Yeovil & Wells at the South West League Match 2

May 25^th 2008

Combined Yeovil & Wells team wins again

Whilst the vast majority of the Harriers were out either organising or taking part at the Wells Fun Run on the same day, a dozen of the juniors and a couple of the coaches were part of the strong Yeovil and Wells team at the South West Athletics League match at Exeter Arena on the same day. In fact two of the juniors managed to be at both events thanks to the chairman as ever managing to be in two places at one time.

It is difficult to decide who was pick of the junior athletes because of so many fantastic performances. It could have been Roo Black for the u’13 girls with her 4.10m long jump or Henry Brown for the u’15 boys with his 13.00 clocking for the 100m sprints, both for first place against the other 7 teams. But Curtis Stevens would probably also have a case to be the athlete of the Harrier’s Monday group given that he went to 6^th on the SW power of ten rankings with his 800 race here, literally just a few hours after he stormed around the Wells Fun Run! Another contender would be Emily Smith who also achieved an excellent top ten ranking with her 1500m race for the u13 girls.

Events got underway at Exeter with u’13 Jordan Boobyer sending the javelin out to 22.46m for 4^th place, which is an excellent start to Jordan’s competitive javelin throwing career. This mark places him in 15^th place on the regional rankings for 2008. Well done. Jordan is also currently at 23^rd place on the rankings for the shot put. Johnny Forsey made his SW League team debut with a 2^nd place in the B string 100m sprints with 14.40, and he then went on to record good long jumps and be part of 4x100m relay for 2^nd place. Johnny is currently in 28^th place in the regional rankings for his 14.38 clocking at this distance from the County Championships.

Curtis Stevens jumped well in the long jump having made the journey from having won the Wells 1km Fun Run event in the morning, and he then went on to record a nippy time for 2^nd place in the A string 800m race. His time of 2.24.30 was a new personal best and places him 6^th in the region and in the top 25 in the country as a whole at the end of May 2008. His team mate Matthew Cole was just behind him with a 2.26 clocking in the B string race here. Also competing in that race was another of our Monday juniors, year 6 Oliver Fox , who ran a well judged race to finish 2^nd in 2.34 in only his first competitive outing over this distance instead of his preferred 1500m distance. He also now features on the regional rankings list.

For the u’13 girls, in addition to her long jump victory that took her to 15^th in the power of ten regional rankings (to date) for that particular event, Roo Black ran a great 200m race to win in 31.00 and go to 26^th on the regional rankings. Roo, running in lane 1, had a brilliant start and was well clear of the field by the half-way mark and managed to hold on until the end. Roo then finished off her day by helping the 4x100m sprint relay team to add additional points. Emily Smith also ran in the sprint relay after finishing 2^nd for the A string in the 1500m in 5.31.5 for a new personal best. Beforehand, Emily was 5^th in the 70m Hurdles in 14.20 and 6^th in the 100m sprints with a 15.7 timing. Abigail Gibbons was the third of the Wells-based athletes to help make up the 4x100m team, with the other sprinter coming from our partner club in Yeovil. Abigail came down to Exeter after winning the 1km Fun Run event in Wells and proceeded to run a good 6.05.04 for the 1500m and finished 3^rd for the B string. That run and also her 4^th place javelin throw helped gain good points for the combined team.

In the older age groups u17 Natalie Parker competed well over 80m Hurdles for 2^nd place in 13.50, and won the 200m race holding off a late challenger. Natalie is currently just outside the top ten in the region for the 80m Hurdles following a sub 13.00 clocking at the County Championships earlier in the month. She couldn’t be persuaded to have a go at the 1500m as well and seems happiest when sprinting at present.

For the u’17 men, Alex Wiltshire had a busy afternoon, finishing 6^th in the 3000m in10.09 before turning on the power for a good 800m win in 2.07, which would have been quicker but for him easing down with 40m to go. This places him 22^nd on the regional rankings at 800m and 25^th for the 3000m (as at the end of May). Alex is also currently 6^th nationally for the 1500m steeplechase with 4.53.3.

Full results indicate that the Yeovil & Wells team finished top again for the 2nd successive fixture:

Overall
Pos	Club	Mch Pts	Lge Pts
1	Yeovil AC	948.5	8
2	Cornwall AC	921	7
3	Taunton AC	840	6
4	Newquay & Par	833	5
5	Newton Abbot	809	4
6	Exeter Harriers	684.5	3
7	Poole AC	664	2
8	Mendip AC	557	1

Follow the links to see where the individual performances rank:

http://www.powerof10.info/

Note: Wells City Harriers sometimes shown as YOAC or Yeovil Olympiads in line with the combined team approach (Yeovil & Wells at Track & Field).