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Oxford City Athletic Club

I’ve been asked to write a report for last Sunday’s match. Clearly no one warned Anett that I specialize in novels, not short stories (tee hee).

 

What can I say, the first League meeting of the season was a bit of a triumph for Oxford! To start off with, a huge “well done” to all those athletes who competed for the very first time. The Oxford City QuadKids prevailed, scoring 1,500 to top the leader board, nearly 200 points ahead of Basingstoke, their nearest rival. Likewise, the boys took top spot with a score of 888. It was a very close run for the girls, with the top three clubs neck-in-neck. In the end, the Oxford City girls placed third – a mere thirteen points (!) behind the leader. We’ll get ’em next time, girls!

 

It’s worth mentioning that while the girls may not have come out on top at the meet, where they really did shine was in the achievement of Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) standards. AAA standards recognize performances across the age groups and across the various events. A G1 standard denotes those in the top 7.5% of the country; G2 represents the top 15%; G3 the top 30%; and G4 the top 65%. Nine of our girls achieved AAA standards at the meet on Sunday, and three athletes achieved standards in more than one event. (Congratulations to Esme Duncan, Florence Wootten and Lily Martin). This is a fantastic achievement!

 

Of the clubs competing, our female athletes topped the tallies, achieving twelve AAA standards (Basingstoke was behind us with nine). Two of our very talented athletes – Esme Duncan and Lily Martin – achieved G1 standards, the highest achievable standard one can aim for. Esme’s result currently puts her in the top ten on the Power of 10, and Lily is currently sitting in the top five!

 

Looks like you’ve got some catching up to do, boys, though Hector Tuncer is on the case. Hector achieved a G4 standard in his U13 75mH race. He’ll be looking for others to join him after the next League meet, I’m sure.

 

AAA Standards Summary, G1 standards in blue

 

U13	75mH	Hector Tuncer	14.80	G4
U13	100m	Esme Duncan	14.40	G4
U13	200m	Esme Duncan	28.10	G1
U13	1200m	Sylvia Kentish	4.11.00	G4
U13	High Jump	Miliyana Miles	1.31m	G3
U13	Discus	Eve Walker	15.13m	G4
U15	100m	Florence Wootten	13.00	G3
U15	75mH	Florence Wootten	12.50	G3
U15	800m	Isabella Haines-Gray	2.29.40	G4
U17	800m	Tamsin Tewson	2.23.90	G4
U17	High Jump	Venetia Mahony	1.50m	G4
U17	Shot Put	Lily Martin	12.09m	G1
U17	Discus	Lily Martin	36.23m	G1

 

A quick look at some of the other performances:

 

QuadKids up first.

 

For those of you who didn’t compete as QuadKids yourselves, these small, but mighty, multi-eventing kidos lay it all down on the track — and in the field — on the day. If we could somehow harness their great stamina, the UK’s household energy needs would be sorted in an instant! By the end of the day, the kids have done it all: sprinting 75m, long jumping, running 600m, and tossing the whistling vortex. 

 

Kicking off the League season, our top scorers for the girls were Tacita Kentish, Grace McCulloch and Hester Pinnell, with Tacita placing third overall, out of all the U11 girls competing. For the boys, we had Michael Emmanuel in top spot, followed by Angelo Jones, and then Dylan Healy. Michael and Angelo were one-two in the overall rankings. Alaric Tuncer had a howlingly good day too, tossing the vortex nearly 30m. Well done boys!

 

In terms of the older athletes: a special thank you to Mark Pitt’s middle distance crew who, like the QuadKids, knocked the very concept of ‘event specialization’ out of the park by having a go at events that might not be deemed their usual area of expertise. And what success they had!

 

Well done to Euan Lewis, whose race distances usually span 800m to 3000m, but who left off a ‘0’ to try out the 300m, before heading off to the field to compete in the long jump and shot put. Likewise, Sylvie Kentish. Sylvie consistently brings home the gold in her middle distance events, but this time also took the prize in shot put. Robert Charlton competed in the 400m and did shot, and or course Payton Carter – never one to be pigeon-holed and placed in a single event at League meets – spread her wings wide, participating in the shot, the javelin, the 300m AND the 4x100m relay. Strong performances in all for Payton, who also managed to spend a little time revising for GCSE exams in her tent … or did she? (smile)

 

Seems like the strength training is really paying off, Mark – the infamous battle ropes certainly produced athletes who were ready to battle!

 

Alongside the QuadKids, Mark’s crew have set an example for all of us. The League meetings really are the perfect opportunity to get out there and try something you’ve never tried before – and just have fun! 

 

Well done to Hector Tuncer who pulled off great performances in the U13 boys 600m, the hurdles and the long jump. Equally, to Tamsin Tewson (800m) and Matilda Crown (1500m), both of whom triumphed in their events and were just outside their PBs in very windy conditions. Amelie Lorimer ran a very good 800m. William Potts and Peter Fleming were one-two (time-wise) in the U15 boys 800m, and Isaac Green won the U17 1500m and was just outside his PB. Isabella Haines-Gray ran a spectacular 300m in 46s, before extending her distance and taking silver in the U15 800m. The U15 1500m was a hotly contested race between Newbury and Oxford City and Emily Channon ran incredibly well.

 

Of course, I’m always going to be slightly biased, but there were some pretty stellar performances on the high jump apron and in the sand pits on Sunday, too. Special mention goes to the U13 girls who were leaps and bounds above the competition in the high jump. Well done to Miliyana Miles who was flying high on the day and soared to an easy victory at 1.31m. Also, congrats to Lucy White who performed brilliantly in both the long jump and the high jump. It was great to have Venetia Mahony back, and she casually cleared 1.50m to win the U17 girls high jump — can’t wait to see her season unfold! Remie Dorling-Mason was back in full swing: new spikes, new season. Well done to Libby Brown who competed for the first time in the U15 category and who oozed confidence at her first meet. Also, a huge well done to Ben Straughan for some solid jumping in the U17 boy’s high jump. We’re going after an extra 10cm next meet, Ben – it’s there for the taking! Congrats to Maya Roach and Eden-Mai Giles Harris who leapt to new PBs in the long jump, despite having done very little (read: almost nil!) training for the event recently. Also, Ellen Walker-Smith put in a very solid performance in the long jump, surpassing her previous PB. It was wonderful to see Ellen’s look of frustration change instantly to a smile. Albert Wootten won the U17 boys LJ and was a mere 5 cm off his PB, but … “hello, officials …?” – what was up with that mis-measured jump?!? A missed opportunity for sure as we could have recorded a new Olympic record at the meet, or a new PB at the very least!?! 

 

Sprint-wise … I’ve already mentioned Esme Duncan’s blindingly quick times in the U13 100m and 200m. In a similar vein, the U17 boys welcomed back Magnus Paulini-Torrance, who ran like the wind in the 100m and 200m, before joining forces with Albert, Ben and Robert, valiantly bringing home the baton for gold in the 4x100m relay.

 

In the throws … It was a win, win, WIN situation for Eve Walker who came top of the leader board in not one, not two, but ALL THREE of the U13 throws: discus, javelin and shot, setting sizeable PBs in each. Brilliant job, Eve – you’re a throwing superstar! And of course our U17 throwing superstar, Lily Martin, blew away the competition in the discus and shot, also setting new PBs. Well done Lily: warm weather training definitely paid off, and I can’t wait to hear the results when it’s ‘hammer time’! Thanks also to the Bennetts (Bronte and Adam) for boosting our point totals in the throws, and congrats to Finn Healey who topped the leader board in the U13 javelin with a toss just under 20m.

 

Not to be forgotten are those who act as the support team on the day — the ones shouting encouragement from the sidelines. Here, special mention needs to be made of both the parents and the team managers, but also of Chloe’s wonderful dog, Monty! Always a crowd pleaser who raises everyone’s spirits, what would an athletics meet be without Monty?!? I also want to zero in on Joyce Ligeti-Pretorius and Albert Wootten. These two are always ‘track side’ to lend a helping hand, assisting the officials, helping the younger athletes, and assisting and encouraging their friends. No job is too big and no job is too small for these two, and they take their role seriously, but always with a smile. Don’t ever underestimate how valuable your help and words of encouragement are, you two! And well done for tossing a PB in the javelin, Joyce – with a totally non-functional ankle!

 

And last but not least, I wrap up this summary by mentioning a performance that I think was so awe-inspiring it deserves the ‘last hurrah’. Florence Wootten laid down a spectacular time in her hurdles race on Sunday, knocking a full second off her previous PB. She then topped it off with a new PB in the 100m (again, shattering her previous time by a whopping .64 seconds). And as though this – and achieving two AAA standards – just wasn’t quite enough for one day, she opted to match her PB in the long jump, too. In Canada, we call this a ‘Hat Trick’. Well done Florence! You done good, girl!

 

Bring on the next league meet, folks. See you Sunday! 

Jennifer Cottrill