C&C Harriers hosted the first Upper YDL of the season at Yate and we were greeted by a cloudless blue sky, in the new larger division of 10 clubs. The new age groups – U18 and U20 – provided challenges to all teams, meaning everyone had fewer athletes to select from, and with a busy fixture list inevitably there were some gaps, but we still had a strong team.
In the throws, we had some great success, with William Richards-Baldwin taking the win in the A string U18 Shot with a PB (16.64) and George Iddon taking 2nd, also a PB (10.87), in the B String. Both followed this up with the Discus with another PB (47.16) and 3rd A for William, and a B string win for George (40.23). Skyla Turbard secured a PB in the Hammer, finishing 2nd with 34.33. We finished the day with the javelin, where we scored huge points, with all 3 men throwing PBs – Charlie Mason (U20 A 53.60) and Caleb Green (U18 A 46.78) finishing 2nd, and James Pound winning the U20 B string. The ladies also earned top marks, winning both the U18, with Lucy Bull throwing over 50m (50.04), and the U20 with Molly Woodcock (21.90).
Over to the jumps where Sam Jeenes was on form, jumping an outdoor PB (2.90m) in Pole Vault to finish 3rd U18, with James Pound took the win for the U20 (3.50). Over in Triple Jump, Sam jumped finished 2nd U18 in the A string with an incredible PB of 12.55m despite juggling it with the hurdles – Leo Malm-Fairbrother won the B string with 11.51m. Jamie McCormack jumped a PB of 1.80 to clinch 2nd U20 in the A High Jump.
Finally, on the track, Our hurdlers scored valuable points. Despite clipping the penultimate hurdle, Oliver Belbeck finished to secure maximum points. Caleb Green (PB 14.17) and Sam Jeenes (PB 16.53) took 1st and 2nd in the A and B U18 races respectively. Megan Amey equalled her PB to finish 2nd U18 (16.32), and Charlotte Smith took the win in the B race on her maiden 100H (17.64).
Lachie Hart ran an incredible race to secure 2nd in the U18 a 800m, with a 2 second PB in 2.00:72 and in the sprints Fred Buckland ran a PB of 11.65, Izzy Cook returned with a PB and a B string win in 13.22 (-1.1), and Molly Woodcock finally ran her maiden 200! In the longest track race, James Pound ran a PB to take took his 3rd win of the day in the U20 2000m steeplechase.
By the end of the day, our track team was slightly depleted due to a few injuries but with some jiggery-pokery and great team work we put together 3 strong teams for the U18M and U20M 4×100, plus the U18W 4×100, with all 3 finishing 2nd in some tight finishes.
Overall, we finished clear 2nd out of the 10 teams, (with only the mighty Team Avon ahead) and some fantastic performances, supported brilliantly by a great officials team. Thank you to everyone and a huge well done!
