Heart of England Telford

The final Heart of England fixture took place at Telford on 2nd July. The team rallied round tremendously given that there were a few who had to pull out of events through injury or due to other commitments. Many of the young athletes stepped up to the mark and competed in events that they were unfamiliar with but to gain much needed points to avoid any suggestion of demotion from Division 2.

The team performed so well in fact that the Club finished in 2nd place overall. The club finished on the same League points as the winners Telford and were separated only by Telford’s slightly higher overall points tally. The Club were victorious in the U11 Boys and U17 Boys category with the Boys finishing in 3rd over all age groups. The Ladies team finishes 1st over all age groups combined.

There were so many fantastic performances, but it would be too much to mention all who competed, suffice to say, that they did themselves and their Coaches and Club very proud. Special thanks to those athletes who competed in extra events for much needed points.

Sprint Squad

There were some outstanding performances in the sprints at this meeting. The performance of the day was by Cynthia Ike who won the U15 Girls 100m and 200m. In the latter she achieved a new personal best of 26.3 seconds, after passing all of her opponents on the bend and powering away from them in the home straight. She ended the day by anchoring the relay team to win their race in a new club record of 52.6 secs. Her performance in the 200m means that she has now qualified for both the 100m & 200m in the national championships next month.

U15G 4x100m relay team (Cynthia Ike on anchor) on the way to a new Club Record

Achim Loibl, in his first races since returning from a break to undertake school exams, also ran extremely well to record a time of 11.9 in the U17 Boys 100m, and he followed this up by gaining a personal best of 23.4 seconds in the 200m. Not to be outdone, Dylan Mukhtar, also ran a personal best in the 200m of 23.9 seconds, after recording the same time as Achim in the 100m.

Multi eventer, Josh Gray, produced two personal bests on the day. Competing in the U17 Boys age group, he recorded a time of 15.2 in the 100m hurdles, and then went on to jump 5.35 in the long jump. Also in the multi events, Matilda Braithwaite’s confidence continued to grow, with two wins in the discus and high jump on the day in the U15 Girls age group. Meanwhile, Lewis-Morgan Barton also won his race in the U17 Boys hurdles.

Personal bests were also recorded in the long jump by Millie Webb in the U15 Girls age group, and Kira Lear in the U17 Girls age group. Both athletes jumped the same distance of 4m. In the U13 Boys 100m, Brandon Kwei-Tagoe, ran a new personal best of 14.4 seconds.

In the Under 11 Boys age group, William Robertson and Kaiden Ramsey both showed that they are athletes to watch for the future with strong, confident runs in the 75m sprints.

Middle Distance

There were some strong performances from the Middle Distance squad, with a fine A & B win in the U17 Men’s Race for Dylan Bowley & Tom Jawad who won both strings with ease showing real dominance, both also scored good points in the 400m There was a great new PB for Brandon Raulia in the 800m for 2nd place with 2:15.4, and a fine win & PB in the high jump showing his versatility. There was a fine 2nd & 3rd place for Sophie Moss & Amy Robinson in the 800m, and in the longer sprints the middle distance squad showed there strength with a terrific win in the U15G for Natalie Short winning in style, as did U17 Emily Williams sharpening up for English schools with a stylish win & new PB of 42.8, matched by Sophie Moss in the B race also setting a new PB of 45.5.

MD strong 300m winners Sohie Moss, Emily Williams & Natalie Short

In the 1500m Ben Brooker & Lucas Rogers both scored well in the U15B race with Brooker finishing in 3rd place with Rogers winning the B race, & in the U17 M race Josh Cannell ran a fine race for 2nd place settting a fine new PB of 4:35.8 with Jack Watson winning the B race.

There were some great performances in the U11’s endurance stars with a fine with for the dynamic duo of Jacob Asher-Relf & Dylan White in the A & B 600m respectively & a great run from Elizabeth Reading in the U11G race to finish in 2nd place.

U11/ Throws/ Jumps

First place finishers on the day were as follows:- Under 11 age group - Charlie Bouchard A Howler, William Robertson B long jump.

Under 13 age group – George Murphy A string Discus, Scarlett Maxwell-Munn A string High jump, Katie Gibson B string discus.

Under 15 age group – Brandon Raulia A string High Jump, Matilda Braithwaite A string Discus and High jump.

Under 17 age group – Joshua Gray and Lewis-Morgan Barton A and B long jump, Lewis-Moran B string hurdles.

It is not only those individuals who finish 1st that gain sufficient points to keep the club in Division 2. It is the numerous athletes willing to go the extra mile, and fill in events where possible that give the Club the big points tally needed to retain their position within the League.

U11 Overall Awards

In the U11 category some of the Clubs athletes competed so well that they ranked in the top 3 overall performances. The League normally award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals (although these are normally collected at a later date). The following athletes won awards :-

Jacob Asher-Relf – had the top 3 finishing times in the 600m. Dylan White finished in 4th place. (hoping that the League award a Gold to Jacob and Silver to Dylan who had the next best time to Jacob.
Elizabeth Reading – 2nd place in the 600m
Charlie Bouchard – 1st place in the Howler
Kaiden Ramsey – 1st place in the long jump
William Robertson – 1st place in the 75m and 3rd place in the long jump.

U11 Award Winners William Robertson 75m & Jacob Asher-Relf 600m