R&NAC secure victory by 4.5 points over Birchfield at Alexandra Stadium
A depleted Rugby & Northampton Athletic Club made it two wins from two in the Youth Development League Upper Age Groups Midland Premier Division when they secured victory over Birchfield at Alexandra Stadium at the weekend.
Personal-best performances from Lucy Cousins in the under-17 hammer and Evie Harris-Jenkins in the under-17 javelin helped propel R&N, who were missing key members due to injuries and exam commitments, to the top of the table by 4.5 points.
A throw of 48.79 metres saw Cousins top the pile in her category by over a metre, while 38.86m was enough for second place for Harris-Jenkins. Kiona McLennon also finished as runner-up in the javelin thanks to a throw of 14.14m in the under-20 B competition.
Patrick Price (under-17, 48.16m) and Josh Arimoro (under-20 B, 20.97m) both won in the hammer, while a personal best of 39.95 saw Jon Jo Fanning take second in the under-20 A category.
McLennon (under-17, 30.17m) was also a runner-up in the discus, as was Megan Exley (under-20 A, 23.40m) and Fanning (under-20 B, 26.56m). McLennon went one better in the shot put, taking first place with a distance of 12.75m, while Grace Adeyinka matched her team-mate in the under-20 A contest thanks to a throw of 9.67m.
A season’s best distance of 10.16m meant Hannah Shepherd finished second in the under-20 B triple jump. Adeyinka was also a runner-up, leaping 11.06m in the A category. Fantastic performances from Sam Owusu (under-17, 12.63m), Chris Morgan (under-20 B, 12.15m, PB) and Cage Boons (under-20 A, 14.35m) meant R&N took a clean sweep in the men’s triple jump.
Owusu (under-17 6.00m, 2nd) and Anna Robinson (under-17, 4.70m, 4th) both recorded new personal bests in the long jump, while Adeyinka (under-20 B, 4.82m) showed a season’s best on her way to third place. Milan Clues was also third after jumping 5.18m in the under-20 A group.
R&N’s two pole vaulters, Ellie Cox (under-17, 3rd) and Theo Walkley-Bartlett (under-20 A), both set new PB heights, vaulting 1.7m and 2.3m respectively. Dahlia Folwell (under-20 A, 1.35m, 6th) and Giorgio Saroli (under-17, 1.60m, 3rd) both jumped higher than they ever have before in the high jump, while Milan Clues’ 1.40m secured second in the under-17s.
A time of 45.45 ensured R&N were victorious in the under-17 men’s 4x100m replay, while the under-20s missed out on victory by two tenths of a second after they ran 44.66.
R&N dominated the steeplechase, finishing on top in the under-20 women’s B (Kirsty Goddard, 5:45.13), under-20 women’s A (Tilly Lea, 5:38.28) and under-17 men’s B (Joshua Faulds, 5:39.39) races.
A further 16 first-place finishes followed on the track for the club.
Jay O’Leary took a stand-out victory in the under-17 B 100m as he registered an 11.84-second PB, while a run of 2:19.52 saw Katie Clubb set a new personal record in the under-20 A 800m. Ben Musgrove also showed his class when he won the under-20 A 1500m in a time of 4:15.56 for a new personal best, and Connor Aldridge’s time of 56.98 saw him win the 400m hurdles in a new PB time.
Meanwhile, Eleanor Broome and Craig Murch were in action at the Loughborough International.
Broome finished seventh in a strongly-competed long jump competition after she leapt to 5.95m, in a competition that included Jessica Ennis-Hill, who finished third with a distance of 6.16m.
Murch, who was representing the British Universities and Colleges team, opened the hammer with a new PB of 65.21m and went on to produce the best series of throws of his career, recording three throws over 63m and finishing in the sixth round with a new PB and R&N club record of 65.84m.
There was more success for Rugby & Northampton as they hosted the latest leg of the East Midlands Grand Prix Series in Rugby, which attracted a record entry of 360 runners.
Emily Waugh won the senior women’s race, covering six miles in a time of 36.10, while Hywel Davies finished first in the men’s over-40 category and fourth overall, thanks to a time of 32.13. R&N’s men’s team topped the rankings with a total of 134:21, five minutes ahead of Wootton Road Runners, while the R&N veteran men’s team were also winners, finishing in 137.21.
