Bicester AC contested their final Heart of England Division League 3 track and field of the season recently at Stourport. Whilst they finished in a commendable 4th place out of the 8 competing teams with 383 points, there were some exceptional individual performances from the Bicester team. There were no less than 16 A string and 10 B string wins, with the total of 26 wins, more than that achieved in the previous two Heart of England fixtures combined. There were also two new club records set.
Bicester AC achieved something of a landmark with one of its athletes achieving the EA PB level 9 mark. Django La Porte became the first Bicester athlete to achieve the highest EA PB level since they were introduced to replace the AAA standards at the start of the last track and field season. Django La Porte has already enjoyed an extraordinary season becoming the fastest ever Bicester runner re – writing the record books on a regular basis. La Porte’s EA under 20 men’s level 9 and new club record came in the 100m where ha tantalisingly came within one tenth of a second of breaking the magic 11 second barrier for 100m. However his winning time of 11.0secs was two tenths inside his old club record and 6 tenths faster than he achieved in 2023. La Porte also won the under 17/20 men’s 200m in 23.6secs and won the B long jump with a new personal best leap of 5.54m. Longest jump of the day was from teammate Kyle Rayson who beat 5 others winning in an EA under 17 level 5 jump of 5.56m. Rayson also set a new best in finishing 2nd in the B shot putt (9.61m) as well as winning the B 100m (12.0secs). Bicester’s other competitor in the under 17/20 men’s competition, George Hart, set a trio of new bests with a big improvement in the 1500 metres (4mins 40.2secs) where he finished 2nd in the A event as well as the 200m (27.6secs) and 400m (62.4secs).
Erlgean Appiahkorang-Mensah enjoyed a superb high jump competition winning with a new best clearance of 1.58m which was an under 15 EA PB level 7 mark. This was one of a trio of wins with the others coming in the 800m, where his time of 2mins 7.0secs was not only an EA level 8 mark but just under a second below his best. He was also victorious in the shot putt where he putted over 9 metres for the first time (9.05m). Bicester’s other competitor in the under 15 boy’s competition was Finley Holliday whose efforts included a season’s best in the long jump (4.11m) for 4th in the A event.
The under 13 boy’s team put in their strongest performance of the Summer where they finished a superb 2nd in the under 13 boy’s team competition just 8 points behind winners Kidderminster who had 8 competitors compared to Bicester’s 5. Bicester’s under 13 boys achieved 6 wins out of the 9 A string events they contested and 4 wins in the 6 B events contested. Cyrus Ariana again lowered the under 13 boy’s 800m club record with another superb run clocking an EA PB level 6 time of 2mins 24.0secs. Ariana also won the A 200m with another EA PB level 6 time of 27.9secs. Ariana also won the B high jump clearing 1.20m. William Cleaver was also in unbeatable form with two A string wins in the high jump (1.25m) and the javelin where an EA level 5 mark of 25.0m. Cleaver also won the B shot (6.37m) but his putt
was surpassed by clubmate Cameron Waters who putted a new best of 6.40m in winning the A string. Waters also ran a new best in the 1500 metres where he was 2nd in 5mins 32.3secs. Finley Harrell equalled his best with 5th in the 100 metres (14.9secs) and Oliver Jarvey, who is towards the junior end of the age group, continues to impress with two B string wins in the 100m (14.3secs) and 200m (31.9secs). And the 4 by 100 metre relay team of Ariana, Jarvey, Harrell and Cleaver combined for a superb win in 57.3secs, which was not far outside of the existing club record that has existed for almost 20 years.
Bicester AC’s under 11 boys were again dominant as they won their 3rd consecutive Heart of England team competition. Once again their success was achieved with solid performances throughout the team. Although they were no A team wins on this occasion there were strong performances throughout. Levi Fulcher achieved a new best in the howler with a throw of 21.74m for 3rd place in the A event as well as jumping 3.58m for 2nd in the A long jump. Fulcher also won the B 75m equalling his 75m best with 12.2secs. Charlie Simpson was close to his best in finishing 3rd in the 600m (2mins 7.4secs) as well as finishing runner up in the A 75m (11.8secs). Simpson also took the B long jump with 3.56m. And Theodore Simms’s efforts included 2nd place in the B string howler (18.13m).
Olivia Naidu-Johnson was outstanding for Bicester in the under 15 girl’s competition coming away from the meeting with three new personal bests and each of her performances were an EA PB level 5 or above. Naidu – Johnson won a very competitive 100m beating 7 others in an EA PB level 6 time of 13.3secs. Naidu – Johnson also achieved an EA level 5 mark in finishing runner up spot in the high jump in anew best of 1.35m. Naidu – Johnson also won the B 200m in what was the fastest time of the day in 29.2secs which was an EA level 6 time. Grace Jarvey won the A 200m in 29.4secs which was an EA level 5 time. Erin Griffiths also achieved a trio of new bests with a sub 3 minute clocking in the 800m (2mins 55.7secs), 52.0secs in the 300m and 15.6secs in the 100m. And Grace Fulcher equalled her best in the shot for 3rd (5.43m). And the team of Naidu – Johnson, Fulcher, Jarvey and Griffiths combined for 2nd in the 4 by 100m relay (58.6secs). The team finished in 3rd.
Bicester’s Naomi Ejiogu made a welcome return to athletics action and showed that she had lost none of her race fitness with superb wins in the under 17 women’s 100m in an EA level 5 time of 12.0secs as well as the shot putt (8.36m). Ejiogu was also 2nd in the long jump with a season’s best of 4.58m. Maya Korn also contested a trio of events and her efforts included a marked improvement in the under 13 girl’s 1500 metres where she ran a season ‘s best of 6mins 23.9secs. There was a good team effort from the Bicester under 11 girl’s team where they finished 3rd just 5 points away from first. There was a trio of good A string performances from Hannah Parsons, who has been superbly consistent through the Summer, which included a 3rd in the howler (14.6m) 4th in the 600m (2mins 10.5secs) and 5th in the 75m (12.6secs). Olivia Maxwell produced a new best in the A long jump (2.77m) for 5th as well as winning the B 600m (2mins 13.6secs). And Ottilie Maclean, who is an under 9, finished a superb 2nd in the B howler (11.23m) as well as setting a new best in the long jump (2.14m) for 4th in the B event.