Derek Crookes U13 Inter-Counties Meeting 2019

By Joe, 31 July, 2019
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This year’s Inter-County Meeting took place on Saturday 27th July at Kingston. The meeting is contested by leading athletes from 13 counties across the South of England and competition was of a very high standard.  After a week of sun and heat the dismal weather forecast for Saturday did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Oxfordshire teams, though it wasn’t conducive to fast times on the track. 

Annie Jonkers got the day off to a flying start with two grade 1 performances, a PB of 4.80m in long jump was the longest leap of the day, while her 11.4 in 70m hurdles earned joint 2nd place. In a thrilling 1500m race Isabelle Martin sprinted home to a grade 1 PB of 4.49.53 and 2nd place. There were also PB’s for Bronte Bennett in shot (7.62m) and discus (21.43) and Imogen Gorrell in discus (22.09).

The Oxfordshire 4 x 100m relay team of Melissa Chapman, Zoe Allen, Imogen Gorrell and Annie Jonkers ran 54.32 the fastest time recorded on Power of 10 for the Oxfordshire U13 girls team.

The girls finished the competition in 7th place on 292.5 points, with only 12 points separating them from 4th place. 

Leo Anderson was on fine form with 2 PB’s, the first in discus and then grade 1 a leap of 5.06m secured 2nd place in long jump. Other PB’s came from Barnaby Hedges in hurdles; Richie Mack and Tom Cole in 800m; Will Shayler in 1500m, and Oscar Oweka in long jump. The duo of Ben Jackson and Henry Fletcher stepped in to fill empty slots in the shot and scored the team a very valuable 18 points.

Rounding off the afternoon in style Leo Anderson, Oscar Oweka, Barnaby Hedges and Kai Wilkinson ran 52.14 to secure 3rd place in the 4 x100m relay and break the U13 county record set in 2010.

The boys team finished in 8th place with 272 points (almost 50 points more than 2018) and just 0.5 off 7th position.

Both boys and girls teams boasted many athletes wearing county vests for the first time, many of them from the lower year of the U13 age group, which bodes well for next year. They worked well as a team, agreed to take on unfamiliar events, were polite, cheerful and a credit to their clubs and county.

Thanks to all the parents who supported and helped out, to Carl Pinder who coached the relay teams and to Surrey Athletics who hosted the event.

Sam
Team Manager, 2019

U13 Boys Team
Radley: Henry Fletcher; Kai Wilkinson; Tom Cole
Gt Milton: Barnaby Hedges
Witney Road Runners: Oscar Oweka; William Shayler
Banbury Harriers: Leo Anderson; Richie Mack
Oxford City: Connor Legg, Henry Myers; Ben Jackson; Julian Laird

U13 Girls Team
Abingdon AC: Evey Powell and Isabelle Martin
Team Kennet: Zoe Allen
Oxford City:  Imogen Gorrell, Isabella Haines-Gray, Payton Carter, Alanna O’Neill, Ellen Walker-Smith, Bronte Bennett
Reading/Oxford: Annie Jonkers, Charlotte Ashby
Radley: Melissa Chapman