ATHLETICS: Youngsters just miss out on place in area final

Rugby & Northampton narrowly missed out on a place in the Youth Development League Area Final in the final round of the competition, but there were still performances to be proud of at the weekend event in Rugby.

Requiring a top-three finish to secure their place in July’s Final, a somewhat depleted squad could only claim fourth behind Birchfield Harriers, Marshall Milton Keynes AC and Notts AC in what was a tightly contested league campaign.

On the day, Lily Carlaw caught the eye with double delight in the U15G discus and shot put.

A throw of 28.97 metres was enough to win the former, while an 11.03m shot earned her a second individual success.

Mica Quinn took the B string win in the shot with a personal best effort of 8.88m.

There was also A and B glory in the 1500m, with Alice Bates crossing the line first in 4:57.5 to take the A, and Claudia Searle winning the B in a time of 5:04.4.

Ruby Wood (13.6) and Anna Farrow (13.4) completed the U15G showing with third-placed finishes in the 100m and 75m hurdles respectively — Farrow’s time over the hurdles a new PB.

Girls’ glory continued in the U13 age group, where Shanice Ighalo and Ona Ndefo showed their quality with impressive displays across a number of events.

Ighalo won the 150m (20.3) and the B long jump (4.29m), along with third spot in the javelin (24.56m). Ndefo led the way with a great win in the 70m hurdles (12.1) before a PB of 4.30m earned her third in the A long jump.

Alice Bennett dominated the 800m, coming home to win in 2:26.8, and the B race went the way of R&N too, when Heather Cunliffe was first over the line in 2:37.1.

Emily Langley ran a PB to take second in the 1200m, in 4:12.0, and Georgia Rosedale also set a new PB of 17.77m to clinch second in the B javelin.

The under-13 boys also put in a strong showing, with the club taking top spot in the A and B javelin events.

Sam Parsons launched a PB of 29.40m to win, while Luke Turner took the honours in the B with an effort of 22.77m.

Turner extended his success to the long jump, where another PB (4.33m) secured second, before a run of 14.2 seconds earned third place in the 75m hurdles.

There were plenty more fine efforts on the track, with Lewis Spilletts taking second in the 200m with a PB of 26.7, and third in the 100m with 13.1. Kieran Ashman was runner-up in the 800m in 2:19.7, and a run of 4:47.0 saw Arthur Tilt match that achievement in the 1500m.

In the 4x100m relay, Spilletts and Ashman were joined by Isaac Skinner-Kakitie and William Drage, combining to take first place in 53.4 seconds.

For the U15B, Josh Tutt was the club’s solitary winner, doing so in style with a personal best 32.34m to win the discus.

Noah Bennett and Stephen McKenzie added second-placed finishes, with Bennett running a 4:36.1 in the 1500m, and McKenzie second in the 300m in 40 seconds flat.

The YDL upper age group team will conclude their divisional matches at Stantonbury Stadium in Milton Keynes, defending a 100 per cent record in the competition with a place in the Area Final already secured.