The final round of the Heart of England Athletics League Division 3 took place recently at Amber Valley. This was a match rescheduled from earlier in the season. The short notice of the change of fixture and the holiday season inevitably took its toll on turnout. But Bicester AC had a good spread of athletes throughout the events and finished 3rd on the day. Bicester’s female team were overall 2nd with 2nd team places for the under 16 girls and under 18 women.
Bicester’s under 18 women’s team notched up 5 A and B string wins out of 6. There was a double first in both of the sprints. Georgia Bower won the 100m A string clocking 13.4secs with teammate Grace Jarvey taking the B event (14.3secs). The same duo were successful in the 200m with Bower taking the A string in 28.3secs and Jarvey the B string in 30.6secs. Bower’s strongest performance was in the long jump where she won the A string with an EA PB level 5 jump of 4.89m with Jarvey finishing 2nd in the B event (3.88m).
Bicester’s under 16 girls team found A string wins somewhat elusive but a string of consistently high placings secured them 2nd team spot. Lily Childs ran a superb 80m hurdles taking 2nd place in the same time as the winner. Her effort of 13.3secs was a new personal best and an EA PB level 6 time. She was also 2nd in the A 100m (14.4secs) and 3rd in the A 200m where her time of 29.6secs was an EA PB level 5 time. There was a runner up spot for Erin Griffiths in the A long jump (3.62m) and her other efforts included a 3rd place in the javelin (15.7m). Grace Fulcher putted over 7 metres again to finish 3rd in the shot (7.04m) and she was also runner up in the A 1500 metres (6mins 50.5secs). Bicester’s one win, A or B, came in the B string 300m through Maya Korn who clocked 51.3secs. The quartet of Fulcher, Childs, Griffiths and Korn teamed up for 2nd place in the 4 by100 metre relay (58.5secs).
Bicester’s under 14 boys team performed well for 3rd place. Star performer on the day was Oliver Jarvey who completed a trio of wins in both of the sprints and long jump. Jarvey produced an EA PB level 6 mark of 4.85m to take the long jump. He also produced an EA PB level 5 mark of 27.0secs to take the 200m and set a new best and EA PB level 5 mark of 13.2secs to win the 100m. Jack Lander-Farrow set two new bests in taking 3rd place in the A 800m (2mins 41.1secs) and 3rd in the A javelin (17.3m). He also won the B string long jump with a leap of 3.60m. Jake Hill completed a brace of wins in the B string sprints which include a new best in the 200m (29.7secs) as well as winning the B 100m (14.4secs). And Brendan Kelly’s efforts included a 3rd in the B string javelin (12.80m). The quartet of Jarvey, Hill, Lander-Farrow and Kelly teamed up for a win in the 4 by 100m metre relay (58.7secs).
Django La Porte made a welcome appearance in the under 18/20 sprints. He did not have to be at his best to secure a sprint win double with an EA PB level 6 time of 11.3secs in the 100m and 23.7secs in the 200m.
Theodore Simms was in cracking form in the under 12 boy’s quad event. He produced a superb win in the 150m with a 22.1secs clocking in his first attempt at the distance. Simms’s other efforts included a 2nd in the A long jump (3.62m) with teammate Alex Kelly winning the B string (3.05m).
Bicester AC’s Josie Harrell set two new bests in the under 12 girl’s quad event. She finished 3rd in the A string 75metres in a new best of 12.3secs and also took 3rd in the A string howler with a new best mark of 18.47m. Eva Brunt was not far off her best in taking 3rd in the A string 600m (2mins 14.0secs). Lorelei Whelan finished runner up in the B string 600m (2mins 18.4secs) and long jump (3.17m) as well as placing 4th in the A string 150m (25.5secs) in her first attempt at the distance. And Ruby Maxwell’s efforts included a runner up spot in the B string howler (15.50secs).
The under 14 girls performed well finishing 3rd in their team competition. There was a win for Ruby Majonga in the A 100m (14.4secs). She also finished runner up in both the A 200m (30.7secs) and the A long jump (3.54m). Hannah Parsons was 2nd in both the A 800m (2mins 51.1secs) and A javelin (16.50m). Parsons also won the B 200m clocking 31.4secs. And Olivia Maxwell produced a good leap of 3.32m for 2nd in the B long jump and ran a season’s best of 2mins 57.2secs to take 2nd in the B 800m.
In what was a change of fortunes Bicester’s under 16 boys team finished 4th in their team competition. There was a double first for Bicester in the 1500 metres with Alex Collins winning the A string with an EA PB level 5 time of 4mins 34.2secs and Cameron Waters the B event (5mins 00.1secs). Waters also set a new best in the shot with a putt of 8.65m which was good enough for 3rd in the A event. And Timi Alo was in good form in the sprints with 2nd place in the A 100m (12.4secs) and equalling his best in finishing 3rd in the A 200m (25.7secs).