The junior runners of Sidmouth Running Club made their way to the track at Yeovil last Sunday for the second fixture in the South West Athletics League.

The junior runners of Sidmouth Running Club made their way to the track at Yeovil last Sunday for the second fixture in the South West Athletics League. Heading east on the coach the weather looked ominous but when we arrived the conditions were ok for athletics.The hurdles events always start the meeting, and Kit Grierson took on the 80m. Despite initial concerns about the height of the jumps, he successfully cleared all hurdles and competed against a someone who broke the championship record. On the field, the younger runners in the team were competing for the first time in the shot. Ashe de Sousa and Kelsie Bernard gave it their all and Jessica Jenkins came fourth with a splendid throw of 5.95m. Jade Hawkins, who was competing for the first time in Sidmouth colours, finished fourth in the high jump with a leap of 1.35m. The under-13s high jump saw Myshka Hall trying the discipline for the first time. The competition ended up being very exciting with three girls, two from other clubs and our own Jessica Jenkins, continuing to jump well as the bar was raised to a new level. Jessica eventually came second with a jump of 1.25m in a nail-biting finale. The under-17 men's triple jump competition was also close and Nathan Carpenter jumped 9.62m in a quality field. In the under-15 girls' long jump, Phoebe Davey sailed through the pit to record a fine jump of 3.55m. On the track, the distance race of the day was the 800m which requires a certain degree of discipline in not tearing round the first 400 to find that your legs have gone to jelly on the second lap. All Sidmouth's athletes judged it right, and Luke Rutter did a PB at this distance with a time of 2.40. Kit Grierson was chasing him to the line with an almost similar time. Grey Grierson had a fine race to finish fifth in 2.50. In the girls' race, Ellie Stone gave her usual gutsy performance (2.55) and Georgia Sage sprinted down the finishing straight in fine form in 3.16.The 100m sprints threw up some fine performances, notably from Jake Hawkins who may have even gone quicker if he had removed his tracksuit bottoms. But Jake did well to finish third in his race in 16.14, with Auguste Oldham not far behind in 16.66. In the girls' race, Jade Hawkins did 15.06, Kelsey Fitzgerald 15.23, Phoebe Davey 15.6 and Stef Hemsworth 16.08. A little more training will see this quartet improving their times significantly.The league require clubs to provide officials to carry out duties during the day, such as measuring jumps and raking the sand pit. Alan Hemsworth proved himself skilled in the art of raking during the under-15s long jump! Thanks to Bill Valentine, John Perratt and Colin Flood for officiating. However, when they are not doing their jobs they can compete in the Senior events. John and Colin decided to try the hammer. This involves throwing a weight on a rope as far as you can. John, who is much respected for his running achievements, failed to find the same quality in this event. He just about managed to get the hammer out of the cage! Colin, however, managed to throw it some 12m, and was strutting around saying he held the club record for the hammer! Many junior athletes watched these goings on with some degree of joviality. Good effort lads, I say. John and Colin were then joined by Bill and Jed Stone for the 400m relay. The opposition had a combined age of 97 whereas our team totalled 387 (or was it 287!) in years. Needless to say the other team roared round in less than four minutes and nearly lapped our gallant athletes! A great effort from them and our junior athletes at Yeovil track. The next fixture is in North Devon on July 6.If you would like to know more about the Junior Section of Sidmouth Running Club, then please contact Malcolm Bayer on (01404) 812186.