The conditions were challenging at times on a not untypical British spring day, with a mixture of sun, wind and rain, which at times was torrential. The sprinters had to deal with headwinds and the 800m runners were running through puddles. However, the biggest challenge was for Thomas and Dontay in the high jump, who not only got soaking wet and had a lot of waiting around but also had to contend with the bar potentially blowing off of its own accord.
We had 3 boys making their competitive track debuts for the club, Joe in the non-scoring 100m & 800m, James in the B string 800m and Jack in the A string 1500m. All faired well and have something to build on in future events.
There was solid point scoring across multiple events from a lot of the boys. Nico placed high again in his two events (1st in both) and Thomas, Ethan, Carlos and Dontay all contributed by taking part in at least 3 scoring events.
In the field, Nico, Theo, Thomas and Ethan all scored well and came close to pb’s in their events. Meanwhile on the track there was some early drama in the hurdles as Carlos recovered well from hitting his first hurdle and a further barrier to make it through the line (not in last place I might add). Prior to that in the A string Reuben ran a fantastic race to absolutely smash his pb before setting another pb in the long jump.
There were some solid runs in the middle distance races from James and Theo, B string 800 and 1500, with stand out performances in the A strings. Ethan was involved in a thrilling 800m race that went right down to the wire, and although he was pipped on the line, a massive pb more than made up for it. Jack ran a very mature and gutsy race in his first ever 1500m with a strong last 100m to overtake on the line and secure 3rd place and an all important extra point.
As well as the great performances what struck me yesterday was that there’s a real team ethic building up amongst the boys. A lot of the time I could see the boys standing by cheering on whoever was competing. This camaraderie was highlighted during the relay practice where a special mention goes to Carlos, who despite not taking part in the relay was there helping the boys work through their baton practice.
Additional mentions for some confirmed new AAA graded performances from the following: Jack Grade 4 in the 1500m Ethan Grade 1 in the 800m Reuben Grade 4 in the 75m hurdles
Yet again it’s a difficult pick for man of the match and I could easily choose any one of a number of boys. Athletics is a tough sport with a lot of individual pressure. Some weeks things just don’t go well but that is nearly always temporary and you’ll find that with the right training you’ll bounce back and make improvements. This week I’m going to give the trophy to someone who only last week, after a disappointing schools competition race, was having doubts about continuing with his main event. He turned that feeling on its head by knocking a huge 1.6 seconds off his 75m hurdles pb and then went and got a pb in the long jump. Well done Reuben, well deserved.
See full results here.