BRECON Athletic Club junior athletes reaped the rewards of their hard winter training in the first of the Louise Arthur league track meets in Carmarthen at the weekend with a plethora of excellent performances and personal bests.
Daniel Gilbert and Kyle Davies started the ball rolling with the first two events of the day with Kyle notching up a huge new personal best of 31m in the hammer throw and Daniel showing his form to record 6.04 minute and win the 1km race walk; both boys also had success in the Shot Putt and Javelin.
In the u11s Jack Organ showed his exceptional speed by winning the 800m by a huge margin in 2.38minutes and taking the 150m win in 22.72 seconds; Arthur Bell did equally well in heat two of the 800m crossing the line in 3.01. Jamie Tester, Thomas Gilbert and Owain Price Davies all ran well in their 75m heats and competed in the field events which added to the team points tally. The u11 boys finished the day in style coming fourth in the very hotly contested relay races.
The u13 girls team put their all into covering as many events as possible with Bethan jones, Natasha Adams and Kiera Lawrence opening their account in the 100m heats. Less than 0.40of a second separated the girls’ times; these the girls who are still in year six and were competing against much older girls showed that they can more than held their own against stiff opposition.
Natasha, Kiera and Bethan all went on to do well in the throwing events. Fellow team mates Riley Mcloughlin and Eva DeVenny Billinge had success in the 800m with both posting new personal bests of 3.10 and 3.15 respectively, both girls also went onto post new personal bests in the long jump.
With Daniel Gilbert starting the u13 boys off so well it was pleasing to see stalwart Patrick DeVenny Billinge and Charlie Harris get their outdoor season off to a good start with Charlie making his debut in the long jump, shot put and 1500m in which he recorded a time of 5.46 and fifth place; Patrick picked up invaluable points in the 800m, 200m and a third place in the high jump.
The u15 girls team were out to impress and with Charlie price coming second in the long jump with a new p.b of 4.27m this set the tone for their day. Willow Ransome won the third of five heats in the 100m coming 3rd overall with a time of 13.31 and also took third slot in the 200m well, she was backed up by Paige Ballington who came fourth overall in the 100m in 14.04 and 8th in the 200m. Ffion Price competed in the same events posting a new personal best time of 14.56in the 100m and gained valuable team points.
Back over at the field events Alicia de Melo was doing well in the discus and shot putt and with Charlie price, Megan Nicholas, Ffion and Teigan Ward covering the 1500m, hurdles, javelin and high jump the girls appreciated the full value of their dedication to training.
Charlie, Megan, Paige and Willow recorded a famous photo finish win in the relays in 55 seconds overcoming the race favorites Swansea and Neath to take maximum points.
The u15 boys team saw a debut by Ryan James in the 100m, 200m and high jump, his fourth place in the 200m and fifth place in the high jump meant the boys were on course for much needed points. Seasoned athlete and league record holder Ewan Dykes did his stuff in the 100m and 200m coming first and second respectively and Harvey parson did an equally impressive job by winning the hurdles and recording a new p.b of 1.40m in the high jump finishing fourth overall.
The day concluded with Ewan picking up a trophy in recognition of him setting a new Louise Arthur league record last season in the 100m in Swansea. The next meet is in Neath on the May 28 but in the interim there are regional championships in Brecon.