Busy Weekend of Track and Field

Darcey shines bright at National Champs

On the 1 and 2 July, Colchester Harriers was represented by Darcey Monaghan at the Typhoo National Junior Athletics Championships. Typhoo was delighted to support the event, organised by the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS). Following eight regional qualifiers, the National Championships took place at Warwick Athletics Stadium in Coventry and featured more than 200 junior disabled athletes from across the UK.

Darcey enjoyed a hugely successful weekend coming home with a trio of gold medals.  She claimed great PB’s in her 100m (22.2s) and 200m (48.66s) and despite not reaching her best in the discus, still managed to bring home a gold in that too. And as if that was not enough, she joined fellow team mates in the 4 x 100m relay to bring home second place and a silver medal to add to her collection.

Somnath Saha, CEO of Typhoo Tea, said, “We place a high importance on providing more opportunities for young disabled people to compete at a high level as part of our ongoing Sports for All programme. This year, we’ve seen some incredible athletes from varied backgrounds compete across multiple disciplines. It’s been an honour to learn their stories and support them throughout this competition.”

The annual event continues to confirm its status as a favourite in the sporting calendar. Many elite disabled athletes began their own success at this prestigious event, including Hannah Cockroft, Hollie Arnold and Aled Davies.

EYAL – Peterborough

Sunday 2 July dawned bright and early for those travelling to Peterborough for the latest Eastern Young Athletics meet, and the sun was shining on what proved to be a fantastic day for many athletes.

Competing against six other clubs including top ranked Nene Valley and Shaftesbury Barnett, Harriers finished in a respectable fifth place with a total of 348 points, due mostly to being able to field a full team of girls. Despite only having a very small boys squad, both teams showed what a fabulous group they are and the older girls and boys stepped up to help the younger athletes warm up for their events.  Special thanks should go to these young role models: Callum McKay, Archie French, Graig Anya-Joseph, Hollie Speller and Katie Rice.

Thank you must also go to those parents who assisted the field judges in completing their duties where valuable points are also earnt for the club.

Highlights of the day

Theo Gardiner (U13) – 1500m who beat his PB by more than 2 seconds to finish with a time of 5:34.9
Ziggy Lambton (U15) – 1500m ran with ease to finish first by 3.5 seconds in 4:33.6 running the perfect tactical race
Zion Ateba (U13) – Has shown steady progression this season and added two new PB’s to her profile, 70m Hurdles 12.5s and a good second place, as well as running 29.5s in the 200m to finish as B string winner.
Georgina Smith (U13) – Finished first in the B string 70m Hurdles and attained a PB of 13.0s, beating her opponent by 0.7 seconds and despite taking a nasty tumble in the 100m still grabbed a new PB (13.9s) and finished 4th.
Lauren Strutt (U17) – Despite a lack of training, bagged herself a very decent new 100m time 13.4s, knocking 0.3s of her previous best, and a new P.B of 9.51m in the triple jump to win that event.
Graig Anya-Joseph (U15) – In the 100m, once again found himself under pressure and finished a great second just 0.1s behind first place but gained himself a valuable PB of 11.4s ahead of next week’s English Schools Championships.
Callum McKay (U17) – Callum was injured and unable to enter his usual sprints but earned valuable club points and PB’s in throwing events in Shot 8.48m and Javelin 13.16m.

The next EYAL will be a home meet at the Garrison track on Sunday 30 July.

Further PBs were achieved by:

U13 Girls:  Anna Ritchie 800m 3.00 PB, High Jump 4th 1.20m PB; Lois Gore 100m equal PB 15.00s, High Jump 1st B 1.15m PB, Rebecca Collins 800m PB knocking  11.34 seconds of her previous outdoor best, Shot 4.10m PB; Grace Gardner 1500m 6:06.00  PB, Javelin 14.69 5th place PB; Lilly Upton; Javelin 3.38m PB, Discus 9.71 m PB; Emily Swan 800m.

U15 Girls:  Kausara Ayoola A string 100m 13.2 s 4th PB; Rhianne Boatswain Shot 5m 5th PB; Milly Presland A string 800m 2:30.05 PB, H Jump 1.30 PB;;Amalia: Discus 17.57m PB  3rd  Hammer 15.19 4th PB by 3 m. Madeleine Claydon 75m Hurdles 14.9s.

U17 Girls:  Megan Stephens shot 7.52m PB; Lauren Strutt triple jump 9.51m PB, and 100m 13.4s; Katie Rice; 300m 44.8s 3rd Hurdles 13.2s PB (taking almost half a second off her previous time); Savannah Harrison Long Jump 4.11m PB; Lilly Waterson Javelin 23.08s 2nd PB.

U13 Boys Theo Gardiner whose Javelin 11.67   U15 Boys: Sebastien Jacobs 100m & 200m; Jack Banyard 200m; George Lavender Javelin 28.78 Discus 26.16m and 200m 26.0. all PB’s  U17 Men Daniel Jones 200m 24.2s;

Harriers compete for County team

On Sunday 2 July, Harriers athletes Caitlin O’Reilly, Matt Rose and Charlie Dobson competed as seniors for Essex County at the Southern Counties Senior Inter County Match held at Kingsmeadow Stadium in Kingston.

Despite the sun and heat, a reasonably strong blustery wind made life tricky for athletes; first up was Rose who took on the 400m Hurdles where he placed a comfy first in the B string, he then went on to finish 4th in the Pole Vault with a clearance of 3.20m.

Feeling under the weather, O’Reilly went in the B string 200m coming second in a disappointing time of 26.72s.  Her final leg in the relay went on to help Essex claim second place in the 4x100m relay.

Making his Senior debut for Essex, Dobson took on the 100m and in the face of running into a -2-headwind finished first in 10.92s.  The 4×100 relay team although having brought the baton home in a quick time of 42.79s was later disqualified for passing the baton just outside the box.

Essex men finished first with a total of 374 points, Ladies 4th with Essex County taking second place overall.

Some of Harriers very youngest athletes will be competing for Essex in Kingston at the end of July at the Dereck Crookes U13 Inter Counties meet.

Darcey Monaghan at the Typhoo National Junior Athletics Championships

Matt Rose and Charlie Dobson - Southern Counties Senior Inter County Match