The third match of the Kent Youth Development League was held last Sunday at the Julie Rose Stadium in Ashford. Thanet AC had a good turnout of athletes to represent the club who are currently in Division 2. The U15 Boys kept up their previous record this season by finishing in first place with 115 points. There were PBs for Connor Neal (300m 40.2s), Samuel Belsey (Long Jump 5.11m), Kieran Day (Javelin 13.99m) and Jack Seery (Long Jump 4.68m). The boys stormed to victory in both the 4x100m and 4x300m relays to finish off a very successful day.
The U15 Girls were plagued by injuries with Emily Russell and Jessica Wood having to pull out of some of their events. However Russell had already won the Long Jump with 4.19m and finished first in the B String 75m Hurdles with 13.0s. Erin Moses had an excellent day and finished first in the A String Hurdles with 12.5s and the 100m with 13.4s. Leah McDonald, competing in her second competition, finished second in the B String 100m with 15.2s. Mia Hillyard was second in both the 300m with 45.3s and Shot put with 6.34m. Due to the injuries the girls team had to pull out of both relays which meant they finished in third place overall with 96 points.
The U13 Girls saw several of our young athletes competing in their first season at county level. Libby Pritchard finished fifth in both the A String 75m and 150m sprints and jumped a PB of 3.58m in Long Jump. Mabel Naisbitt was fourth in the 150m with a PB of 25.1s whilst Grace Jakeman finished third in the B String of the 75m with a PB of 12.1s. Abbie Debling had a very successful day finishing first in High Jump with a PB of 1.20m and first in Shot put with an excellent PB of 7.82m. Lily Murray was first in the B string heat of Shot put with another excellent throw and a PB of 7.28m. The U13 Girls finished fourth in the 4x100m relay and at the end of the day had earned 118 points and second place overall!
The U13 Boys team consisted of just two athletes – Dermot O’Brien and newcomer Kieran Garland. O’Brien ran the 1500m in a new PB of 5m 32.2s which saw him finish in third place in the A string whilst Garland ran in the B string heat and finished in 6m 44.9s. O’Brien also finished third in the 75m Hurdles which he ran in 17.4s and Garland was fourth in Shot put with a throw of 3.72. Due to the size of their team the boys did well to notch up 27 points and finish fifth overall.
The combined points for the club at the end of the third match, including points for providing officials at each event, was 1039 which puts them in third place. The final KYAL match will be on 7 August at Medway Park. Full results can be found at www.kcaa.org.uk.