Teenage athletes do Grantham club proud in league

Grantham’s Athletic Club U13 and U15 athletes competed in the second round of the Youth Development League on Saturday.

Seven other clubs from across the Midlands joined them at a sunny and hot Meres stadium to compete in a range of track and field events.

Sixteen Grantham athletes joined the composite Team Notts Lincs Alliance, to test themselves against some strong competition.

The day began with the U13G hurdle event, where Sofia Daniele competed at her first track competition and did her self proud, clearing every hurdle and coming in fourth place (16.2sec). Her day continued with the shot where she threw 4.32m, placing her sixth, before returning to the track to come a respectable fifth in the 75m.

Scarlett Bird, also new to competition, showed great determination in her track events, placing second in the 150m (21.8) and also showed real promise in the 75m sprint. Fellow debutante Lilli Rawlinson was seventh in the 150 (25.0) and fifth in the 800m (3.29).

Olivia Marshal shook off the disappointment of having to pull out of the 1200m due to injury by throwing 3.63m to take fourth place in the shot.

Erin Crook pushed hard around the track in the U15Gs 300m event, placing third (49.5), followed by a tough 75m hurdles event, placing sixth (17.3), before finishing her events with the high jump.

Older sister Amy Crook narrowly missed her personal best in the U15G 800m with a time of 2.52. She placed sixth in the 200m, achieving a PB by more than three seconds (30.9), and threw the shot 4.17m for third place.

Not to be outdone, six GAC U13 boys put in gallant efforts across all events.

George Scaum achieved PBs in both his events – 3.69 for sixth in the long jump and, in his preferred event, the shot, he came first with a throw of 7.30.

Alex Cole threw a respectable 6.34 in the shot, whilst Charlie Denton beat his PB in the javeline, placing first with a throw of 18.79. He also ran and gave it everything in the 100m.

Jamie Milner, Jack Pemberton and Arran Soutar have only just joined GAC and have shown great team spirit by jumping straight into competition.

Jamie took part in two events, placing third in 100m with a time of 15.0 and in the 800m he came fourth with a great time of 2.47. Arran came third in the 200m (31.0) and fourth in the 800m (2:52.3). Jack placed first in the 1500m with a time of 5:14.2, as the trio all made a promising start to track competition.

Harry Denton equalled his PB in the U15B with a time of 2.20 and placed fourth. In the discus he threw 15.49m and placed second and then cleared 150m for second.

Tom Glendinning narrowly missed PBs in his track events, but placed first in both the shot (9.73) and the 200m (24.9), and finished second in the 300m (40.5).

George Whinney smashed his 100m PB and came home fourth with a time of 12.7. He followed this up with first in the long jump (5.08).

The day concluded with the relay events.

Results: 4x100 – U13G 2nd (59.1), U15G 4th (55.9); 4x100 – U13B 3rd (59.9), U15B 1st (51.3); 4x300m U15G 4th (3:25.7).

The final YDL competition will take place at Sutton in Ashfield on June 17 when the club will be looking forward to witnessing some more fantastic performances.

If you are interested in trying out athletics, visit www.granthamac.com