Humber League Open Series – Meeting One
King George V Stadium Grimsby – Saturday 7th April 2018
The first of the 2018 Humber League Open series meetings was staged at the King George V Stadium in Grimsby on Saturday the 7th of April. There was a good turnout from all of the clubs based around the Humber estuary and a total of 186 athletes were in competition on the day.
Under 11 Girl’s
Georgina Smales made her club debut in May Last year and was involved during 2017 in Humber league meetings and open competitions. She was making her second appearance of the track & field season at this meeting, having opened her account for the new season the previous weekend at the Doncaster Open. She opted to run in the 80 metre sprints at Grimsby and was drawn in the first race of the series where she ran a season’s best time of 14.0 sec, to take 3rd place in the race.
Under 13 Girl’s
Libby Hakney made her club debut in April last year at the Kingston Spring open at the Costello stadium. She made good progress and was selected for the Kingston junior team, where she competed in two UK Youth Development league matches. She also saw action in the Humber League and at open meetings, both outdoor and indoor. This February saw her make her debut appearance at a major Championship meeting, the Northern indoor’s at the E.I.S stadium in Sheffield, where she where she was a finalist in the 60 metres sprints and also ran in the semi-finals of the 200 metres sprints. Libby ran in the 100 and 200 metre sprints series at Grimsby, drawn in the third of the 100 metre races she was the race winner running a new PB of 14.0 sec, slashing four tenths of a second off her previous best. She went in the second race of the 200 metre series taking another victory and running another new PB of 29.6 sec, an improvement of seven tenths of a second on her old time.
Lydia Moore made her club debut in the summer of 2016 when she was an under 11 and she has been making steady progress since then, she is a member of the Kingston Junior team and is prolific competitor in the sprints, jumps and throws and has also competed in a triathlon at the Yorkshire combined events championships. She made her debut at a major championship event at this year’s Northern indoor’s where she competed in the long jump and shot putt finals. She took 8th place in the shot final and jumped a new PB in the long jump. At the Humber league meeting she was in action in the 200 metres, long jump and shot putt. Lydia ran in the same 200 metre race as club mate Libby Hakney taking 3rd place behind her, running a new PB of 32.4 sec, slashing 2.9 seconds off her old time. She took 2nd place in the long jump with 3.62 metres and was the winner of the shot competition with her throw of 6.54 metres.
Under 13 Boy’s
Noah Sibary was the 2017 County champion in the 80 metres and 150 metres sprints, and he won a third gold medal in the 600 metres race. He has has moved up to the under 13’s for the 2018 season where he will competing over the 100 and 200 metre sprints and the 800 metres. He covered all three of those races at Grimsby, running over the longer distances for the first time in a competitive race. He won the 100 metres and established a new PB of 14.9 sec, he took another victory in the 200 metres with another PB of 30.5 sec and completed a hat trick of wins in the 800 metres running a new PB of 2:35.0 sec.
Nathan Hope is also a first year under 13, who made his club debut at Kingston’s 2016 Spring Open and since then has turned out regularly at the Humber league meetings and open meetings where he has competed in the 80 and 150 metre sprints and the long jump. He competed in his first 100 and 200 metre races at this meeting as well as the long jump. He ran in race 1 of the 100 metre series where he was a 3rd place finisher and established a new PB of 15.8 sec, in the 200 metres he was seeded in race 1 alongside his club mate Noah Sibary. Nathan took 5th place in the race and posted a new PB of 33.8 sec, the long jump saw him take 2nd place with a season’s best leap of 3.41 metres.
Ben Russell made his debut appearance in an open meeting in Grimsby in May of 2016 and less than two weeks later took the 80 metres bronze medal at the County Championship meeting. He has also made the move up to the under 13’s this year and decided to enter his first shot putt competition at this meeting, he took 7th place and established a new PB of 3.46 metres. Ben was also in action in the long jump where he put in a season’s best performance of 3.46 metres for a 7th place finish.
Under 15 Girl’s
Pippa Gouldson debuted in a Humber league fixture in May of 2017 and six weeks later won her first County vest at the Costello stadium in the English Schools track & field cup competition, a second County call up came that November for the regional final of the English schools cross country cup. She was in action in three events at Grimsby the 100 metre sprints, 75 metre hurdles and the shot putt. She went in the first race of the 100 metre series taking 2nd place running 14.5 sec, clipping two tenths of a second off her PB. In her first competitive hurdles race she was a 5th place finisher over the 75 metres and she established a new PB of 17.8 sec. In her first shot competition she took 5th place and her throw of 4.28 metres saw her pick up her 3rd new PB of the day.
Lois Richardson has been training at Costello for the last few weeks and she made her club debut at the King George V stadium where she ran in the 100 and 200 metres competitions. The 100 metres saw her take 4th place and establish a new PB of 15.0 sec, whilst in the 200 metres she was a 5th place finisher and established a new PB of 32.3 sec.
Lauren McClean was a double gold medallist at the 2016 County Championships where she took the long jump and 70 metre hurdles titles. She has earned County recognition and is a valued member of the Kingston junior team. She has been training hard during the winter and was looking forward to the start of the track & field season. The Humber league meeting saw her enter for the 75 metre hurdles, long jump and high jump competitions. She took 2nd place in all three events, running a season’s best of 13.5 sec in the hurdles, clearing a new personal best height of 1.55 metres in the high jump, 15 centimetres beyond her previous best and added another 73 centimetres to her long jump best with her new PB of 4.16 metres.
Emilia Russell has been a member of the Kingston junior team since her debut season in 2015, she is a good all round athlete who is adept in all the runs, the sprints and middle distance, as well as the jumps and throws. She is a good competitor who keeps a busy track and Field schedule. Her chosen events at this meeting were the 800 metres race and the shot putt, she won both of the competitions running a big new PB of 2:33.3 sec in the 800 metres race slashing 8.7 seconds off her previous best time, whilst her throw of 7.50 metres with the 3 kilogram shot saw off all of her challengers.
Under 15 Boy’s
Gabriel Lila-Vigars made his club debut at this meeting, he has been training at Costello since last summer and his main focus is on the sprints, long jump and javelin. In his first competitive outing he opted to take part in the 100 metres and long jump events. The 100 metre sprint race saw him take a 3rd place finish and establish a new PB of 14.8 sec. In the long jump he was a 6th place finisher and established a new PB of 3.63 metres.
After his great exploits over the recent cross country season it was back to business on the track for Thomas Smales who ran in the 1500 metre race at Grimsby, where a season’s best run of 4:50.5 sec saw him get his track & field season up and running with a victory.
Under 17 Women
Ellie Townsend has moved up to the under 17’s this year and the high jump specialist will now be competing with the youth team. She was the high jump silver medallist at last year’s County Championships and the bronze medallist at the County Schools event, she was also a 5th place finisher at the Northern Championships at the Leigh Sports Village last August. At this league meeting she was the winner of the competition clearing her personal best height of 1.55 metres.
Under 20 Women
Former County high jump champion Bryony Underwood’s main focus last year was on the 400 metres and that was one of the two races she competed in at this meeting, the other was the 200 metres sprints where she ran the first competitive race of her career over the distance. She was the winner of both races running a new PB 65.3 sec in the 400 metres taking three tenths of a second off her previous best. In the 200 metres she established a new PB for the distance of 29.4 sec.
