9th May 2016

Athletics club claim first place in the YDL Upper Age opening round

Rugby & Northampton continued their Youth Development League Midland Premier Division dominance as the upper age group claimed top spot after Round 1 at Harvey Hadden Stadium, Nottingham on Sunday 1st May.

A week after the lower age group topped their respective table, that success was mirrored in the higher age. The athletics club finished a resounding 99 points clear of second-placed Birchfield Harriers with Marshall Milton Keynes a further 33 points behind.

The Under-20s performed well on the track as Rico Ewer held off close competition to win the U20 100 metre A-string in 11.2 seconds against a strong headwind, while Zac Stapleton (11.5) completed the 100m sweep by beating the B race competition. Stapleton (22.3) went on to double his first-place triumphs in the 200m A.

Their was a big personal best in the middle distance races with Matthew Rushton, competing in an age group above, coming second in the A race thanks to a time of 4:18.4. Also taking on older opposition was Finn Hutton (2:11.9), who managed third in the 800m A. In the second-tier 800m, Carl Robertson recorded a 2:20.9 to cross the line in second place. It was a pair of seconds in the 3000m as Jack Bond clinched a high A finish and Ben Musgrove repeated the feat in the B.

Jack Hocking (49.6) also did enough for second in the 400m A as he crossed the line less than a second behind the winner. Joe Childs (57.8) competed in the 400m B-string before producing a second-placed finish in the 2000m steeplechase A with an impressive time of 7:14.2.

It was double delight in the 400m hurdles after Connor Aldridge (PB and English Schools qualifying time 55.3) and Theo Walkey-Bartlett (1:01.1) clinched top spots in the A and B races respectively.

The sole R&N U20 Men’s winner in the field events was Paddy Price, who threw a personal best of 53.18m with the hammer to secure top spot in the A competition.

Racking up the points in the throwing events was Josh Arimoro, who managed three second-place finishes. A 23.31 metre hammer B throw was followed by impressive discus A (34.5m) and shot put B (10.99m) throws.

Also appearing three times on the throwing results sheet was Jason Dankyi. He was the runner-up in the long jump A (5.72m) field and achieved a pair of third-place finishes in the high jump A (1.7m) and javelin B (19.76m).

Alex Hamlin recorded second in the discus B (33.66m) and shot put A (12.42m) while, also at the double in the field, Walkey-Bartlett matched Hamlin’s achievements in the pole vault A (2.75m) and high jump B (1.6m).

Also in action for the R&N U20s was Chris Morgan (11.06m), who notched third place in the triple jump A.

It was just as successful on the track for the U17 Men with eight top-place finishes. Joe Musgrove (A, 2:03.9) and Joshua Thorman (B, 2:07.9) made it a 800m double while Jay O’Leary was the first over the line twice, winning the 100m hurdles B (14.3) before adding the 400m hurdles B (58.0).

Also winning their races were Oli Gould (23.3), who claimed the 200m B win, Ewan Roberts (56.8) in the 400m B, Adam Searle (4:18.6), a 1500m A runner, and James Wizard (9:57.3), who beat his competition in the 3000m B.

Hurdles and steeplechase races proved successful as R&N U17 recorded four second places to compliment O’Leary’s triumphs. Joshua Faulds (58.0) was runner-up in the 400m hurdles A race, while Adam Searle (A, 4:58.2) and Joshua Thorman (B, 5:30.5) performed well in the steeplechases, and a fast-finishing Thomas Jasper (54.0) clinched third in the 400m A.

In the field, Thomas Lea (43.53m) recorded a second place in the javelin A competition while Sam Owusu (5.8m) and Matthew Broome (5.64m) won the long jump A and B titles respectively.

Broome (10.89m) was also victorious in the triple jump B and Owusu (11.69m) achieved second in triple jump A. Rhys James, meanwhile, (2.45m) was the runner-up in the pole vault A.

The U20 Women’s team were dominant in the A-string field events on Sunday, claiming four top spots, two second-place finishes and one third.

Kiona McLennon was at the double as she beat the discus field (32.56m), before being victorious in the shot put (11.05m). Lucy Cousins (41.68m) also out-threw her hammer competition and Eleanor Broome claimed first in the long jump with another huge leap of 6.06m.

Finishing in second was javelin-thrower Evie Harris-Jenkins (38.44), and Hannah Shepherd (10.35m) in the triple jump. Shepherd went on to clear 1.55m in the high jump for third.

The B events proved successful too, with three top finishes. Harriet Sumnall (discus, 28.97m), Rhoda Woller (shot put, 9.41m) and Simone Ager (long jump, 5.03m) all claimed top scores.

It was another clean-sweep on the track with Lily Carmichael (5:20.3) and Kirsty Goddard (6:04.9) winning the steeplechase A and B races. Also finishing first was Brittany Wood (16.3) in the 100m B hurdles.

Hannah Shepherd claimed second in the 100m A (17.5) and 400m (1:08.2) hurdle races, Emma Bond (10:50.0) was the runner-up in the 3000m A and Eleanor Broome (26.6) crossed the 200m A line in third.

Amy Walker led the way for the U17 Women’s team with two winning performances in the 1500m A (4:55.6) and 1500m steeplechase A (5:22.4). Joining Walker with long distance success was Olivia Sheehan (5:28.7) in the 1500m B and Poppy Carmichael, who completed the 1500m steeplechase in 5:46.4.

Also landing top spot was Anousha Saheli (48.1) over the 300m hurdles A and Katie Print (13.3) in the 100m B.

Rounding off the team with top-three finishes in A races were 100m runner Laurone Age (13.4), and Selina Scott (2:25.9) in the 800m.

The U17 had a sole victor in the field with Alice Grocott (7.90m) dominating the triple jump B. Also jumping well was Milan Clues (5.03m) and Ana Robinson (9.09m), who clinched third in the long jump A and triple jump A respectively.

Standing aloft the R&N U17 Women’s throwing team was Olivia Witts who managed third in the hammer A with a personal best of 30.10m.

– Ends –