Saturday 21st April saw seven GAC young athletes join team mates from local clubs Bourne, Sleaford and Newark to compete in the Youth Development League under the composite team title ‘Notts Lincs Alliance’.
The recent warm weather stayed with us for most of the competition and saw some fantastic performances.
Under 15 boys Harry Denton and Tom Glendinning did themselves proud on both track and field events. Harry, who has had a fantastic cross country season, competed in the 200m (3rd 27.05) and the 1500m (2nd 4:48.30) achieving personal bests in both events. All that winter training seems to have paid off. Tom took part in three events and like his teammate, he achieved personal bests in the 300m (1st 41.01), 200m (1st 25.96) and shot (1st 11.92m). His throw of 11.92 mtrs ranks him 8th in the UK for his age group. What a fantastic start to both athlete’s seasons and for Tom to get first and PB’s in all three events was an amazing achievement.
We had five U13 boys from GAC, first to compete was George Scaum who had a successful day, he threw 6.52 mtrs in the shot which got him first place and a personal best, he then followed this performance with long jump, again getting a PB and placing fourth. Alex Cole and Joseph Harris represented GAC in the javelin. They threw with determination and despite their nerves they put everything into that javelin. Alex Cole threw 17.76mtrs, beating his Pb from last year by 1.69mtrs, a brilliant start to his season and placing him 2nd place in the B team. Joseph, having never thrown at a competition before had a magnificent winning throw of 27.84mtrs, his throw ranks him 17th in the UK for U13 Boys. What a way to start his first season. It’s both boy’s commitment to training through the cold wet nights this winter with dedicated coach, Caroline Richards that has enabled them to achieve these solid results.
U13 boy Charlie Denton, who has just recently joined GAC took part in two events plus the 4 x 100m relay. Having decided, on the day of competition that he would take part in the high jump, Charlie put aside his nerves and cleared a courageous 1.10m, placing him 3rd in the B team. He then ran in the 100m coming in 5th with a time of 16.00, narrowly missing his PB, a promising start to his season. Last to compete for the boys was Imam Abdulrahman who raced in the 100m, he did not disappoint, with a gutsy run bringing him home 1st in 14.72 in the NS race and claiming another PB for the U13 boys, showing lots of promise for future competitions. Imam also took the opportunity to race with three other team mates, which included GAC athlete Charlie Denton in the 4 x 100m relay. They ran their hearts out and came home second with a time of 59.70, against some tough competition. A great way to finish such a fantastic day of Athletics.
Our next YDL competition is being held at The Grantham Meres stadium on 19th May where we look forward to seeing more of our athletes compete again, and a massive thank you to our athletes for taking part, our parents for their support and our coaches for their dedication and knowledge.