Athletic club show their class despite missing key members at
Alexander Stadium
Rugby & Northampton Athletic Club triumphed over some of Britain’s biggest clubs as they took a superb sixth and seventh in the Youth Development League Finals.
An 80-strong R&N squad shrugged off the absence of three key athletes to record sixth in the upper age group competition at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, ahead of composite teams from Glasgow and Avon. Their young counterparts took seventh in the previous day’s event to complete a memorable season, with many athletes in the first year of the under-13 and under-15 age groups.
A captain’s performance from Luke Townsend set the tone for the under-17 and under-20 squad. Townsend took victory in the 400m hurdles A with a new personal best time of 56.81, while team-mate Luke Bromley made it a double as he won the B race with a time of 62.95, also in a new PB time. In his last event as a junior, Townsend went on to snatch a second gold, winning the 110m hurdles in 14.72, while he added a silver in the javelin to his medal haul, throwing a distance of 43.63m.
The club’s male sprinters added a clutch of medals and points to the tally. Zach Stapleton took gold in the under-17 100m A in 11.00 and followed that with silver in the 200m A (22.45), missing out on double gold by just 0.07. Caleb Downes picked up silver and bronze in the under-20 100m A and 200m A respectively, clocking 10.80 and 21.74 for his efforts.
They were backed by two bronze medals in the B races for vice-captain Clinton Osoba-George (under-20 100m, 10.93 and 200m, 22.23) and a gold in the under-17 100m B for Tom Cheyne (11.36). Cheyne then went straight in to battle in the long jump, winning in the final round with a huge leap and new PB of 6.59m. Jack Bond (9.21.88) and Ben Musgrove (9.55.21) made it a double in the under-17 3000m, taking victory in the A and B races respectively. Adam Wright clocked 4:04 to shave a brilliant 24-seconds off his PB in the under-20 1500m.
Josh Arimoro took the only gold of the day in the throws with a new PB in the under-20 shot put B of 12.04m, despite still being an under-17 athlete. Under-17 Jonjo Fanning was also throwing in the older age group and took two well-earned silver medals with PB’s in the hammer B (37.96m) and javelin B (39.08m). Club stalwart Nick Scales, also in his last junior match, just missed the 40m mark in the hammer to take fourth spot in the A competition.
A very tired team of Scott McIntyre, Downes, Townsend and Wright, having done 14 events between them, hung on for a bronze medal in the 4x400m to set a new blistering club record of 3:23.51.
There was also a significant contribution from the female team with an excellent steeplechase debut for Lily Carmichael, who ran a measured race to take the bronze medal in the A string with a time of 5.30.11, just ahead of team-mate Kirsty Goddard, who won the B string with 5.31.3. Megan Exley took silver in the under-20 javelin with a throw of 35.43m and Evie Harris-Jenkins matched that in the under-17’s with an excellent effort of 37.37m.
Tia Clues (under-20 javelin B 3rd, under-17 200m B 3rd, under-20 long jump B 2nd) was in fine form, while Hannah Scales (under-20 110m hurdles 2nd, under-20 400m hurdles 4th), Grace Adeyinka (under-20 triple jump 3rd) and Kiona McLennon (under-17 shot-put 3rd) also contributed fine performances. Brittany Wood continued her improvement with a PB time of 12.42 in the under-17 80m hurdles A, finishing fourth.
Tom Jasper led the way for the lower age groups as he took an outstanding PB of 36.46 in the under-15 300m race to take gold, and added silver in the 200m thanks to another PB of 23.42. Bradley Whitehead was also in the medals in the sprints, his time of 13.53 was enough for third in the under-13 100m A race while a PB time of 27.34 saw him finish third in the 200m. Katie Print narrowly missed out on third in the under-15 A 100m, clocking 13.01 for fourth. Poppy Carmichael (under-15 A, 2.22.76) and Abigail Pearce (under-13 A, 2.34.40), both took fourth in the 800m.
A brilliant run of 4.03.90 saw Molly Williams take second in the under-13 A 1200m, while the 1500m boys team showed their class as they took second in both A races and first in both B events. Adam Caulfield clocked 4.46.51 on his way to second in the under-13 A, while Ben Hope (4.57.03) won the B string. Adam Searle took a PB 4.21.77 to win silver in the under-15 A, and Joshua Lay won the B race with a PB 4.27.51.
Georgina Woodward (3rd, 12.07) and Abbie Draper (2nd, 12.09) took medals in the under-13 70m A and B races respectively, while R&N celebrated a new club and championship record in the 4x300m relay, as the team of Jay O’Leary, Ewan Roberts, Aidan Leeson and Tom Jasper clocked an outstanding 2.35.77.
Adele Blenkinsop’s PB of 7.96m saw her narrowly miss the podium in the under-13 A shot put, though there were medals in the javelin for Ryan Hodges (under-15 A 3rd), William Ballinger (under-15 B 3rd), Abigail Pearce (under-13 A 2nd) and Abigail Ward (under-13 B, 2nd). Ben Gidley threw a massive 39.13 in the under-13 javelin to take second in the A string and a new PB and club record.
