WAC Match Report - South West League – Plymouth – 18 April 2010

This was our most distant fixture in the South West League. Nevertheless we were hopeful of a good turnout of athletes and we weren’t disappointed. There were no fewer than 27 Wimborne athletes who registered performances in fantastic conditions.

Let’s get the bad news out first – despite WAC’s largest turnout for a South West League match for some years we still failed to trouble the opposition in terms of team score. This is largely due to not being able to fill all available events with athletes.

The good news is that our athletes all turned in good personal performances, and this bodes really well for the rest of the season.

We were quite light in the under 13 age group, having only 4 athletes (3 girls and one boy) most at the bottom end of the age group and competing for the first time in Track and Field. Piers Copeland was involved in what was arguably the race of the day, narrowly beaten in to second place in the 1500m after 3¾ laps of attack and counter attack with a Mendip athlete. Both athletes have been awarded the same time which also broke the existing South West League Division 2 record!

 

Kelly Snook has competition experience in cross-country and Sportshall, but this was the first time in outdoor T&F competition. She put in a couple of solid performances in the Long Jump and 200m.  For Scarlett Goldsack this was the first time competing for Wimborne, and, as with Kelly put in a couple of good performances on the track in the 100m and 1500m. Abbie Hine was our most experienced U13 athlete and she had a good run over 1500m.

In the U15 age group we had 7 girls and 2 boys competing. Matt Curtis was the most successful athlete from Wimborne on the day, winning all 3 events he competed in (200m, High Jump, and Shot Putt). Sam Neill was our other U15 boy and he put in good performances in 100m and Triple Jump; his first ever competition in the latter.

Of our 7 girls only one took part in a field event (Zoe Taylor – Long Jump). In fact Zoe would have done the Discus as well if we had heard that the event had been brought forward in the programme to earlier in the afternoon. Abi Card, Kelly Martin, Grace Thompson and Ellie Cotton all tackled the 100m and 200m to good effect. I know that there were a few personal bests among them, and it will be interesting to see how much they all improve as their confidence grows and the season progresses. Chloe Morris and Sharon Hutchings both raced over 1500m, and both athletes had very satisfying runs, each looking strong and determined.

We were quite well served in the U17 age group. Becky Light was our sole female competitor in this age group. Hers was somewhat of a comeback run, as Becky has been out of competition for some time now, so it was good to see such a solid performance.
 

We had 3 lads in the U17 age group. Dominic Tugby put in two impressive runs over 100m and 200m, suffering a hamstring twinge in the latter stages of the 200. Jack Snook guested in the Senior Men Pole Vault competition (in fact there were no other competitors!). He also put in a good clearance in the High Jump. Callum Kennedy was our other athlete is this age group putting in two great runs over 3000m and 1500m – made even more remarkable as he was running with his eyes shut (at least that’s according to the photographic evidence!).

 

The remaining age groups U20/Senior were well populated by Wimborne. We’ll start with the ladies (in no particular age order!). Karyn Light, Sarah Jordan, and Paula Hine all laid down good 100m times, finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Lynn Hutchings improved her previous best during a fine run in the 5000m, and our multi-eventer, Maddy V-J put in 4 good performances in 400m Hurdles, 200m, 1500m and High Jump, picking up a first place, 2 seconds and a third. Becky, Sarah, Maddy and Karyn also teamed up to put in a great 4x100m relay to finish 2nd.

 

This leaves the men. By far the youngest (U20) was John Hutchings who performed well over both the 5000m and 1500m. In the masters age groups we had Ian Kennedy, Glyn Davies, Steve Snook and Peter Impett. Ian, looking resplendent in his shades, ran well over 5000m and 1500m. Glyn pushed through the pain barrier to get us points in the Javelin. Peter stepped up to blast down the 100m and launch a Shot, while Steve nipped in to record times in the 100m, and 200m, and distances in the Shot Putt and Javelin.

Full results can be located at this link:

http://www.thepowerof10.info/resultsfiles/2010/36263_6002_19042010112333_results%20match%201.doc

Well done to all athletes. Also a special thank you to all parents who helped out either as taxi drivers, officials or supporters who helped to make the day a successful one.

Next South West League fixture is Sunday June 6^th.