Athletic club dominate the Lower age Midland Premier Division in
round one of the series
Rugby and Northampton Athletic Club’s young athletes put in another phenomenal performance last weekend, easing to victory in the second round of the UK Youth Development League Midland Premier Division in Milton Keynes.
R&N won with a total of 600 points – more than 100 clear of nearest rivals Charnwood (488), Birchfield Harriers (475), and Marshall Milton Keynes (453).
The under-13 girls set the tone for the day with a number of individual victories, along with a win in the 4×100 metre relay, which was won in 55.4 seconds by the team of Annie Saghri, Fenella Downes, Amelia Tutt and Eloise Nowill.
Abigail Ward set a personal best in the 150m with a time of 21.6 to win the ‘B’ race, before taking to the field and winning the javelin event. Ward threw an incredible 28.7m, beating her nearest rival by 17 metres, and propelling herself to the number two ranked javelin athlete in the country at under-13.
The success in the field events didn’t end there as Maia Reynolds won the javelin ‘B’ with a throw of 15.22m, and Nowill and Tutt triumphed in the shot put and high jump respectively. Nowill cleared a height of 1.34m with ease, while Tutt sent the shot 7.54m to take the win. Tutt also took the honours in the 70m hurdles, winning with a personal best time of 12.9.
Back on the track, there was double success in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ 1200m races – Molly Williams (4:01.6) and Claudia Searle (4:14.0) crossed the line quickest, while Downes triumphed in the 75m ‘B’ race, sprinting home in 11 seconds flat.
The girls from the under-15 group were equally as impressive over track and field, earning two victories in the shot put. Lily Mae Pursey won in the ‘B’ competition, throwing 8.61m, and Adele Blenkinsop was victorious in the ‘A’ with 8.73m, a personal best. Blenkinsop then set another PB, triumphing in the long jump, launching herself 4.78m to take victory.
Lucy Laight (44.4) and Georgina Woodward (45.0) secured 300m success at both ‘A’ and ‘B’ level, and Anousha Salehi was victorious in the 75m hurdles ‘B’ race with a time of 12.5 seconds. Along with Poppy Carmichael, the team secured a club record 4x300m relay time, racing home to win in 2:57.9 to smash the previous record by ten seconds. Laight added to her honours in the pole vault, springing to success courtesy of a height of 1.7m.
There was plenty of success for the under-15 boys too, with victories in the field for William Ballinger, Matthew Broome and Sam Tutt.
Ballinger was successful in both the discus (28.39m) and javelin (40.7m), throwing PB’s in both to take victory, and Broome also broke his personal record by leaping 5.68m to win the long jump.
Tutt’s shot put throw of 11.15m earned him victory, and he took that form to the track to win the 80m hurdles ‘B’ event in 11.8 seconds, while club-mate Oli Lambert was successful in the ‘A’ race, recording the same time.
Lambert maintained that form over longer distances, taking the win in both the 200 and 300-metre races with respective times of 24.1 and 38.4, and, along with Tutt, Jaime Nalus and Bradley Whitehead, dashed to victory in the 4x100m relay. The boys crossed the line in 48.2 seconds to top the podium, on what was a good day for Nalus on his R&N debut.
Nalus went on to set personal bests in the 100m and 200m ‘B’ events, triumphing in the former in 12.4 seconds and securing second place over the longer distance with a time of 25.2.
