Teens perform at Avon League match
A bit of history on Sunday 13th September as Cirencester AC competes in an athletics league match for the first time in nigh on 30 years, and our teams of Juniors and Teens members did the Club proud. The younger Teens and Juniors (Under 12s) competed in the Quadkids competition, reported earlier, whereas the older Teens (under 14s and Under 16s) competed acorss a range of events. The older Teens competing were:
Under 14s
Abigail Cunningham (12)
Abigail Dunn (13)
Aria Stavrakakis (13, in her last competition for the Club)
Beth Benians (13)
Ephra Coupland (12)
Holly Stewart-Hodges (14*) * Holly was U14 on the age category determining date (31/8)
Isla Wright (12)
Under 16s
Emma Cunningham (14)
Henry Woodfine (14)
Izzy Dunn (15)
Oscar Harris (14)
Toby Conway (14)
Wilf Williams (14)
Over a range of events :
75m hurdles, 100, 200 & 300m sprints, middle distance (800m), 3km and long jump
The conditions were relatively cool, the track damp and there was quite a strong wind blowing. Due to the number of participants and the events available to do, maximum of two per event, some Teens ended up doing events which were new to them but as Woody Allen said, "80% of success is turning up" and in some events we got more points with two athletes "turning up" rather than the one "expert" from other Clubs. As a coach, it's sometimes useful to see how athletes get on in new events as it helps provide input into the athlete's training needs.
The first event of the day was the hurdles, as per usual, and although we don't do hurdles in training, U14s' Aria and Abi Cunningham represented the Club. Aria has done hurdles before, but not this year and it was first time for Abi. Both girls ran well, considering they haven't done any hurdles training this year, achieving Level 6 and 1 EA PB awards standards respectively.
Have to put that right for next year (probably will need some more hurdles!).
Next up was the 800m and I think it's fair to say that all our U14 girls would prefer a longer race, and Emma perhaps a shorter one(?), but they scored points for the Team, so well done. Henry has run a few 800m over the summer and ran 2:20 in July, so was not far outside that considering the windy conditions.
Then we had the sprints with Aria and Beth going for the U14 girls and Izzy and Oscar for the U16s.
Aria is ending the season in fine form setting yet another PB, 13.8. Beth has only done a LKO before and the officiating is not as robust as EA registered events, so although slightly slower than her LKO time, I think we can trust her 14.71 as a PB level performance. As it was Izzy's and Oscar's first EA track events, they achieved PBs, of course.
In the Long Jump, Aria has been setting PBs all this season. Last year she did 3.91m and this year she has now jumped out to 4.39m which was not just a PB and Level 6 EA PB Award standard, but also won the competition by 1cm! Abi Dunn also jumped and managed 3.49m, before feeling ill. That's a Level 3 jump, so well done, Abi.
In the under 16s we had other Abi's older sister, Emma, plus Oscar and Henry, competing. The latter is a middle distance runner but sometimes coaches see things in training that make them think, "I wonder ...`', and so Henry jumped out to 4.27m; which was further than his coach expected, so no egg on the coach's face over that selection! Oscar jumped 3.61m. With a small field, we got 2nd and 3rd and so quite a lot of points fielding athletes who wouldn't claim to be long jumpers. Izzy and Emma again gained useful points for the Team. So next year, we'll definitely try and get more than one athlete per event to enable us to be competitive.
Emma also did the 300m after a late lunch, the coach assuming she might have recovered from the 800m and long jump (both before the lunch break), and she was only just over a second outside the EA PB standards, so well done, Emma, on that performance on tired legs.
After all these explosive strength based sprints and jump events, it was time for the endurance athletes, Toby and Wilf, to have a go with a 3000m. Toby hadn't run 3k on the track before, the nearest being the Junior Sizzler. in just over 11 mins, and Wilf not even that, so it was a new challenge for them both. So their times of 10:58.46 and 11:23.23 respectively, in such conditions were really good performances, Toby's achieving Level 1 PB award, so well done, boys. Again having two runners got us extra points, more than other Clubs who couldn't find two U16 boys who wanted to run 7.5 times round the track!
Last event of the day for us, was the 200m, with experienced sprinter, Holly, and relatively inexperienced athlete, Isla, representing the Club for the U14 girls and Oscar in his first 200m for the U16 boys. Holly won her final, again achieving a PB, albeit with a favourable 2.1m/s tailwind. There were two finals with the winner of the other final just going a little faster than Holly. Isla surprised me by going well under 30s as well, running a second faster than her previous 200m, only 9 days before at Swindon. In addition to being a PB, it's also a Level 6 EA PB award level standard, and less than a tenth of a second from being a Level 7, so really well done, Isla. Oscar ran in a fast race and came 7th in 28.68s.
NB Holly's time puts her at Level 9 EA PB awards standard, and that's as high as they go. It also sits between the Club U13 and U15 records set by Natalie Bradley in 1988-90, so can be considered a U14 Club record on merit*, not just because the age groups have changed from odd ages to even. So really well done to Holly on another improvement in her already high standard of performances.
(* the tailwind was a fraction [0.1m/s] above the legal limit, but I am not sure whether Club's previous records were done at meetings with wind measurements, over 35 years ago, so I will include it in the records list).
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend thanks to all the parents who helped on the day, but especially Gemma Conway, as Team Manager, who spent most of the day there, despite Toby only doing one event, knowing she had a pile of school marking to do when she got home:
Gemma Conway
Anna Stewart-Hodges
Carrie Coupland
Jo Harris
Samantha Wright
Zoey Dunn
Feedback was that the Teens enjoyed the day, and that we should enter the league next year. Toby, in particular, enjoyed the support from the other Teens, 'his fans': "he says that's the best support he has ever had for a race!"
RESULTS
Under 14s
75m hurdles (+3.0 m/s), s [EAs PB Award Level]
1. Nylah Abitimo-Jones (C&CH) 12.16
6. Aria Stavrakakis 13.84 [L4]
7. Abigail Cunningham 16.07 [L1]
800m, mm:ss
1. Hannah Mullin (Yate) 2:28.2
8. Ephra Coupland 3:00.95
9. Abigail Cunningham 3:06.66
100m Girls, s [EAs PB Award Level]
1. Vanisa Osazuwa (Bristol & West) 12.97
3. Aria Stavrakakis 13.80 PB [L6]
6. Beth Benians 14.71 [L3]
Long Jump, m [EAs PB Award Level]
1. Aria Stavrakakis 4.39 PB [L7]
2. Lois Lidstone (Bristol & West) 4.38
9. Abigail Dunn 3.49 [L3]
200m Girls, s [EAs PB Award Level]
1. Isabella Marr (North Somerset) 27.15
2. Holly Stewart-Hodges 27.84 PB [L9]
6. Isla Wright 29.19 PB [L6]
Under 16
800m Girls, mm:ss
1. Beatrix Reveler (Bristol & West) 2:18.73
6. Emma Cunningham 3:07.15
800m Boys, mm:ss [EAs PB Award Level]
1. Ben Roberts (Team Bath) 2:09.26
6. Henry Woodfine 2:23.26 [L1]
100m Girls, s
1. Eseose Osazuwa (Bristol & West) 12.47
6. Izzy Dunn 15.11
100m Boys, s
1. Felix Gross (Bristol & West) 11.47
6. Oscar Harris 13.65 (just outside Level 1)
Long Jump Boys, m [EAs PB Award Level]
1. Harrison Brenna (Yate) 5.21
2. Henry Woodfine 4.27 [L1]
3. Oscar Harris 3.61
Long Jump Girls, m
1. Serena Challis (North Somerset) 5.18
7. Izzy Dunn 3.43 (just outside Level 1)
9. Emma Cunningham 3.08
300m Girls, s
1. Ashley May Findlay (Bristol & West) 44.81
6. Emma Cunningham 54.73
3000m Boys, mm:ss [EAs PB Award Level]
1. Jack Shingler (C&CH) 9:52.65
6. Toby Conway 10:58.46 [L1]
7. Wilf Williams 11:23.23
200m Boys, s
1. Rory Huckett (Yate) 24.21
7. Oscar Harris 28.68
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