Oxfordshire Junior League Match 2, 2019
Published: 31 August 2019
Banbury in August was once again cold and windy and while the strong tail wind aided some of the sprint times it made conditions less than ideal for the longer races and field events. The holiday season being in full swing also meant that athlete numbers were seriously depleted
A tiny but talented team of U13’s competed in a cold, wet and blustery Banbury. Team captain Payton Carter demonstrated her versatility with victories in A string javelin and B string 1500m, as well as 2nd place in A string hurdles. Evie Paton ran a good 100m PB and then tried her hand at shot put where she gained valuable points. Joining her in a shot debut was a relative new comer to the team, Ruth Vunivalu, who ran PB’s in both the 100m and 200m, winning the B string with ease. Izzie Haines-Gray was on excellent form with a convincing win in the 1500m, a solid long jump and a PB in the 200m. The quartet topped it all off with a really smooth relay finishing in second place. The girls ended the match in a really creditable joint 4th place, meaning that the Oxford City U13’s are 2nd in the league just half a point behind the 3 leading teams.
The U13 boys were also reduced to a team of just five athletes, but they gave it their all and finished the match in 6th place. Euan Lewis scored PB’s in shot and 800m; Julian Laird battled the wind in the 1500m to come a close 2nd in the A string; William Potts ran a PB in the 200m; Maxwell Rogers got a PB in the 100m and Max Bell ran a 200m PB.
Even with a few gaps in their team the U15 girls put in a strong performance to finish the match in second place. Charlotte Morris ran well to claim wins in A string 100m and 300m; Libbie Blackstock’s PB in the 100m gave her 1st place in the B string; Ellen Bruce continues her impressive season with 1st place in the 200m A string and 75m hurdles A string. The U15 throwers were also on good form; Lily Martin won both discus and shot A string; Maisie Kavanagh won the A string javelin; Alice Millar won the B string in both discus and javelin, where she threw a PB and Emilia Howe threw a javelin PB. The girls retain their place at the top of the league with one match to go.
We only had a small team of U15 boys, but there were some great performances and lots of PBs. In the end we came second by one point to Banbury, so are level with them at the top of the league with one match to go. AAA Standards were achieved by Scott Jones (100m, Grade 2; 200m, Grade 4), Otis Koch-O’Rorke (Discus, Grade 4) and Jonathan Davies (Discus, Grade 4). There were new PBs for Nolu Omotayo (long jump) and Fallou Faye (high jump and 100m) and I still don’t know how Freddie Jones managed to come straight off a 1500m into the middle of a high jump competition and get close to his PB and finish 4th in the A string!
The U17 boys continued their unbeaten season with a big victory over second placed Abingdon. Despite many athletes being away, everyone was willing to fill in events to earn points for the team and we saw strong performances across the board. AAA Standards were achieved by Ben Ince (200m (grade 4), high jump (grade 3)) and Ben Davies (1500m (grade 4)). There were also new PBs for everyone else – Adam Davenport (100mH, 200m, javelin), Fionn Leaney (100m, 100mH, discus), James Haidar (100m, shot), Matthew Stacey (high jump) and Drew Hogger (400m)!
The U17W team was seriously depleted with just 2 athletes and finishing in 4th place. Eugenia Mutero continued her progress in the sprints with a PB of 12.7.
Overall Oxford City ended the match in third place behind a strong Team Kennet squad and second place Radley. City are still top of the league, with all to play for in the final match.
Thanks to Banbury Harriers for hosting, to Ray Finch for officiating and to the team of parent helpers.
