There was one word to sum up the atmosphere at Stourport for the last Upper YDL – blustery! The wind around the track made very hard going for all athletes, with readings up to -8m/s registering in some races. (18mph) However, the Tamworth athletes put in some excellent performances to help the club to 4^th place in the match and 5^th overall for the season.

Men

The first U20 man to compete was James Rachel who clocked 51.9s in a storming 400m run leading the race from start to finish. He then followed up with a strong 200m with a time of 23.3s for second place into a strong wind. Later in the afternoon Tommy-Joe Rust lined up for his first ever 800m, and recorded a creditable 2:25.1 in very tough conditions for 2^nd place in the Division.

In the U17 category, we had our full compliment of sprinters with Will Flemming and Rian Bryce competing in the 100m and 200m. Will finished 3^rd in the 100m with a time of 13.7s with Rian 3^rd in the B string with a 14.6s. In the 200m the boys put in excellent performances to repeat their 3^rd places with times of 25.6s and 28.4s. Will had started the day with a long jump of 5.33m for 2^nd place. In a display of poor team management, unfortunately Ben Godber faced a difficult task. Having thrown 13.42m for 2^nd place in the discus earlier, Ben then lined up for 800m – 4x100m – 1500m Steeplechase within 90 minutes. He ran 2:26.9 in the 800m for 4^th place and finished off with a solo 6:31.7 run for a win in the steeplechase. In between Ben, Will, Rian and James collaborated for the U20 4x100m for 3^rd place in a time of 50.4s

Ladies

No U17 ladies this time, but a strong set of performances from the U20 group across a number of disciplines. Emma Pulcella run an excellent 13.4s for 2^nd place in the 100m and 26.6s for a win in the 200m. Niamh Kilgallen had her usual day full of events, starting with 9.00m to win the shot, then 64.9s for a hard fought 2^nd place in 400m, 1.4m for 2^nd place in the high jump, and 32.30m for 1^st place in the javelin.

As normal Hannah Evans competed in the full compliment of throws with distances of 5.39m for 1^st in B for shot, 19.94m for 3^rd in discus, 25.69m for a win in the hammer, and a win in the B string javelin. Making her season debut was Beth Ostick who jumped 4.35m for 1^st place in the long jump. After all of the individual events, a team of Beth, Niamh, Emma and substitute Sophie Godber competed in the 4x100m to claim a win in a time of 52.4s.

Many thanks to all athletes and families for coming along, thanks to Rob James, Mel Woolley, Matt Evans and Trevor Stevenson for the help with officiating.

Next Fixtures:

• 3^rd July Lower YDL at Sutton Coldfield
• 31^st July Heart of England at Corby