There were successes in track and field for Vale athletes this weekend in the County Championships held at Horspath Road Oxford, in conjunction with the Oxfordshire Championships. Conditions were far from ideal with heavy rain and winds on Saturday followed by a very blustery Sunday.
Nevertheless, every Vale athlete put heart and soul into the events and many came away with Championship titles, medals and new PBs.
In the sprint events Korben Fenty is our youngest County Champion winning the 100m in 13.61; Josh Brown and Alex Byrom joined him in the final but were not placed. Hayley Drane won her 100m heat and made the final with Martha Heron. Bartosz Sikoia took bronze in the U15 100m and 200m races and Kitty Shepherd-Cross, a cross country and middle distance athlete, ran very well in the U13 200m to reach the final and finish 4th.
Jess Hunter remains on top form and is now U20 County Champion in three events, 100m, 100m hurdles and Long Jump. Alice Rolfe was disappointed to finish 3rd in the 300m; unfortunately the runners were all told it was a heat and she kept her speed for the final running 2 seconds below her best. They were only told after the race that it had actually been the final, and the officials apologised to them. Ethan Luck took the silver in the U17 400m and Alex Byrom is the new Champion in the U13 75m hurdles in 15.56 and James Davis ran well in the U20 400m hurdles finishing 3rd.
Christian von Eitzen is a Vale athlete who was competing for Oxfordshire and moved from his usual middle distance to 200m and 400m for the Championships. He won both races, and his 400m time of 49.94 was a PB.
In the middle distance events, Kitty Shepherd Cross won her 800m time trial for the U13 girls and Ethan Luck took his second medal finishing 3rd in his U17 event in 2:08:19. Patch Taylor was 2nd in the U20 event. The 1500m was a fantastic race for Tom Swindlehurst (U15) who, in very windy conditions, finished second in 4:36:32 – a silver medal and a 12 second PB! Kieran Lindars was 2nd in the U20 3k event.
The field events were a great success for our athletes. Donelle Arulanandam (U20) won both the High Jump and Triple Jump and took silver in the Long Jump. TJ Bartley won the U20 Men’s Triple Jump. In the throwing events, Alfred Mawdesley won the Shot event with a distance of 11.46m and the Discus with an almighty 39.71m which is Championship Best Performance; both throws are PBs. Amy Obiamago was 2nd in the Shot but it was in Discus where Vale was strongest. Eleanor Taylor Newman won the women’s U17 event with a throw of 30.49, only just below her best and Gianni Aquilino won the U17 boys Championship with a 38m throw, a new PB. Nicholas Moss (U13) had the javelin throw of his life. His winning throw of 35.46m was not only a PB by almost 8 metres, but also a Championship Best Performance!
Congratulations to all athletes who took part; each and every one gave their best. Winning medals is fantastic, but for those who didn’t, be inspired by the performances around you and keep up the hard work.