EYAL Returns for 2022

Sunday 1 May, saw a team of juniors participate at Ipswich in the first of just three EYAL matches this year –and a tightly fought match it was too, with just sixteen points separating third to fifth place the day featured some fantastic performances by our young green vests, many of whom were making their debut appearance.

Top Harriers scorer was Lily Addington who claimed a brilliant trio of second place finishings in the U15 girls throws events – claiming a PB in the Javelin with 25.05m.

Stalwart, Lyla Belshaw smashed out a fabulous 800m PB (2.17.2)  to finish very comfortably (7 seconds!) ahead of the rest of the field and then later showed her versatility and great team spirit to test herself over a shorter distance, taking third place in a thrilling U15 Girls 300m, where  just 6/tenths of a second split first to third place.   She finished her day competing the Long Jump where she gained another third place  with a personal best jump of 4.15m.

Newcomer Albert Richardson has certainly found his niche at Harriers; on his debut he should be proud of his second placing in the U13 boys Javelin (14.46) and two third place finishes in Shot (5.12) and Discus (13.08).

A solid twelve points were earned by newcomer Feyi Atiku who dominated the U13 boys’ sprints, gaining PBs in the 100m (13.9) and 200 (28.7) – some three seconds ahead of the field,  as well as running a storming final leg in the 4x100m relay.

Having endured three months off the track with a knee injury through the winter and in her second competition since last summer Samantha Yearwood put her recent strength training sessions to good use by gaining two great PBs over the U15 girls 100m (13.2) and 200m (27.7).

With no High Jump mat to train on, Lexi Henry  used her netball and gymnastic skills to take a good second place in the U15 Girls competition with a clearance of 1.45m – let’s hope once the new mat is in place, she will continue to develop this natural talent.

Special mention goes to U13 Rebecca Walder and Ellie Harmer who kicked the day off making their hurdles debuts – both worked hard to put their training to good effort and will be ones to watch as they progress. 

In middle distance, diminutive Finley Greenleaf reduced his 1500m time by a whopping 43 secs before cracking out a Long Jump PB. Theo Gardiner and Harrison Leek, now U17’s ran superbly to finish in third and second places respectively ( A & B String) against this year’s England Age Group indoor Bronze medallist, both claiming PB’s with Leek slicing seven and half seconds off his previous best. Gardiner then went on to gain another PB over the 1500m.  Meanwhile Maisy Wood enjoyed a great day showing progression across the board and potentially a new first event;  Pb’s were earnt in 1500m and High Jump but it was her Javelin throw which has attracted attention amongst the coaching team – with a brilliant first place B string with a distance of 21.90m.   Emily Lambeth smashed her 800m best by twelve seconds to claim a B string second place finish in 2.49.6.

Chloe Prosser is showing encouraging improvement in her field events with PB’s in both Javelin 29.36 and discus 15.70 – it would be great to see her test herself in a track event to join the U17 women’s relay team!

The team finished the day with 319 points  – a fantastic progression from the opening meet in 2021 where we finished on 138.  It was great to once again come together to support and celebrate everyone’s achievements. Thanks as always goes to our dedicated band of Officials, Team Manager and coaches  -with the Smith family providing a healthy chunk of the points across three generations of athletes and officials!

The next Match is Sunday 5th June in Norwich.