On Sunday 4 July, a small but enthusiastic contingent of Junior Harriers made the trip to Norwich for the first EYAL match since 2019.

Amidst very changeable weather conditions it was delightful to come together once again as a club and support the young green vests as each and every one of them gave their all against stiff opposition. Stand out performance of the day came from Lyla Belshaw  who won her U15 girls 1500m race in superlative form to cross in 4.47.2 ahead of the field by over 12 seconds,  taking 5 seconds off her PB and with it smashing the Club Record by 4 seconds.  She also claimed a Long Jump PB with a leap of 3.89m for 3^rd place.

Making her debut for the team, U13 Florence Clarke will be one to watch over the coming years; winning the High Jump in 1.30m, taking a good second in the 200m (30.6) and third in the Long Jump with 3.98m.  Eliza Shippey bagged a PB in the 200m clocking 31.5 for fourth place and went on to  take third in the 800m in 2.39.6.   Millie Daniels ran her heart out in the 800m, taking a confident lead and although unable to maintain the pace came away with a good second in the B string.  She also competed the Long Jump where she achieved 2.55m for 5^th place.  It was also great to see Jess Scotchmer back in the team having been such a fierce competitor as an U13.  Lacking confidence she still managed to leap 3.94m in the Long Jump without having had any training since pre-covid. Alex Walder was one of the first competitor of the day, taking part in the Long Jump where he gained fifth place before taking on the 800m where he bagged a PB in 2.51.8.

U15 sprinters Hollie Martin Whymark and Samantha Yearwood both gained third place finishes in the respective A and B 100m races – facing a stiff head wind they both committed well to cross in identical times of 13.9.  Samantha then went on to run her first ever competitive 300m race and did herself proud to finish in a good third place in a respectable time of 46.1s.  She also debuted in the Shot Putt where she claimed her second PB of the day with a distance of 6.54m and showing there is a lot more to come in this discipline. 

Torrential rain welcomed the start of the 200m races in the afternoon;  Harrison Leek was the sole male competitor for the club over this distance and came away with a PB of 29.2 for sixth place. Whymark added a fourth place in 29.1.

For a few the EYAL was literally the first competition they had entered in almost two years; Alice Begg made a welcome return to the U15 girls 800m where she was placed fourth in 2.50 4 and also took on the High Jump where she cleared a PB height of 1.20m.  Competing along side her was Maisie  Wood who finished in 2.42.6 and also added a High Jump PB of 1.30m to her string of skills.  Emily Henderson, who is carving a niche for herself as a young coach took a solid fourth place in the U17 girls 800m in 2.55.8, whilst in the boys equivalent Theo Gardiner came third in great new PB of 2.12.3 – smashing over half a minute off his pre covid time.  He also competed the Javelin, coming close to his pb with a best throw of 15.82m.

Second year U15 Emily Mcgill also brought home a very decent new PB, for the 1500m and with it a first place in the B string race finishing in 5.33.2.  Newcomer Ella License had a busy day competing alongside Emily in the 1500 where she took third in 6.05.4, having earlier gained a pB in the n/s race of the 200m in 37.2s.

A week before competing for Team Essex at English Schools Championships Wyatt Larkins gave his all competed  across three events; comfortably winning the U15 boys Hammer with a best of 39.87two fourth place finishes in the Shot Put 8.35m and Discus 18.97m.

Sincere thanks go to a strong team of Harriers Officials who had a busy day covering six events; ensuring that competitors from all clubs (who had sent significantly larger teams and very few officials) were able to compete throughout the day.

Sadly the next EYAL match scheduled for 15 August has been cancelled due to lack of a host and officials – this leaves the home meet on 12 September to look forward to.