ESAA North East Schools Combined Events Championships

York University

 Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd June 2019

The English Schools Athletic Association, staged the North East Schools, combined events Championships, at York University’s athletics stadium, on the weekend of the 22nd & 23rd of June. Athletes from all parts of north eastern England, travelled to the City of York, to compete at the event. Each and every one of them, had put in countless hours, of training, over many months, and they were all hoping, to achieve the qualifying standard, required in order to compete, later in the season, at the English Schools combined events, Championship meeting.

Six Kingston athletes, were in competition over the weekend, three in the pentathlon, and three in the heptathlon. Details of all of their performances, are as follows.

Under 15’s

Pentathlon

The  Kingston trio, of Lydia Moore, Beth Moodie and Izzy Watts, competed in the under15 girls pentathlon. All five of their events, were contested on the second day of the  competition, Sunday June 23rd.

75 Metres Hurdles

Beth Moodie, took 21st place, in the under 15 girl’s race, running a time of 14.45 sec. In 23rd place was Izzy Watts, who ran a new PB of  16.74 sec, shaving 0.16 off her old mark. Lydia Moore was 25th,  and she too ran a new PB of 17.84 sec, clipping 0.36 of her old best.

Shot Putt

The shot is one of Izzy Watts’ strong events, and she took a 10th place finish, with her throw of 8.34 metres. Lydia Moore, took 13th place, with a throw of 8.01 metres. Beth Moodies throw of 6.01 metres, gave her 26th place.

High Jump

Izzy Watts, took 23rd place, going clear at a height of 1.26 metres, Beth Moodie was 25th, going clear at 1.23 metres, with Lydia Moore taking 26th, clearing a height of at 1.17 metres.

Long Jump

Izzy Watts, took 23rd place in the long jump, leaping to a new PB of 3.94 metres, 50 cm beyond her old mark. Beth Moodie was 24th, with her jump of 3.79 metres, whilst Lydia Moores jump, of 3.76 metres, gave her 25th place.

800 Metres Race

The first of the Kingston girls, to cross the finish line, was Lydia Moore, who took 15th place, running a season’s best time, of 2:51.93 sec. Beth Moodies season’s best run of 3:05.01 sec, gave her 23rd place, with Izzy Watts 24th, running a new PB of 3:08.48 sec, slashing 4.32 sec off her old best. 

This was a big learning curve for the girls, where they gained valuable championship experience, to take with them, into their future competitions.

Under 17’s

Heptathlon

The heptathlon, took in both days of the Championship meeting. Kingston’s representatives, were Emilia Russell, Lauren McClean, and Rosie Shepherd.

200 metres Sprints

Saturdays 200 metres competition, saw Lauren McClean, take a 6th place finish, running a new PB of 27.94 sec, taking 0.46 off her old mark. Emilia Russell, took 9th place, running a time of 28.23 sec. Rosie Shepherds run of 29.14 sec, saw her take a 12th place finish.

Shot Putt

Emilia Russell, took 4th place in the shot event, where she put in a throw of 9.84 metres. Lauren McClean, took 9th place, with her throw of 8.09 metres, and Rosie Shepherds throw of 7.34 metres, gave her a 12th place finish.

High Jump

In the high jump, all three girls went clear at the same height of 1.50 metres, the finishing places were decided by count back. Emilia Russell took 2nd place, with Rosie Shepherd 3rd, and Lauren McClean 4th. 

80 Metres Hurdles

Lauren McClean, took 5th place in the 80 metres hurdles, where she ran a time of 12.89 sec. Rosie Shepherd took 6th place, running a time of 13.51 sec, and Emilia Russell was 10th, running a new PB of 13.95 sec, taking 3 hundredths off her old time.

Long Jump

In Sundays long jump event, Emilia Russell took 4th place, leaping to a new PB of 4.85 metres, 14 cm beyond her old mark. Lauren McClean, took 8th place, with her jump of 4.59 metres, with Rosie Shepherd in 10th place, with her leap of 4.17 metres.

Javelin Throw

Emilia Russell, was the winner of the javelin event, launching a new PB of 31.91 metres, 24cm beyond her old best. Lauren McClean, took 10th place, she too threw a new PB of 18.31 metres, 3.40 metres beyond her old best. Rosie Shepherd, took 12th place, with her seasons best throw of 17.26 metres.

800 Metres Race

The final discipline of the heptathlon, now awaited the girls. Emilia Russell’s performances, had put her within touching distance, of qualification for the English Schools Combined events final. Her coach had done the maths, she had to beat one of her rivals by 5 seconds in the 800 race, to achieve the dream. Emilia took 2nd place in the race, beating the other girl by 10 seconds, running a time of 2:25.98 sec. Lauren McClean, took 9th place in the race, running her season’s best time of 2:41.85 sec, with Rosie Shepherd 13th, with her run of 2:57.36 sec.

This was an excellent display, by all three girls, with Emilia, Lauren and Rosie, all competing at the top end of the heptathlon group.