable Annie Rose supported well in the throws events. Once again the team managed to get 2 4x100m teams out and safely got around more than other teams.
The U15 boys team was supported by the returning Harry Bell who put in a gutsy PB performance across his 3 events with a notable effort on his 300m debut. Max Rose knocked a few milliseconds off his 100m PB and Owen Linders backed up well in the 200 and triple. William Rossiter returned for this match and despite being a year young in the age group held his own as he PB in 1500m. All 4 were close in the 4x100m and not being a specialist sprint club did well to be in touching distance at end.
The U17 girls were back to a squad of 4. Evie Gilmour hammer training didn’t quite come off but was great to see a junior do spin rotation at competition. Looking through the records to see the last time this happened. She did manage a PB in discus. Louisa Rothery PB in 800m and just seems to enjoy coming along, McKenna Keefe was disappointed not to break the 1.45m but still a great performance in the conditions. Dana Carter returned to some form in the 800m with her best performance of the season. They then teamed up to break the record for the 4x100m they has set back in April.
Senior Woman saw the injured Megan Westrope attempt the Triple but was off her best. Alex Killick can be forgiven for not being fully on top form having completed her first Ultra Running race the previous day so a few stiff joints and blisters restricted movement
Now – the senior men saw 2 debuts. Michael Watt (Son of a club regular Fred) has not taken in his Dad’s footsteps with running but has been gradually training with us doing throws and Long Jump and had a great debut on Hammer, Shot and Long Jump. Nick Stonehouse who has been training with us since late last year was only 49cm short of breaking the very old discus record and followed up in the Shot. This bodes well for him as he heads to Scotland to appear for the Royal Free Hospital in the Transplant games. A great achievement for him to get to where he is from basically never throwing before and the dedication and effort he has done in training to get himself throws fit. Warren Rose decided to treat the day as an interval sessions and managed to break his 1500m PB and Long Jump whilst doing an 800m and 400m warm up. Ben Corfield made it 3 out of 3 matches this year and continues to get back to his form from a couple of years ago. As for myself, having also done the Chiltern Challenge 50km I somehow thought doing 3 throws and a 400m were the best way to wind down. Hammer on my first attempt at spin in competition went slightly wrong and everything was a little sore to be throwing at full pelt. As for the 400m I think the marquee had come down and everyone packed up by the time I finished.
Overall the lead team of the day were the Senior Men coming 3rd, U13 boys 4th and other age groups 5th. Unfortunately as said we have been docked points for the U11s rules breach, but it doesn’t take away from what was a pretty good day out, 8 athletes wearing purple and gold for the first time, seeing some athletes I am sure we w and again athletes pushing themselves to PBs.