Our juniors were in fine form last weekend at the second NEYDL meeting, and the tremendous team spirit within the DHAC camp was a joy to be part of. Our athletes were ‘buzzing,’ with smiling faces, and always really supportive of each other. After the success of the Darlington/Allerton joint venture at the first NEYDL match, confidence was at an all time high, so let’s see how things went for round two…..
Under 13 Boys Elwood Kelley, Josh Scott, Harry Lyons, Louis Brett, Matthew Vest, Ashton Harrison Those familiar faces were back again from our U13 squad. The 800m saw the first of our boys in action with Elwood and Josh stepping up. It was a cracking race to watch with Elwood staying in contention for all of the race; in the end it was a sprint to the finish, with the Houghton athlete just getting the better of Elwood by half a second! An excellent PB though of 2:29.7 to take 2nd place. Josh wasn’t far behind after another strong run; not the fastest he’s run but a super time of 2:39.9, crossing the line in 3rd place. In the 1500m we had three of our boys taking part; Harry, Louis and Matthew. It was a one, two for DHAC after a convincing performance both from Harry and Louis. Harry dominated the race and it soon became clear that he would be first to finish, and indeed he was with anew PB of 5:09.1. Louis was hot on his heels to take 2nd place, also with a new PB of 5:16.7. And it was another fine effort from Matthew who completed the circuit in 7th place with a time of 5:39.9. Later in the afternoon, Elwood was back on the track in the 200m. He flew round the bend and opened up the gap to win with a fantastic time of 30.6s.
Ashton focused on his field events today, in particular the throwing events, competing in the javelin, shot putt, and for the very first time, the discus. He produced some excellent throws in the javelin with improving technique, and although his best today wasn’t a PB, still a great effort with 13.59m. Another solid performance in the shot, his best today was just short of his PB from the North Easterns the week before with 6.33m taking 2nd place. But his performance of the day, which surprised Aston as much as anyone else, was his debut in the discus. Once again, excellent technique producing a best of 15.66m to finish in joint 1st place!! In the long jump, Elwood and Matthew were back in action. Elwood jumped well as always and was the only athlete to jump over 4m today with a best of 4.02m. Not a PB this time but a great effort. Matthew has been improving all season in the long jump and continued to do so again today. Some excellent jumping resulting in a new PB of 3.59m to take 2nd place!
Overall some tremendous performances from our U13 boys. Great work lads, well done to all!
On the track, Tori kicked things off in the 800m. A tough race up against some quality athletes, but Tori held her nerve and focussed on her own race. A great start today finishing in 4th place with a time of 2:38.0, just a fraction outside her PB. In the 100m Emily and Isabelle ran together in the same race, and things couldn’t have been closer. In fact our A-string runner (from Allerton) finished her race in 14.7s, Emily crossed the line in 14.8s and Isabelle just behind her in 14.9! Top sprinting girls! In the afternoon, Libby and Savannah got in on the action in the 1500m. Run alongside the boys race it was a bit crowded at the start and athletes had to jostle for position, but as things settled down they could concentrate on their own race. Libby looked strong today and put in a great run, finishing in an excellent 3rd place with a AAA grade 4 time of 5:33.0. Savannah showed real guts, pushing hard and crossing the line in 5th place with a well deserved PB of 5:54.6. Back to the sprints and the 200m saw Tori and Emily in action. Tori had a cracking run and powered down the straight in that graceful running style of hers to finish 3rd in 30.9s. In the next race Emily impressed with a cool 2nd place, dipping over the line in 31.2s
Moving on to the field events, Libby and Savannah joined 10 other athletes for the long jump. A great competition with some excellent jumping; Libby’s improved a lot this season and today she managed a best of 3.67m, enough to take 3rd place. It was a great effort from Savannah too; another young Harrier who’s improving all the time. Today it was a best of 3.20m to finish in 8th place. Tori was back again in the javelin; despite some great throwing she was a little disappointed with a best of 16.40m. Like most of our juniors, Tori wants to be at her best all the time, but sometimes things are against you and it doesn’t quite come together, but next time we’re sure you’ll smash it! Still good enough for 2nd place though!
Well done to all our Under 13 girls, an excellent performance from all!
With no U15 boys today, it was down to Kate to get things under way for the U15 girls in the 75m hurdles. She got a great start and gradually pulled away from the other athletes to win comfortably in a time of 13.3s. Next up were Marissa and Lily in the 800m. It was a great run from both girls, up against older athletes. They worked hard and it was Marissa who was the first of our girls to cross the line in 4th place with a well deserved PB of 2:32.6. Lily wasn’t far behind in 5th place, also with a PB of 2:39.8. Kate and Olivia were both on top form in the 100m; there were two heats, with Kate in the first and Olivia in the second. Both girls showed their strength and won their individual races; Kate dipping over the line in 13.4s and Olivia matching her PB of 14.0s. Marissa was back again for the 200m where she put up a terrific battle, crossing the line in 5th place, just outside her PB with a time of 31.1s. A field of 10 athletes stepped up for the 1500m including three of our own girls; Mia, Emily and Macy. It was a strange race for Emily – as soon as the gun went off she started with a nose bleed! But she didn’t stop; she showed true Harrier guts and determination, adding a touch of red to her blue and white vest as she went! Mia had a great race, looking strong for pretty much all of the race. She finished in 3rd place in 5:14.6. Not sure on positions for Emily and Macy as it’s not clear from the results but Emily crossed the line in a new PB of 5:28.7 after a fantastic sprint finish (dashing to get cleaned up!), and Macy pulled out the stops with a cracking run, also with a PB of 5:40.3. Kate and Olivia were back, this time in the same race as they battled it out in the 300m. Kate was chasing a new PB today, which she got by over a second by finishing in 1st place with an excellent time of 44.6s. Olivia was just a second behind in a close 3rd place with a time of 45.6s.
In the field events there were nine athletes competing in the long jump, including our own Olivia and Lily Large. The girls jumped really well with Olivia producing a best of 4.35m to take 3rd place (a new PB on Power of 10, although unofficially she has jumped further!) Lily’s definitely improving and today she came up trumps with a new PB of 3.88m to finish in 4th place. Lily Thompson had a busy day competing in three events today. In the discus she pulled one out the bag with a huge AAA Grade 3 throw of 22..78m and a new PB taking 1st place. In the 3k hammer throw she was the only U15 girl, but this didn’t stop her putting in a cracking throw of 24.23m. And she dominated the shot with a real show of strength with another AAA Grade 3 throw of 8.93m…..and another 1st place!
There were no U17 boys from DHAC today, but the girls were out in force. Kicking things off in the 80m Hurdles was Logan; it’s only the second time she’s competed at this distance, with an extra 5m to what she’s used to. But she cleared the hurdles well, kept up an excellent pace, and crossed the finish line in 1st place – and improved on her PB slightly with a time of 14.8s. In the 100m it was another 1st place for DHAC. This time it was Leah who commanded the race and dipped over the line in 14.1s. Later that day, Leah was back again in the 200m, this time running alongside DHAC team mate, Charlotte. A cracking run from both girls but it was Charlotte who pulled away to win comfortably with a new PB of 27.4s, and Leah taking 2nd place in 29.5s. One of the best performances of the day came in the afternoon when Logan competed in the 300m Hurdles. She was the only one competing so it was always about her own personal performance. A difficult thing to do well when you’ve got no one to run against. But she ran it beautifully, looking confident and determined; you certainly wouldn’t think this was the first time she’d competed at this distance! She flew down the straight and crossed the line in 54.3s. Outstanding!
Onto the field events and Leah was up again in the long jump. Another great effort from Leah, with a best of 4.4m to take 2nd place. Charlotte got in some more heptathlon practice as she took on the javelin. Some great throwing from Charlotte with a best on the day of 16.78m – no PB this time but enough to take 2nd place. Rosie took on 3 events today; the discus, hammer and shot. As usual she produced a commanding performance in all events winning the discus with 23.76m, winning the hammer with a AAA Grade 4 throw of 34.37m, and you guessed it, winning the shot with 9.66m! Charlotte did give Rosie a run for her money in the shot with a best of 8.93m (not bad for a sprinter/combined eventer!) Well done to all our U17 girls, a fantastic effort from all!
4 x 100m Relays We had a good selection of athletes available for the grand finale of the day, the 4 x 100m relays; in fact we had enough for four teams – the Under 13 Boys Under 13 Girls, Under 15 Girls and Under 17 Girls. It was a showcase of sprinting with each of our teams dominating their race, and amazingly all four finishing in 1st place! A fantastic performance from all!
Final Match Points It had been another tremendous day of athletics. The team spirit was the best we’ve seen and at the end of the day the DHAC/Allerton partnership once again came out on top with 564 points, 139 points ahead of our nearest rival! The next match is at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on 23rd June so if you’reavailable don’t forget to let team manager, Adam Mitchell know and we’ll see you there for another exciting day!https://www.flickr.com/photos/143839421@N02/sets/72157708772671178/