For the first time in 12 years our YDL lower team qualified for the National Finals at Sportcity on Sat 31st August against the best teams in the country, packed with athletes ranked very highly in the country and we took two coach loads of athletes, coaches, officials and supporters to the match.
Based on predictions beforehand we were expected to finish 4th or 5th and in a battle with York and this came to fruition on the day as we beat York by 0.5pts to finish 4th.
It was a lovely sunny day in Manchester and very favourable for the sprinters, although the middle distance runners struggled in the heat and muggy conditions.
The competition is weighted towards U15 athletes as they have extra events(Hammer, Discus, PV and 300m plus 4x300m) and we are traditionally weak in the heavy throws.
We had some stand out performances including Gift Osarogiagbon, who won athlete of the match award for his under 13B LJ performance, where he jumped 5.30 and won by over a metre and now ranks him as no.3 in the country. It could have been argued that either of his wins in the 75m or 150m would have picked up the award as well as they ranked him inside the top 5 in the country.
As this is a team competition, every athletes counts and we had only two gaps both in the U15G PV. Every other event was filled, which was a fantastic achievement and something we had not quite managed in the qualifying matches.
A few special mentions in this category, (apologies if you didnt get a mention):
Millie Spink stepped into the U15G LJ having never competed before, Phoebe Blythe and Emily Brazier both threw huge PB’s in the hammer despite training as sprinters. Neither Murphy Midgeley or Peter Herring had competed in a pole vault event, but both cleared heights and Murphy had only done 3 training sessions. Matthew Quine competed in the hurdles for the first time with a handful of training sessions. Austin Busby and Asher Pawson, who are relatively new members to the club threw big PBs in the javelin. Evie Worrall stepped in for the javelin having never competed before.
Liverpool Harriers winning athletes- (top 3 in each event got medals)
U13G 70mH – Olivia Joyce (A)
U13G 70mH – India Bates (B)
U13B 75m – Gift Osarogiagbon (A)
U13B 800m – Seb Rung (A)
U15G 800m – Millie Wick (A)
U15B HJ – Nathan Halewood (B)
U13B 75m – Gift Osarogiagbon (A)
U13G 1200m – Esme Cameron (B)
U13B LJ – Gift Osarogiagbon (A)
U13B 1200m – Lucas Guyett (B)
One other race of note – U13B 1200m. Bobby McEvoy and Jack Shingler(Cheltenham) were ranked no.1 and no.2 in the country with 3.36.4 and 3.36.96. The two of them ran away from a top class field, winning in 3.28.79 and Bobby second in 3.30.62. Both taking huge chunks off their PB’s and moving to no.4 and no.5 on the UK all time list for U13B.
Results can be found HERE and will on on the YDL website shortly
Team points:
Blackheath & Bromley 641.5
Rugby & Northampton 633
Woodford Green & Essex Ladies 554
Liverpool Harriers 503
City of York 502.5
Cheltenham Harriers 494
Giffnock North 425
A Few Special Thanks
Can I thank every single athlete who competed in the final and in the qualifying matches, as we had several who were away or injured.
Thanks to Kris and Emma for team managing and organising the day and to all the officials. Don’t forget officials score points as well.
Thanks to all the supporters and coaches who turned up, not just for the final, but for all the matches. PS – I’ve never seen so much food(mainly cakes…..)
Also a big thanks to our kit/T Shirt manufacturers and sponsors who subsidised some of the cost.
It was a fantastic day out, with such high quality athletics and everyone did us proud on the day. Hopefully it won’t be another 12 years before we qualify another team.
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