Under-17 and under-20 teams join younger age groups in the finals of the
Youth Development League
Rugby & Northampton Athletic Club made it a double on Sunday as the under-17 and under-20 teams joined their under-13 and under-15 counterparts in qualifying for the National Finals of the Youth Development League.
R&N took second behind Birchfield Harriers in the final match in the upper age group, ending the league just two points behind Harriers, ensuring they will be present at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on the opening weekend of September.
A fantastic team effort saw many athletes fill in for absent team-mates, with over 25 R&N performers missing due to injuries or holidays.
Stars of the show were the men’s and women’s under-17 relay teams, who both produced club-record runs in the 4x100m relays. The men’s team of Rico Ewer, Zak Stapleton, Tom Cheyne and Alex Barrett took second with a time of 44.1, while the women’s quartet of Eleanor Broome, Tia Clues, Simone Ager and Kiona McLennon were victorious with their time of 49.5. The 4x100m under-20 men settled for second as they recorded a run of 43.4.
The club’s male hammer throwers were also on form as they took a clean sweep of the men’s categories. Nick Scales (U20M A, 37.26), Jonjo Fanning (U20M B, 37.05) and Patrick Price (U17M, 51.36, PB) all topped the pile with impressive performances.
R&N dominated the sprints, beginning with a golden performance from Caleb Downes, whose time of 11 seconds saw him win the under-20 100m. Clinton Osoba-George picked up silver in the B race with a run of 11.2 and Rico Ewer was just 0.1 slower as he won the under-17 A race. In the women’s, 15-year-old Dahlia Folwell took second in the under-20 B race with 13.2, while team-mates Simone Ager (13.0, 2nd) and Eleanor Broome (12.9, 1st) were in the medals in the under-17 A and B races respectively.
The 200m saw Downes (22.3, A) and Osoba-George (23.2, B) both finish second in the under-20’s, a feat bettered by Zachary Stapleton (22.5, A) and Ewer (23.3, B) in the under-17’s as they both finished first. In the under-17 women’s, Dahlia Folwell (27.1, A) and Tia Clues (27.6, B) finished fourth and third respectively.
Tom Rowlatt (U20M A, 57.5, 4th), Theo Walkley-Bartlet (U20M B, 61.4, 3rd) and Kyran Wilson (U17M A, 53.5, 5th) were all in action in the 400m, as were team-mates Emily Lancaster (U20W A, 66.2, 4th) and Flora Courtney (U20W B, 67.3, 3rd).
In the 800m, Ed Wise (U20M B, 2.09.3), Kyran Wilson (U17M A, 2.05.7) and Oskar Potomski (U17M B, 2.18.4) all finished second, while a time of 2.08.8 saw Oliver Munns finish fifth in the under-20 men’s A race. In the women’s event, a time of 2.39.9 saw Ciara Moore win the under-17 B race. Katie Chubb (2.27.0) and Nicole Johnson (2.51.1) picked up third and second in the under-20 A and B races respectively, and Ella Bromley 2.34.3 finished fourth in the under-17 A race,
In the 1500m, Oskar Potomski was runner-up in the under-17 men’s B race with 5.02.3 and also recorded a PB as he finished as runner-up in the under-17 3000m B with a time of 10.41.5. Emma Bond’s time of 11.07.8 secured her second in under-17 women’s A.
Brittany Wood (U17W A, 13.3) and Katie Bryant (U17W B, 13.6) both took third place in competitive 80m hurdles races. Freddie Taylor (U17M A, 14.9) and Chris Morgan (U17M B, 16.1) took third and first respectively in the 100m hurdles. Luke Townsend (15.1) won by the width of a vest in the under-20 men’s A 110m hurdles, while Theo Walkley-Bartlet (16.3) was runner-up in the B race.
A PB of 58.6 was enough for Townsend to take third in the under-20 men’s 400m hurdles A, and a time of 68.1 meant Chris Morgan finished first in the under-17 B race, while 71.9 ensured Katie Chubb did the same in under-17 women’s B.
Ben Musgrove (U17M A, 5.04.7, season’s best), Ella Bromley (U17W A, 5.42.0, PB) and Chubb (U20W A, 5.46.7, PB) were all runners-up in the 1500m steeplechase. Tilly Lea’s time of 5.56.0 saw her win the under-20 women’s B and a PB of 7.02.8 saw Harry Hughes finish as runner-up across the 2000m distance in under-20 Men’s A.
PB performances from Folwell (1.45m, A) and Bryant (1.40m, B) meant they finished third and second respectively in the under-20 women’s high jump. A PB jump of 4.56m secured third for Giorgio Saroli in the under-20 men’s long jump B, while Tom Cheyne won the under-17 men’s competition with a distance of 6.16m. Eleanor Broome (U20W A, 5.64m, 2nd) and Tia Clues (U20W B, 5.13m, 1st) both performed well in their long jump competitions, while in the triple jump there were PBs for Tom Rowlatt (U17M, 11.40m, 4th), Bryant (U20W A, 9.01m, 5th) and Rachel George (U17W, 8.74m, 3rd).
In the shot put, Luke Townsend took third in the under-20 men’s A with a PB of 11.90m, while Jonjo Fanning won the B string with 9.60m. Josh Arimoro (U17M, 11.71m, 2nd) and Gemma Scales (U20W B, 7.51m, 3rd) both produced a season’s best in the same event and Kiona McLennon won the under-17 women’s with a throw of 12.58m.
Arimoro (U20M A, 38.17, 3rd) and Nick Scales (U20M B, 26.00, 2nd) both produced PBs en route to success in the discuss. Luca Franchi threw 31.67 to take second in the under-17 men’s.
Townsend (U20M A, 41.38) threw a SB and Lewis Ogden (U17M) a massive PB of 47.37 in the javelin as they both ended third. Fanning finished second (U20M B) thanks to a throw of 35.73. In the women’s, Megan Exley was a metre away from top spot in the under-20 A with 32.14m to show for her efforts, while in the under-17 women, Evie Harris-Jenkins took second with 35.68m.
R&N are looking for backers to sponsor their finals day travel and team kit, which will include the logos and details of any sponsor. Anyone wishing to enquire about the opportunity can do so by visiting the club’s website at www.randnac.org.
R&N’s veteran athletes were out in force at Solihull recently, representing the Midland Masters at the EAMA Inter-Area Track and Field Challenge. The stand-out performance came from Kevin Murch, who broke his own British M55 Javelin record on the way to winning the M50 event with a throw of 54.47.
Indoor world champions Ellena Ruddock and Angela Copson were also winners on the day. Ruddock’s time of 25.93 saw her take the W35 200m, whilst multiple W65 world record holder Angela Copson, won the 400m (1.17.0), 800m (2.49.46) and 3000m (12.08.1).
Continuing her stellar season, Debbie Murch threw 37.18m to win the W50 Hammer and followed that with 9.75m in the shot put, putting her third. It was also a busy day for Sally Hine who took third places in the W60 100m, 200m and Long Jump, before taking a joint victory in the high jump.
A time of 14.75 saw Lesley Willis just miss the podium in the W50 100m, while she also took fifth in the Long Jump (4.10m). M65 athlete Dave Cowley, competing in the M50 competition, made a height of 2.42m in the pole vault.
