Leeds Young Athletes Open Meeting
Sunday 31st January 2016
Four of Kingston’s young athletes were at the ‘John Charles Sports Centre’ on the last Sunday in January, to compete in the latest of the Young Athletes Open meetings which are hosted at that venue, during the winter months, by the Leeds City Athletic Club.
15 year old Paige Mathers has just made the move up to the under17 age category, where she will compete for the 2016 and 2017 track and field seasons. She is a very good hurdler and is a proficient high and long jumper, and has been making good and steady progress with the javelin event. The 2015 track & field season saw her win javelin gold, high jump silver and hurdles bronze medals at the County Championships, and two further bronze medals for hurdles and high jump were won at the Humberside Schools Championships.
At the Leeds Open Paige was in competition in the 60 metres sprint and in the long jump event. The 60 metres saw her take 3rd place in her race and set a new PB of 8.7s. In the long jump she produced another new PB with a leap of 4.51m, which gave her a 5th place finish.
Rosie Shepherd made her first appearance in the under15 age category at this meeting. She is a good all round athlete who was the high jump bronze medallist at last year’s County Championships. She is a sprinter, hurdler, long and high jumper and can also perform in the middle distance races.
Her chosen events at Leeds were 60 metre sprints, high jump and long jump. She was the winner of her 60 metres race, where she ran a new PB of 9.1s. She took 2nd place in the high jump competition with a clearance at a height of 1.35m, which was another new PB. In the long jump a seasons best effort of 3.54m, gave her 9th place.
13 year old Emily Dye is another first year under 15 who is a good hurdler, sprinter and long jumper. She is a member of the Kingston junior team and competes for the club in both the National Youth Development League, and Humberside League matches.
Emily was in action in the 60 metres sprints, 60 metres hurdles and the long jump. She was the winner of the 60 metre sprint, running a new PB of 9.0s. Emily took 2nd place in the 60 metre hurdles, where she posted another new PB of 10.9s. The long jump competition saw her set her 3rd new PB of the meeting with a jump of 4.30m.
13 year old Katie Smith, another newcomer in the under15 age category, made her debut in the Kingston Spring Open meeting in April 2015. She soon found her feet however, establishing herself as a very good hurdler and sprinter, and winning silver medals at 100 metres and 70 metres hurdles at the County Championships, as well as representing the club in National Youth Development league and Humberside league meetings.
Katie took on the 60 metres hurdles and the 60 metres sprint at Leeds. She took 3rd places in both events, running a time of 9.1s in the sprints and 10.6s in the hurdles.
