It was definitely a day for slapping on the sun cream and topping up on fluids as the usual Div 2S teams descended upon Darlington on one of the warmest days of the year. Tents and gazebos were erected by the teams and, for once, the athletes were hiding from the sun instead of sheltering from the rain!
Although the event was held at Eastbourne Sports Complex, the official hosts for this meeting were Sedgefield & Derwentside. It was an excellent turnout (funny what a bit of sunshine will do!) and the prospect of an exciting day of athletics lay ahead. Here’s how it panned out…..
Under 13 Boys
It was great to see our regular Under 13 boys back again for more track & field action – and they’re all as keen as mustard! Elwood Kelley was the only sprinter this week as Benedict Davies had to sit this one out (more on that later).
Elwood had an excellent run finishing 3rd in the 100m in a time of 15.2s. In the 800m, three of our junior boys were taking part; the first of them to finish was Ashton Harrison who, after an impressive performance, crossed the line in 1st place with a new PB of 2:35.6!
Just a few seconds behind was Elwood, only half a second off his PB, closely followed by Josh Scott finishing in 2:43.7. Matthew Vest opted for the longer distance of 1500m again. He’s only run the distance a few times but is already showing potential and worked hard in the heat to produce another solid run, finishing in 6th place in 5:48.4.
The boys didn’t shy away from the field events either.
In the long jump it was a second win of the day for Ashton with an excellent jump of 3.97m. Not far behind, Elwood managed 3.62m and Matthew 3.41m. Great jumping lads! Regular high jumper, Benedict Davies, was back in action with another fantastic win and a new PB of 1.52m – a AAA Grade 1 jump, and an NEYDL record!!
Matthew tried out the high jump for the first time with a great debut of 1.05m. It was after this event that Benedict sustained an injury whilst warming up for the 100m. The ice packs came out but unfortunately it wasn’t to be; it turned out to be ligament damage and he had to stop competing for the day.
Ashton’s day wasn’t over though; he thought he’d try his hand at the javelin and came away with a great throw of 12.86m – not bad for a first effort. Then at the end of the day, Elwood, Ashton, Matthew and Josh joined forces to form the 4 x 100m relay team. An excellent run from the boys finishing a close 2nd to Durham, only beaten by one second!! A tremendous day’s work from the boys, well done to all!
Under 13 Girls
There were also five of our Under 13 girls competing today. Ace sprinter, Kate Williams did the double as she was the clear winner in both the 100m and 200m, the 200m being a AAA Grade 1 time of 28.3s. In the same races Lily Large put in a great effort to finish in 15.3s and 31.6s, both just fractionally outside her PB’s.
Tori Buckley, still in Year 6, put in another impressive performance in the 200m, crossing the line in 32.00s dead. Olivia Bell was struggling with an injury today, so only took part in the long jump. Not a bad effort though, considering, with a best on the day of 3.87m finishing in 3rd place.
Lily’s best jump was 3.31m today and, whilst not her best jump to date, her technique is improving all the time with Angela’s jumps training. Stick with it, Lily! Kate was, yet again the clear winner, this time in the high jump. With a tremendous effort she managed a new PB of 1.4m, and another AAA Grade 1 performance!
Lily Thompson and her protégé, Tori Buckley were in action again in the javelin. Lily can often be seen giving helpful advice to her team mate who is relatively new to the discipline. She must be doing a great job as Tori achieved a new PB with a fabulous throw of 17.11m (only to beat that 2 days later at the NYSD, her PB now standing at 17.21m!)
Lily finished in 1st place with an excellent throw of her own, 18.72m. She then went on to do the double by winning the shot putt with an almighty throw on 8.81m – a AAA Grade 1 throw and an NEYDL record! Hats off to Lily who also helped out in the relay.
Not known for her sprinting, she stepped up and ran a great 3rd leg as Olivia wasn’t able to take part today. So Lily L, Tori, Lily T and Kate gave it their all to finish a close 2nd to Sedge/Derwentside. Well done to all the girls, an excellent all round performance!
Under 15 Girls
One of our best hurdlers started the day off with an impressive win – Logan Fawcett in the 75m hurdles crossed the line in 1st place, finishing in 12.7s, agonisingly close to her PB. She continued in that vein with another great run in the 200m, finishing in 2nd place this time, but again, just outside her PB!
Niamh Bishop had two excellent runs; she won the 100m in a time of 14.6s, and another excellent performance in the 200m with a new PB of 29.7s! Emily Vest usually opts for the 1500m on the track, but today she decided to compete in the 800m. She put up a strong fight and finished an excellent 4th place, in 2:45.9 – only 1.5s off her PB!
In the field events, Logan was back again, this time in the long jump. Another 2nd place after an impressive best on the day of 4.29m.
Darcey Garbutt had a knee injury so took time out from her usual 100m and 200m, and tried her hand in the javelin for the first time….not a bad effort either, finishing 4th with a best throw of 11.97m. She also tried the 3kg shot putt where 7.06m was enough bag 2nd place. Well done girls, a great effort from you all
Under 17 Boys
Putting in some top performances recently is DHAC’s own steeplechaser, Liam Brittle. Today he added to those with another convincing 1st place in the 800m – just a couple of seconds outside his PB, finishing in 2:08.9. Nice one, Liam, well done!
Under 17 Girls
One young lady who never fails to impress is Under 17 sprinter, India Oates. She has already been selected to represent her country at the CPIRSA World Games next month so we’re looking forward to letting you know how she gets on.
Back to today though, two excellent performances – the 100m in 16.7s and the 200m in 35.6s. Inspiring! In the 800m, Megan Noble certainly didn’t hang around, putting in a good shift to finish in 3rd place in an excellent 2:37.1.
Middle distance runners Catherine Roberts and Emma Hart took to the track for the 1500m. Having already qualified for the English Schools Final later this month, Catherine’s fitness levels are at an all time high. This was apparent as she pulled off a magnificent run, finishing strong and crossing the line in 1st place in a time of 4:44.3, and a new PB! And not far behind after a terrific effort, Emma took 2nd place in 5:03.2.
The field events were dominated by our own Rosie Thompson. A fantastic all round performance as she took first place in the hammer, discus and shot! Including a sensational PB of 33.96m in the hammer! What a star! Some tremendous athletics from our U17 girls, well done to all!
It was an excellent day all round; some fabulous athletics, excellent performances, with even a few records broken – oh, and the weather wasn’t all that bad either! After all the points were totted up, Darlington Harriers finished a very respectable 3rd place. Well done to all our juniors that took part…..and as usual, a big thank you to the officials coaches and volunteers – you know who you are and the event couldn’t go ahead without you.
The fourth, and final NEYDL meeting will take place at Middlesbrough Sports Village on the 15th July. Lets make it a good one and get as many junior Harriers there as possible!
#UTH! ☺
For lots more photos of the day’s events click here