National Youth Development League Gets Under Way At Kip Keino Athletic Stadium

The National Youth Development League got off to a good start at Kip Keino Athletic Stadium on Saturday 4^th May 2013 when the early rain cleared to leave a dry but blustery afternoon with prolonged bouts of sunshine. Hilary Nash put in a huge amount of effort to ensure the event ran smoothly which it did. Special mention must be made of Roger Brocklesby who performed heroically to get results out after the result system crashed on him. There was a large number of club volunteers present and our thanks go to them for providing such great support across a variety of roles.

On the day the team were last of the six teams: there were some last minute no shows – always a frustration for a Team Manager - and finishing 14 points behind the fifth club and 40 points behind the fourth club might have been avoided had everyone turned up on the day.  There were 9 gaps in the under-15 Boys, 6 gaps in the under-15 Girls, and 4 gaps each in the under-13 Boy’s and Girl’s Teams. Let’s hope we can get full teams out to the remaining fixtures in the League.

There were some fine individual performances including a great front running victory in the under-15 Boys 1,500 from Harry Leeming who clocked 4:42.9 to hold off Adam Ward of Notts who came with a late charge. Kurt Cameron was the only other winner in this age group taking the Pole Vault with a clearance at 2 metres 60 centimetres.

In the under-15 Girls Catherine Clayton (24 metres 48 centimetres) and Mary-Lou Poore (20 metres 44 centimetres) scored a double in the Discus with Catherine taking the ‘A’ string and Mary-Lou the ‘B’ string. There was only one pole vaulter in the competition and surely this is an area where we could pick up some big points.

In the under-13 girls Katie Jones gained a pair of ‘B’ string wins taking the 1,200 metres in 4:17.9 (where Isobel Leeming took second in the ‘A’ race clocking 4:10.6) and the Javelin with a throw of 13 metres 52 centimetres (Abi Monk was third in the ‘A’ string with a throw of 17 metres 20 centimetres).

Full results are available at:

http://www.bristolandwestac.org/downloads/track-and-field-competitions/national-youth-development-league/

Volunteers Required - Saturday 4th May 2013

Bristol & West Athletic Club will be hosting the first match in the new National Youth Development League at Kip Keino Athletic Stadium, WISE Campus, South Gloucestershire & Stroud College, New Road, Stoke Gifford , BS34 8LP. This is a lower age group match and will be for teams of Boys and Girls in the under-13 and under-15 age categories.

Volunteers are urgently required to help run the meeting. In particular we are looking for:

One track marksperson who would be required from noon until 5 p.m. 

Two field judging assistants will be needed from 10.45 a.m. onwards until 5 p.m.

Four hurdle movers from 11.30 a.m. until 2.00 p.m.

If you are able to help please contact Keith Brackstone at keithatrvp@blueyonder.co.uk in the first instance. You do not need to be qualified - there wikll be qualified officials available and we are looking for willing but skilled or unskilled help.

SOuth-West Track & Field League - Exeter - Sunday 12th May 2013

Bristol & West Athletic Club competes as a composite team with Mendip AC in the South-West Track & Field League (Division 2). The first South West Athletics League competition takes place at Exeter on Sunday 12 May 2013 and Mendip AC are likely to have shortages in the following age groups: U17B, U17W, U20W, U20M, Senior Men and Women.

The event will be at :

Exeter Arena Athletics Stadium
Exeter Arena
Summer Lane
Exeter
EX4 8NN

The programme can be found at:

http://www.bristolandwestac.org/downloads/track-and-field-competitions/south-west-track-and-field-league/

If any Bristol & West AC athletes would like to take part, would they please contact the appropriate MAC Team Manager asap by phone or by email - see below:

Pippa Poore (U17W)    01749 860522     nicholas.poore@homecall.co.uk

Peter Grosjean (U20W/Seniors) 01749 676875     peter.grosjean@tesco.net

Ian Humphreys (U17M/U20M) 01749 675100 or 07985 160526    Ian.Humphreys@Honeywell.com

Youth Development Meeting - 10th April 2013 - Results

Fast times were obviously out of the question as torrential rain at the second Youth Development Meeting replaced the freezing cold of the meeting held on 23^rd March 2013. The athletes (and parents) must be congratulated on their commitment to staying to take part and the officials deserve a real pat on the back for seeing things through to the end. The Track referee made the sensible decision that the hurdles would be limited to athletes in spikes and one keen athlete went and borrowed a pair of spikes in order to compete.

Lots of athletes from the junior academy and young athlete sessions were joined by some new comers – let’s hope the rain didn’t put the newcomers off. Alison Hurford and Dave Taylor brought athletes from their groups to contest the 1,500 metre races which led to a couple of good races. Nathan Marchant was a clear winner of the under-13 boys 1,500 metres. A late burst from Katie Jones saw her win the under-13 girls 1,200 metres. Harry Leeming beat Hugh Sadler in an interesting under-15 boy’s 1,500 metres. Late on in the evening under-17 Freddy Owsley was cheered on as he ran a solo 53.2 in the 400 metres.

In the shorter races there were good numbers in the 75 metres and some close finishes certainly kept the timekeepers and track judges on their toes. There were three races in the under-11 boys 75 metres with Jack Jones’ 12.2 in the second race the fastest of the day. Similarly in the under-11 girls 75 metres there were 3 races with Sadie Gledson’s 12.6 the fastest time.

In the boy’s under-13 100 metres Oliver Pitt won in 15.0 seconds. There were three races in the girls under-13 100 metres with Charlotte Roberts (14.3) beating Tia Jackson (14.6) in the fastest of the races. Isabelle Parselle took the under-15 girls 100 metres in 14.2. Gabriel Dos Santos won the boys under-15 100 metres in 13.4, while Jack Dyer won the under-17 Men’s race in 12.2 from Tristan Jamieson (12.6) with under-20 Mark Smith recording 12.9. Yemma Songu ran with the men to record 13.2 as an under-17 Lady. Ella Falk won a competitive under-15 girl’s 200 metres in 27.4 seconds.

Tia Jackson won the under-13 70 metre hurdles in 13.8 with Sam Barrett taking the under-15 75 metre hurdles in 12.9. Matthew Colton ran 16.4 in the under-13 boy’s 75 metre hurdles.

The long jump and ball throw were popular events. Jason Soodeen jumped furthest in the under-11 boy’s long jump with 3 metres 27 centimetres. Sadie Gledson completed a double taking the under-11 girl’s long jump with 2 metres 73 centimetres. Like Sadie, Oliver Pitt completed a double as he won the long jump with 3 metres 18 centimetres. Tobi Elegbede was the sole under-15 boy jumping and he recorded 4 metres 40 centimetres. In the under-13 girl’s long jump the winner was newcomer Libby Hayett with a jump of 3 metres 93 centimetres. In second place was under-15 Katharine Cartlidge with a jump of 3 metres 51 centimetres.

Romeo Sewell won the ball throw with a throw of 27 metres 94 centimetres. Phoebe Lewis was the only under-11 girl to throw and was rewarded with 11 metres 11 centimetres. Nat Johnson took the under-13 javelin with a throw of 20 metres 25 centimetres off a slippery run-up and Ellie Cryer took the under-13 girl’s javelin with 11 metres 94 centimetres.

Full results are at:

http://www.bristolandwestac.org/downloads/track-and-field-competitions/club-young-athlete-development-events/

Our young athletes now move on to the Mendip AC young athlete’s meeting (Thursday 18^th April 2013), the Avon League (Sunday 21^st April 2013) and the Club Open Meeting at Kip Keino Athletic Stadium (Tuesday 23^rd April 2013) as they prepare for the home Youth Development League match on Sunday 4^th May 2013.

Wiltshire Track & Field Championships - Saturday 25th May 2013

The Wiltshire Track & Field Championships are taking place at the Tidworth Oval on Saturday 25^th May 2013 and they are open to any athletes who were either born in Wiltshire or have been resident in the county for 9-months or more.  More details are available at www.wiltshire-athletics.org.uk