With all our teams beginning their league campaigns, albeit with modified leagues for 2021 there has been a strong start for the Stags in all the leagues.
NATIONAL ATHLETICS LEAGUE
The new National Athletics league saw the Stags win their match, however with a points total slightly less than Thames Valley Harriers who competed in a different fixture the team is lying in second place in the league. With a a total of 544 points it was a strong start for the team who, as a joint team for the first time, won the match comfortably. The team was a mixture of seniors and U20s with the youngsters making a major contribution to the result.
Individual wins in the men's team came from Muslim Habib (100m B),Ethan Hussey (800m), Jonathan Gorringe and Ed Banks (3000m SC), Tobie Watson (400mH B), Adam McMullen and Trevor Alexanderson (LJ), Rory Dwyer and Sam Brereton (HJ), jack Phipps and Rowan May (PV), Dan Cartwright and Gareth Winter (Shot), Chris Shorthouse and Joe Bloomfield (Hammer) and finally Greg Millar and Kacper Kalwarski (Javelin).
In the women's events our winner were Gina Akpe-Moses and Diani Walker (100m), Ese Okoro (400m B), Ejiro Okoro (800m), Eijiro Okoro and Ella Shirley (1500m), Meghan Beesley and Ese Okoro (400mH), Heather Paton and Anya Bates (100mH), Sharlene Walcott (LJ B), Rhianna Burrell (HJ), Lizzie Eden and Charley O'Neill (PV), Rhianna Burrell (shot), and Emma Hamplett and Olivia Jones (Javelin).
There is more to come from this team and we look forward to more success at the next match.
YDL UPPER
The YDL Upper team were faced with an uphill battle having a fixture scheduled on a bank holiday weekend, which also clashed with school holidays ,so the team was missing a lot of athletes and suffered because of these gaps. However, good performances from those that were available meant the team finished second but there is a lot more to come from this team.
Despite the overall result a great day for league athletics brought out the best in our athletes with either personal bests or season’s bests, with the star of the day U17 Sofia Zacaroli. Sofia is new to the Club and had only run one race previously, an 800m. She was unfazed by the move to 3000m and won the race in an excellent time of 10.32.2s with the next athlete some 12 seconds behind. Other wins were recorded by Nifema Ogunbase (200m B), Louise Whitehouse (shot), Amelia Kerry (javelin), Joshua Robins and Max Price (800m), Tobie Watsone and Kaielum Kerr (400mH), Lydia Cooke (HJ B), Findlay White and Finnan Robins (800m), and Remon Shepherd-Brewster (Hammer).
YDL Lower
Our youngest athletes were on show at Wyndley and many were representing the Club for the first time. They all did themselves proud winning the match so putting them at the top of the league in the early stage of the season.
As with the YDL Upper there were some excellent performances. In the sprints, Jack Wooton secured points in the 100m and then went on to win the 300m with Fletcher Cooksey taking the win in the B race. Cian McCusker won the U13 boys 100m and the B long jump. A double win was also to be seen in the U15 boys shot with Joseph Apted and Jaydon Allen-Bramble taking top spot. Ella Woods had a good win in the U15 girls HJ followed by a second place in the shot. A good points total also came from the U13 boys 1200m with Daniel Wood second in the A race and Corin Bradley winning the B race.
An extended programme for the next match will see more youngsters competing for the first time in the league and we are looking forward to seeing the future of the Club on show.