National Youth Development League – Northern Premier Div. 2

Sheepmount Stadium, Carlisle – Saturday 2^nd May 2015

The 2015 track & Field season got underway for our junior team on Saturday 2^nd of May, with a daunting trip up to Carlisle.

It was an early start for the bleary eyed athletes, together with parents and club officials. The bus left the Costello Stadium at 6:30am.

The weather in the far North West was most inclement. It was very cold with a strong gusting wind and it rained throughout the afternoon.

Our opposition on the day came from teams representing Gateshead Harriers, Chesterfield and District, Team North Cumbria, Leeds City and Doncaster AC. We will be meeting all these teams on a further 3 occasions during the course of the season.

Our cause was not helped by a poor turn-out of athletes which left us short on numbers and we were unable to cover several events. The athletes who did come with us were magnificent and they gave one hundred per cent for their team. Each and every one of them should be very proud of what they did at Carlisle.

We finished in a disappointing 5^th place with only Doncaster AC below us and we collected 2 league points.

Details of the athletes performances on the day are as follows:-

 Under 15 Girls

14 years old Hannah Kynman was in superb form, winning both the 100 and 200 metres ‘A’ races. The Northern indoor champion set a new PB of 12.6s in the 100 which gave her a qualifying time for the English Schools Championships at Gateshead in July. The 200 metres saw Hannah leave the rest of the field trailing in her wake as she crossed the finishing line in a time of 26.8s.

A young lady who was making her league debut for Kingston at Carlisle was Savannah Beal who ran in both the 100 and 200 metres ‘B’ races. She took 4^th place in the 100 metres in 14.7s and was 3^rd in the 200 metres race in 30.1s. Both times were personal bests for Savannah.

Our representative in the 300 metres race was 13 years old Abbie Haigh a valued member of the team, who always gives her very best. She ran a new PB of 47.7s for a 4^th place finish. Abbie returned to the track for the 800 metres where she picked up another 4^th place finish and a season’s best time of 2:37.8s.

Becky Chivers contested the 800 metres ‘B’ race where she finished in 3^rd place and recorded a time of 2:52.7s. She also took on the shot and javelin events, getting a new PB of 6.55m in the shot for 5^th place and launching the javelin out to 17.74m to take 3^rd place.

13 years old multi-eventer Venus Morgan who won bronze at the Northern indoor championships was extremely impressive in the 75 metres hurdles race, which she won with plenty to spare and picked up a new PB of 11.9s for her efforts. Venus was also in action in the high jump where a season’s best clearance of 1.40m gave her a 3^rd place finish. A jump of 4.75m gave her a win in the long jump ‘B’ event.

Another athlete making her debut for the club was Beth Shaw who saw action in the hammer, discus and shot competitions. The hammer gave Beth a 3^rd place finish with a throw of 22.64m. She propelled the discus out to 14.38m to give leave herself in 4^th place and in the ‘B’ shot putt she finished in 5^th place with a throw of 6.50m. This was a good start from Beth who was nervous before the meeting but overcame that and won her team valuable points.

Paige Mathers ran in the ‘B’ 75 metres hurdles race where she finished in 5^th place in a time of 16.5s. Paige also appeared in the ‘A’ javelin throw, where she put in a season’s best performance of 19.34m, for 4^th place.

Libby Wheeler a long jump finalist at the Northern Championships and an Inter Counties representative in 2014, took 2^nd place in the ‘A’ long jump event, her best effort on the day measured 4.86m.

 Under 13 Girls

The 70 metres hurdles saw Ciara Andrews the Humberside County Champion in action and she got her day off to a winning start, with a good time of12.6s. In the ‘B’ race Katie Smith made her league debut for Kingston and she started her career with not only a win but she also matched Ciara’s time of 12.6s, which was a new PB for Katie.

The 75 metres sprint saw both girls back in action. Ciara ran the ‘A’ race where she took 2^nd place in a new personal best time of 10.8s. Katie finished 4^th in the ‘B’ and she too posted a new PB of 11.4s.

The 150 metres sprint paired Katie Smith in the ‘A’ race and Alanah Thoresby in the ‘B’. Katie finished in 4^th place and Alanah in 3^rd. Both girls set new PB’s of 22.7s for their runs.

In the 800 metres race we were represented by another Inter Counties representative in Ella Draper in the ‘A’ and Jodie Martin in the ‘B’. Both the girls took 2^nd place finishes and both set new personal best times. Ella ran 2:35.4s in her race and Jodie 2:40.5 in the ‘B’.

Evie Watson and Emilia Russell made their league debuts for the club in the 1200 metres. Evie ran a new personal best time of 4:32.3s for 6^th place in the ‘A’ race and Emilia also ran a new PB 4:48.0s, for 4^th place in the ’B’.

In the Field events Ciara Andrews set a new PB of 19.41m in the Javelin ‘A’ which gave her a 2^nd place finish and Sophie Reed was the winner of the ‘B’ event with a throw of 6.03m, which was a personal best for her.

Faye Oliver silver medallist at the Humberside County Championships and Inter Counties representative in 2014 took 2^nd place in the Shot Putt where she threw a new personal best distance of 7.57m.

The High Jump saw Emily Dye a promising young sprinter and hurdler and long long jumper compete in her first high jump competition for Kingston, in company with Rosie Shepherd who was making her Youth Development League debut for the club. Rosie cleared a personal best height of 1.30m to finish in 2^nd place and Emily took 2^nd place in the ‘B’ competition with a best jump of 1.25m.

Evie Watson saw further action in the long jump competition, this time in company with Emily Dye. Evie was placed 3^rd in the ‘A’ event with a best jump of 3.88m. Emily was also in 3^rd place in the ‘B’ with her best jump of the day measuring 3.78m.

 Under 15 Boys

Shaun Kerry the shot putt bronze medallist at the recent Northern Indoor Championships represented the club in the shot and the javelin competitions. He took 2^nd place in the shot with a new personal best throw of 11.06m. Shaun finished 3^rd in the javelin event with a throw of 31.56m.

Matthew Elliott made his league debut at Carlisle where he represented the club in the 1500 metres race and the long jump. He ran a personal best time of 4:59.6s, for a 3^rd place finish in the 1500 and jumped a PB of 4.91m for another 3^rd place, this time in the javelin.

2014 Inter Counties representative Sam Croney ran in both the 100 and 200 metres races. He was placed 5^th in each of the races and set new PB’s of 13.2s in the 100 and 27.3s in the 200.

 Under 13 Boys

Connor Pickering is now in his fourth competitive season with the club and is a much valued member of the team. He competed in the 200 metres race and in the shot putt and long jump. Connor won the shot competition with a new personal best throw of 7.37m. He took 4^th place in the 200 metres with a time of 32.5s and jumped 3.50m in the long jump.

Harrison Haigh made his league debut in the blue and gold vest. He competed in the 100 and 200 metres sprints. He finished 5^th in both the races, running the 100 in 15.5s and the 200 in 31.7s. Harrison also took part his first javelin competition where he set himself a PB 10.31m for 6^th place.

Divaldo Agostinho or Junior as he is known at Costello is in his second competitive season at the club. He won silver at both 80 and 150 metres at the 2014 Humberside County Championships. At Carlisle he took on the 100 metres the 75 metres hurdles and the high jump. He was placed 3^rd in the 100 in 15.4s and 5^th in the hurdles in 16.2s. He posted a new PB in the high jump with a clearance of 1.15m.

Rob Smith is a middle distance runner who put in some excellent cross country performances during the last winter. He ran the 800 metres in this meeting and put in a season’s best performance of 2:50.6s to take 4^th place. He also took on the javelin and shot events. In the shot he produced a personal best throw of 4.47m and he threw the javelin 7.14m.

Daniel Chadwick was another of our youngsters who was making his league debut at Carlisle. Daniel only joined our junior group in September last year and he has made rapid strides since then. His first event was the 75 metres hurdles race where he took 3^rd place and set a new PB of 17.1s. The long jump saw him take 4^th place with a jump of 3.13m. He then took on the 1500 metres and found the going tough in the awful weather conditions. He finished the race in a time of 5:36.1s.