Total

U13B

U15B

U17M

U13G

U15G

U17W

1. Bedford

596

87

111

100

76

116

106

2. HMAC

499

84

90

90

74

68

93

3. Basildon

467

37

86

126

68

78

72

4. Herts P

426

59

46

76

74

101

70

5. Chelmsford

412

77

81

16

76

59

103

6. Ipswich

357

52

59

91

23

60

72

There was disappointment as the young athletes team returned empty handed from the EYAL final at Bedford on Sunday.  A strong all-round HMAC effort earned the club runners up spot and 30 PBs but no silverware.

Hosts Bedford established an early lead and led throughout, going on to win four of the six age group categories, sharing another and coming second in the other age group.  HMAC meanwhile had to settle for two seconds, two thirds and two fourths.

The U13s came closest to challenging the hosts’ dominance.

The U13 boys 4x100m relay performance provided the highlight for HMAC as the quartet of Fred Mokoso, Charlie Smith, Rhys Stephenson, and Ben Western made the club record their own, after equalling the 11 year-old mark earlier this season. The win was hardly surprising as the quarter had shared the honours in the individual sprints, with Smith streaking to a 100/200m A string double, ably supported by wins from Western (100m B) and Stephenson (200m – PB).  The improving Rhys Stephenson added a long jump second place with another PB while the fourth team member Fred Mokoso also contributed two second places in the hurdles in long jump.  

Tyler Bennett also gained two second places, with his A string discus PB & B string 800m run.  But although the U13s had the upper hand over Bedford at one stage, the final points tally saw the home club ease ahead by a three-point margin.

The U13 Girls also came close to winning their category in a four-way fight with two points covering the top four teams.  There were five victories, with Sophie Baggs gaining two of them, in the A string discus and B shot, while Lannahn Leary-Kiernan a made it a discus double and the 800m pairing of Rebecca O’Neill and Eleanor Bounds both won their races.  Jessica Seekings was second in her B string hurdles race, before joining with Bounds, Simbiat Salami & Emma Washbourne to place second in the relay.

In the U17 girls’ events Bethan Siddons' winning high jump mark and PB of 1.66m left her jumping in the U17 event, and she later improved her legal triple jump  PB.  Nicola Hill added two victories in the 80m hurdles and long jump and set a 300m PB, and Lauren Newton won the B discus.  A string of second places went to her discus partner Catrina McAuliffe and 200m runner Frankie Calder, while in the B strings Kathy Yoka was 100m runner up and Ingrid Deane placed second in the 1500.

For the U17 boys Cafer Gunay's U17 javelin PB of 51.20m was one of the highlights and he was supported well by U15 Louis Devine who stepped up in style to launch the u17 spear beyond 40m to take B honours.  Vince Lazaro scooped a jumps double with a good long jump victory before returning to win the triple jump in a new career best.  B string full points went to Grant Twist, who shaved 1-100^th of a second off his 800m PB to win the B race, and Daniel Loynes in the 100m hurdles.  Runners up points went to Matt Bloy (800m A) , Rob Jones (1500m B), and Joseph Ramie (long jump B) but the team could only finish fourth as the strong Basildon squad ran out easy winners.

The U15 boys were second in their competition, thanks to a good all-round showing.  English Schools javelin medallist Georgie Bean provided the only A string maximum, with his throwing partner Bradley Burr’s PB winning the B.  Michael Jones won two B events, romping home in the 800m B with a new PB, and taking the discus B for good measure. In the A discus rapidly-improving Jordan Jackson added 7 metres to his PB placing third.  Good points came from the sprints as Scott Daws was a solid second in both 100m & 200m with Jordan Brown similarly placed in the B 100m. His namesake Simon Brown lost out narrowly in the last few strides of the 800m A, finishing second.

The U15 girls had win doubles in both shot & discus, with Sam Hill winning the A shot & B discus, with her partners Kike Oniwinde (shot – PB) & Becky Luck (discus) taking full points too. The other highlights came from the strong 1500m pairing of Zoey Littlechild & Jennifer Holland who were both second in their strings.