Page 10 - Summer2014Gazette
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Junior Women: YDL Upper Age Group 2014
Normal service has been resumed – our girls bounce back in the National Final
For the first time in many finishing 4th in the 200m Maya Bruney
a year, our Junior Women and Cheriece anchoring the
embarked on the summer’s 4 x 400m team to silver medals 4x300m and wins for a hastily
league programme other than – but every silver-lining has its reorganized U17 sprint relay
as National Champions. cloud and this meant we were squad (Jazz, Lizzie, Parris and
Work to do, then, to put to be deprived of their services Toyin), following an injury
things right. This was the for most of the season. to Maya, and the U20 400m
second year of the new YDL However, as you will see, we quartet (Cheriece, Natty, Janae
and, of all the changes that are a team and, as a team, we and Jess). In the circumstances,
could have been made to take adversity in our stride! it was a solid, and encouraging,
improve the experience, the start to our campaign:
one that was imposed on us Norwich – 27th April although no official scoring
was to find an extra U17 breakdown was produced for
athlete in each track event: Thus, it was with a mixture of the women’s match, we most
well, we wouldn’t want to hope and trepidation that we probably won it. The combined
make the team manager’s ventured up the A11 for our match score, however, saw
job too easy now, would we? first fixture. True to form, the us finish a disconcerting 4th:
Perhaps that actually played throws didn’t start (or finish) early days, but if we can’t make
to our strengths, but it didn’t well: apart from Anna Barnett it to the Finals, we don’t get
always seem to be the case! in the U17, who battled away the chance to win that title
With a welcome influx of determinedly all season, we back. Food for thought!
middle distance runners struggled and went entirely
from the lower age group, unrepresented in the U20 Norman Park – 1st June
our main concerns centred hammer. But, fortunately, Our home match and things
on the throws, where we these proved to be relatively were certainly looking more
had, for a number of reasons, minor setbacks on a day which positive, with throwers
lost the core of our squad, saw everyone, not for the first emerging from retirement
and covering these events or the last time, help out as (albeit briefly). Missing both
was to remain a challenge they could. The icing on the Dina and Shannon, the
throughout the season. On cake came in the form of A&B individual sprints were a
the (very) bright side, we were string wins in the U20 100 challenge, but Viv stepped up
destined to have the honour and 200 (Dina & Viv), 1500 (winning the 200 and 2nd in
of three of our number (Niamh and Anna Myers) the 100 – a feat replicated by
achieving selection for the and TJ (Kerri and Toyin) and Jazz in the U17) and others
World Junior Championships further wins from Janae (B
in Eugene, Oregon in July 800), Jess (A 3000 and U17A
– and how well they all ran: 1500), Kerri (A LJ), Jazz (U17B
Dina winning the 100m (so 100 and A 300), Charlotte
that, if only for about half (U17B 800), Isabella (A 300H)
an hour, we had the reigning and Jamiyla (U17 HJ). Despite
male and female World Junior a minor hiccough in the U20
100m champions!), Shannon sprint relay (DQ – an early
reminder of the cardinal rule
of relay running: GTBR!), we
ended strongly with 2nd in the
