Young athletes from all over County Durham descended upon Monkton Stadium last week for the Durham Schools Combined Events Championships. The 5 discipline pentathlon was for Under 15 students, specifically from school Years 8 and 9, and was a full day of running, jumping and throwing. There was a team event, but also an individual event from which the most successful athletes would be selected for the Durham County team for a Regional Final to be held at York in June.
There were four of our Junior Harriers competing, all from Carmel College; Olivia Bell, Lily Large and Benedict Davies, from Year 8, and Nat Bell from Year 9. The usual disciplines for a junior pentathlon – 75m Hurdles, Shot, High Jump, Long Jump, and as always, ending the day with the 800m.
This certainly wasn’t the first pentathlon for Olivia, having taken part in a few for DHAC over the years. Today though, she was competing a year young – but she didn’t let that put her off. In fact she competed with great confidence, giving the older athletes a run for their money! She produced PB’s in both the high jump and the shot and her overall points total of 1779 was her best ever as well. Out of the 69 athletes taking part she finished in an amazing 12th place, the best of all the Carmel girls; an amazing achievement as she’s still in year 8, and one that certainly bodes well for next year! Great job, Olivia, well done!
Unlike Olivia, this was Lily’s first ever pentathlon. But judging how well she performed you wouldn’t think so. It was also the first time she’d competed in the hurdles, high jump and shot! Lily surprised herself when she won her heat in the hurdles and jumped 1.20m in the high jump! Perhaps less surprising was her winning the year 8 girls 800m race, something she’s much more familiar with. With a very healthy 474 points from that 800m win she managed a final total of 1505 points and 20th place. An excellent first pentathlon, well done Lily!
Also competing in his first ever pentathlon was Benedict. He really was in at the deep end, with the high jump being the only discipline familiar to him; the other four he had never competed in! But as a sprinter/high jumper, as you might expect he did well in the hurdles by winning his heat. In fact he did well in the shot, long jump and his favourite event , the high jump where he finished in the top 3 earning him 426 points. With a final total of 1581 he finished in 18th place out of the 71 junior boys taking part, helping the Carmel A team to take 1st place. Not bad for your first pentathlon, well doneBenedict!
Last year Nat did extremely well; still a year young and finished 3rd overall. Consequently he was selected for the Durham County team who progressed all the way to the English Schools’ National Finals in Bedford – so he was hopeful of a repeat performance today. Thankfully he performed well across the board, including a PB of 1.50m in the High Jump and a final points PB of 2049. From the second event onward, Nat’s overall position remained in the top 4 and after the final event, the 800m, he’d moved up to 2nd place! Congratulations, Nat, County selection for the second year running. He’s now looking forward to the Inter-Counties competition at York so we’ll let you know how the Durham Boys get on.
Well done to all four of our DHAC juniors. One County selection and three first year U15’s whose results look very encouraging for next year! In fact, we won’t have to wait that long to see Olivia, Lily and Benedict in action again; next month they’ll all be competing in a Year 7 and 8 pentathlon so we look forward to seeing how they all get on
