A slightly smaller than usual but no less intrepid team arrived in a cold and windy Bournemouth on Sunday. The sun may not have been shining but the sprinters certainly did, producing some very fast times throughout the day! Indeed, despite the weather, many athletes improved their positions both on the Power of 10 and Club rankings whilst racking up points for the team. There were some big PBs during the day including a 0.7s PB for Annalise Agyei-Kyem in the 150m, a 2.2s PB for Caitlin Paul in the 200m, a 3.3s PB for Joseph Dawes-Twilley in the 800m and a 4s PB for Ollie Emment in the 1500m. Other PBs included:
U13G
Emma Fisher – 75m
Annalise Agyei-Kyem – 75m
U15G
Caitlin Paul – 100m
Sally Mammen – 100m
Olivia Mensah – LJ
Amy-Lee Van Der Westhuizen – DT and JT
Catherine Blandford – HJ
U13B
Hayden Evans – 100m and 200m
U15B
Finn Punton – 200m
Jacob Gelona – 80mH
Jack Gemmell – JT and HT
Ross Hurst – DT
Luca Soave – DT
Enrique Villa-Abrille – SP
Jon Awuah – 200m
The day ended with some very exciting relays which saw the 4x100m U13G come home in 3rd, the U15G in second whilst the U15B won as did the U13B who recorded the fastest time for a Walton U13B team in 4 years! The U15G and U15B teams dominated the 4x300m relays both bringing the baton home first.
Athlete of the match goes to two of our sprinters; Hayden Evans for his heroic sprinting and another two PBs and Annalise Agyei-Kyem for her much improved PBs.
After a very busy athletics calendar so far, the team showed great spirit and character to pull together for a well-deserved second place behind the home team (subject to verification)
A huge thank you goes to the officials, especially Jo Gelona who braved the cold as our track judge all day. Thank you, too, to Andrew, the team captains, the parents and the athletes for another successful day. Thank you, also, to all those athletes who did an event for a point, it really does make all the difference. A special thanks to those athletes who stepped in to do events at the last minute, this is what Walton AC is all about – team work!
As this is my last match as TM, I’d like to personally thank all the parents, officials, coaches and athletes for all their help and support over the last three years, you have been amazing and it has been a pleasure watching so many talented athletes achieve so many fantastic results. I wish you all the best of luck for the final match of the season and to Emma Emment who is taking over the role of TM!
Kathryn Paul