Young Waveney Valley Athletic Club athletes were among around 100 athletes aged between 8 and 15 who took part in the 23rd Norfolk Sportshall Championships at the UEA Sporkspark on Saturday. Events included the shot put, javelin, chest push, long, triple and vertical jumps, speedbounce, sprints and longer runs.
Waveney had over 20 athletes competing against other athletes from clubs over Norfolk. There were some great performances from the Waveney athletes, many of whom achieved PB’s, and qualified through the race heats for the finals. In addition, medals were won by:
Jake Block (U15), bronze – shot put
Harriet Gooch and Mia (U13s), bronze – speedbounce
Harriet Lyman (U13), bronze – 4 lap
Jamie Besford (U13), bronze – 4 lap
Brooke Oram (U11), silver – javelin
Leon Cousins (U13), silver – long jump
Dylan Davies (U13), silver – shot
Theo Hudson (U11), silver – chest push
Hannah Mayne (U13), gold – long jump, triple jump and vertical jump, silver – 2 lap
Following the Sportshall league and the championship, Hannah Mayne, Leon Cousins, Dylan Davies, Kieran Covill, Shamara Hammonds, Joel Burgess and Theo Hudson from Waveney Valley were confirmed as members of the Norfolk County team to compete in the Regional Sportshall competition in Hertfordshire in February, great recognition for their performances over the meetings.
Sunday then saw 2 of Waveney Valley’s youngsters compete in the Norfolk XC Championships. Competing in the U11 age group, but aged just 8 years old, Benjamin Cone and Grace Forster performed admirably against the older athletes with Grace finishing 7th out of 16 girls (but 15th out of 30 overall) with a time of 7.28 and Benjamin finishing 9th out of 14 boys (19th out of 30 overall) with a time of 7.36. The winning girl was Jessica Norkett of Thetford AC with a time of 7.04 and Finlay Spear of Bungay Black Dog for the boys in 6.34.
The previous Sunday saw Tai Elvin-Andrews competing in the Suffolk XC Championships at Ickworth Park who finished 25th out of 37 under 13 boys in a time of 14.11 – a great performance by an athlete new to XC. The winner from Ipswich Harriers was Matthew Snowden in a time of 11.52.