Round 3
We always knew the YDL would be a tough league for Macclesfield with some of the Northern region’s top clubs participating, but a good turnout of more than 30 athletes at the round 3 home fixture on 3 July enabled Macclesfield to secure 5th place overall in this round moving up from 7th in the first two rounds. Many of the new U13s competed for the first time at this match (see U13G report below from team manager Jane). Tristan Lamprecht (U13B), as in previous rounds, was a clear winner in the javelin with a throw of 36.67 and also secured a win in the hurdles. Bobby Tomlinson and Jake Ireland again had brilliant runs in the 1200m winning the A and B string events. Full results are here.
U13G
It was absolutely fantastic to have a squad of 16 girls taking part for the YDL home fixture, some of whom we welcomed to competitions for the first time. As always, the team spirit among the girls was superb because they all supported and encouraged one another and we had some excellent results. In the sprints, Abbie, Yasmin, Tanvi and Sophie M all brought out the speed needed to run the 75m distance and raced well. Amy and Isla did the 150m and achieved new PB’s, both finishing in exactly the same time of 23.8 seconds. In the longer distances, Sureya and Lara took on the challenge of 1200m, against tough competition, and still crossed the finishing line smiling. In the 800m, Leena secured third place with a strong finish, achieving a new PB, and Annabel and Isabelle, both representing the club for the first time this season, also picked up very good results. Lara, Tanvi, Holly and Eve all tried new events this time round, giving the hurdles and shot put a go respectively. All four girls made a promising start to these events and we look forward to seeing how much they can build on this in the future. In the high jump, Sureya and Jess cleared the bar at 1:15m which was good to see. In the long jump, Sophie Pilkington finished in second place overall with an incredible jump of 4:03m, and only narrowly missed top spot by a cm!!! Likewise Evie Clarke dominated the javelin with a whopping throw of just under 23 metres, putting her well ahead of the rest of the field and earning her a well-deserved first place. We finished the afternoon with a thrilling victory in the 4x100m relay with excellent legs from all four girls; Sophie, Abbie, Yasmin and Leena. As team manager, I could not have been any prouder of all the girls who took part.
Round 4
Due to school holidays, Round 4 at Blackpool on 30th July saw a much depleted team turn out – very well done to all six athletes who made the journey to support and be a credit to the club. In spite of the weather conditions (very wet!), Emma Farmer equalled her PB of 1m 50cm in the high jump to take the win as well as switching to discus when the pole vault was cancelled due to the wet weather. Well done to Lola and Beth, who have competed in every round of this league, and once again gained valuable team points in the throws and long jump respectively. In the U13 boys, Eric and Joshua also showed great commitment competing in every round of the league, as did Samuel competing in 3 of the 4 rounds – each of these young athletes tried out many different events throughout the season. Full results of round 4 are here. A huge thank you also to the officials / parents who not only transported the young athletes to Blackpool, but covered our officials’ obligations – regardless of the number of athletes we still need to provide our quota of officials, so thank you again to Anne, Brian, Helen, Andrew, Jasyn and Ian.
Thank you also to our U13 and U15 team managers Anna, Simon, Amanda and Jane for encouraging so many athletes to compete across all the T&F events and to our many Officials who ensure the events can go ahead.
The next T&F event for junior athletes is the final round of the Cheshire League at Ellesmere Port on 4th September, so please note this in your diaries and let’s have a good turn-out for this final T&F league fixture of 2022.