National Young Athletes League - UK Final
Magnificent 5th place at Birmingham
Alexander Stadium Birmingham 6th September, 2009
1 Blackheath & Bromley H 780.5
2 Enfield & Haringey AC 768.5
3 Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow 737.5
4 Edinburgh AC 667.5
5 Rugby & Northampton AC 663.0
6 Sale Harriers Manchester 644.0
7 Birchfield Harriers 633.0
8 Preston Harriers 551.0
With their first ever appearance in the UK Main Final, the 80+ junior team from Rugby & Northampton AC had waited for the big day with much excitement and anticipation. Bringing with them a vast and noisy supporters club, the team were roared on as the youngsters pulled out all the stops to finish 5th overall, only missing out on 4th by 4.5 points – better than could ever have been dreamed possible!
Up against fierce opposition in both track and field, the chance of medals looked few and far between, yet on the day the team stacked up a grand tally of 8 gold, 4 silver and 12 bronze in ‘A’ string events and 6 gold, 12 silver and 15 bronze in ‘B’ strings.
The day started well in the first events in the field for the Under 17’s with a double gold in the hammer for Craig Murch and Jamie Iddon throwing 56.77 and 40.49m and High Jump gold and bronze for Hannah Oliver and Katie Rowe with 1.60 and 1.40m. Back after injury, Ben Lees jumped well taking bronze in the long jump with a Grade One jump of 6.25m with Charles Ogunkeyede starting a busy day in the field, taking Gold in the B with 5.79m. Charles went on to win the High Jump in a new club record of 1.90m, then hot footed to the triple jump, just being allowed to take the last round jump to bring in a bronze. Craig added to his medal tally with gold in the discus with 37.47m with Harry Ellis taking silver in the B with 26.37m then teaming up with Alex Mckie for another double gold in the field with Alex winning the javelin with a throw of 54.76m earning him Field Athlete of the Match and Craig winning the B with 48.18m.
The U17 ladies performed well in the jumps with Rebecca Davies taking bronze in the Long Jump with 4.74m and Rachel Stanley silver in the B with 4.47m. Rachel also took bronze in the triple jump B. The usual javelin team of Charlotte Burrows and Kathryn Reynolds again threw well to take bronze in the A and silver in the B with 33.22m and 28.46m. The final throws medal came from Charlotte Davies taking a bronze in the Hammer B with 19.53m.
Competition from the big London clubs was huge in the sprints in the older age groups with all points scored for R&N well deserved! The team fared better in the longer distance races with silver and a new pb for Luke Robinson in the 3000m in 9:29.99 and a bronze and a new pb for Team Captain Rory Grant in the 1500m in 4:16.76. Steeplechasers Conor Hills and Danny Wardle had a good battle for who was going to take the B string medal and who the A string competitor with Conor just ahead in 5:03.62, allowing Danny to pick up the Silver in the B race in 5:02.96.
With Themba Luhana absent due to selection for the region in the UK Schools Games (where he won the 100m Hurdles), Ryan Cleaver and at last returning from his broken leg, James Wright took away 3 hurdling medals between them. In the 400m hurdles with Ryan narrowly missed the silver as the E&H competitor flung himself over the line in front of him leaving Ryan the bronze in 59.15 with James taking the B race bronze in 63.47. Both boys recorded 15.00 in the 100 hurdles with James taking silver in the B race.
Medals in any relay were always going to be difficult to get hold of so the solid team of Ben Lees, Tom Johnson, Luke Storer and Charles should be delighted to safely negotiate the baton round to take the bronze medal and one of only 2 relay medals won on the day.
On the track for the Under 17 girls, the distance ladies came away with a clutch of medals with Emily Waugh and Charlotte Inwood taking gold in the 3000m and 1500m in 10:45.17 and 04:52.50 with B string medals going to Emma McGowan with silver in 3000m in 12.03.40 and bronze to Eleanor Barnes in 1500m in 05:16.16. Not to be outdone in 2 fabulous races in the 800m, Briony Banks took bronze in the A race in 2:20.86 with Gabby Moriarty bursting through to take bronze in the B with 2:25.21.
The only sprint medal of the day went to Eloise Morin who ran a fine 200m to take bronze in the B race in 27.08, with 300m hurdler Lauren Jones in fine form taking the 300m hurdles B race bronze in 50.65.
The Under 15 team battled hard in Track and Field despite niggling injuries and illness forcing last minute changes and top level competition with most events producing a string of Grade 1 performances. The team showed Great Spirit and should be proud of their achievements on the day with many pb’s set. Undoubtedly, the spectacle of the day came from novice pole vaulters Ben Jennings and Nick Scales who after a 90 minute competition right infront of the R&N Support Team vaulted their way higher and higher to clear an unbelievable 2.40m and 2.30m with Ben equalling the Club Record and Nick taking silver in the B event. Katie Cockerill, in her first competition also set a new club record with a 1.80m vault.
In the track and field Kerry Murch came away with a clutch of A string medals with a silver in the 75m Hurdles (11.83) and Javelin (33.71m) and a bronze in the Discus (27.42m). Kerry was joined by Yasmin Webb who took gold in the B hurdles in 12.33 and Suzy Keeping in the Javelin taking silver with 19.80m.
In the younger age group came the third double gold in the Boys 75m Hurdles with Lukas Lakin smashing his pb to take gold in the A in 12.62 and Luke Bromley the B in 13.13. Medals also came in the 800m A for Adam Wright taking bronze in 2:22.91 and Nathan Groves with silver in the B in 02:33.7. Strength and depth showed in the junior sprints with bronze in the A 100m for Amit Patel in 12.75 and B event for Timothy Kerr-Chin in 13.31 and a strong run in the 200m B by Caleb Downes to take silver in 27.18. The boys teamed up with Luke Bromley in the 4x100m relay to take a well earned silver in a new club record of 52.18 behind Enfield and Haringey who set a new league record. Medals in the field went to Amit in the Shot B with 7.70m and Lukas in Long Jump B with 4.42m.
The younger girls came up against tough opposition on the track with Meg Sly just missing out on medals in the A sprints and Simone Ager running a stunning 150m to take gold in the B in 20.36. Karis LeBon continued her good running to take bronze in the 75m B race in 10.71. Middle distance races were super fast with Rebecca Shears coming closet to the podium with a great sprint finish to take 4th in the 800m in 2:37.80.
The only field medal in a very close High Jump battle at the end of a long day, went to Kirsty Dickinson who leaped to take bronze with 1:40m, just clipping the bar on 1.43m.
All in all a memorable day and a fantastic result. Congratulations to every athlete in the team who gave their absolute best on the day. If only we could mention you all. Thanks to all avid supporters from both sides of the club and to all our sponsors especially The Rugby Group Benevolent Fund.
