Rugby and Northampton AC started their final UK Youth Development League match knowing that victory over Notts AC would assure yet another Regional Final against the top clubs in the Midlands.
The day started well with impressive performances in the hurdles with both Ona Ndefo and Isabel Mur claiming victories in the U13 girls hurdles. There were also impressive runs in the U15 hurdles races for Evie Phillips and Lewis Gurney. The sprint races were of a high standard but the U15 boys trio of Ben Hardy, Dara Falope and Jamie Talbot dominated the races. There were also impressive sprinting the U13 girls from Lilly lynch, Oliva Monk and Elise Callard. The middle distance races were of a really high standard with many of the R and N athletes achieving personal bests but the outstanding individual performance came from Henry Woodward in the U15 1500 where he cruised to an impressive victory.
It was in the field, however, where R and N really dominated with a whole string of outstanding performances. In the U13 jumps there were victories for Ona Ndefo and Phoebe Boyle in the long jump and Harry Pritchett in the high jump whilst Henry Woodward won the U15 pole vault with a new club record of 2m 70cm. The R and N throwers were outstanding with many outstanding performances: Harrison Barnes (U13) javelin threw over 30m for the first time whilst Jeremy Gundle and Jamie Talbot dominated the U15 boys throws- both throwing personal bests of 29m. The U15 girls throwing squad of Charlotte Bowers, Millie Seagrove and Hazel Middleton also performed really well scoring excellent points for the team.
It was a true team performance however, with several athletes stepping in at the last moment to ensure an outstanding 2nd place on the day. This meant that the team finished in 3rd place overall after the three rounds of competition and they will now go on to compete against the other 5 best clubs in the Midlands for the two spots available for the National finals. This regional final will take place on Saturday 20th July at Yate.
