Sportshall Report – Super City Triumphant
Published: 17 March 2017
Sunday 12th March, and�spring like temperatures added to the atmosphere of The Park Leisure Centre, Wheatley, which was buzzing in anticipation of what would be the climax of the Sportshall season in Oxfordshire.
Junior coaching staff have done an amazing job of promoting this event and in the main this has proved successful, enabling the club to enter a full team in 3 out of a possible 5 age groups.
Sportshall wouldn�t be Sportshall without some sort of drama to report � the sort of snippet that would not be out of place on an episode of EastEnders – and this competition was no different. For those of you that were spectating I am referring to the �pink wafer� trainers, and more to the point the male athlete who was wearing them, and who went onto run a blistering one lap�our very own Gospel Kanu.
The final results for the series are as follows:
The U11 boys and girls finished 3rd out of 7 teams. There was an abundance of athletes for this age group so priority was given to ensuring an even distribution of event participation, rather than aces in their places.
The U15 boys� finished 4th and no U15 girls took part.
The U13 girls were full of hope for this season having reflected on the frustrations of last season where they struggled to field a full team. Going into the final match just two points behind the series leaders Bicester, the girls had everything to play for and they knew it was going to come right down to the wire. So with five 1st places, two 2nd places and one 3rd place at Wheatley things were looking good. But as we all suspected, everything came to rest on the final event, the four x 2 lap relay. I�m sure the organisers added to the anticipation by re-organising the running order. The determination was etched on the face of every athlete as they ran their two laps: the supporters really got behind the athletes, as they cheered, cajoled, encouraged and motivated them to run faster. The noise was deafening.
As we assembled for the final results, the wait was agonising, Banbury 3rd place, are we just going to miss out������..Bicester 2nd place. That was it �Oxford City 1st place�. The hall erupted with squeals of delight and howls of jubilation, high fives, hugs and tears as Sharon Kanu proudly received the plaque on behalf of the team and club.
This was a bitter sweet moment, as Jack Judson said farewell to Sportshall, having competed in his last ever match. Jack has proved to be a formidable competitor at both local and county level. He has consistently set himself extremely high targets, always pushing the boundaries to set new records. Again he set two PB�s: shot with a throw of 11.14 and in the 2 lap in a time of 27.3. He also successfully reclaimed the top spot for accumulating the most points for his individual events to be awarded a gold medal. Gold and silver medals were also awarded to Olivia Barton and Imigen Bowen for their individual performances in this competition.
This is also an opportune moment to congratulate the juniors, Annie Jonkers (U11), Olivia Barton and Imigen Bowen (U13) who were selected to represent Oxfordshire at the recent regional Sportshall event at Burgess Hill. This is a fantastic achievement and the event highlights performances at the very highest level. Well done girls.
Thank you to all of the athletes that have participated, their parents and loyal supporters. Team Manager Denise Shorter, junior coaches Ashley Barton, Wendy Fowler and Kerstie Judson and all of the parent volunteers who assisted with officiating. See you all again in October.
2016-17 Squad
U11 Boys
Adam O�Connor, Albert Wootten, Archie Simms, Ben Straughan, Charlie Cooper-Edwards, David Oyedoh, Fallou Faye, Gospel Kanu, Habib Aminu, Harry Richards, Jack Best, Jack Brown, Nirmat Minopoli, Thomas Cove and Zak Dawson
U11 Girls
Annie Jonkers, Bronte Bennett, Charlotte Ashby, Daisy Neal, Ellie Dawson, Florence Wootten, Holly Painton, Lauren Vermeiren, Maisee Simms, Nasrin Aminu, Nina O�Hanlon, Payton Carter, Remi Dorling-Mason and Valeria Ganzoni
U13 Boys
Rasool Aminu, Dominic Miller and Drew Hogger
U13 Girls
Eugenia Mutero, Imigen Bowen, Lily Peach, Lucy Townsend, Olivia Barton, Olivia Jones, Sharon Kanu and Sophie Hector
U15 Boys
Jack Judson and Owen Cove
