The first round of the Oxfordshire Young Athletes League took place recently at a warm Horspath. Bicester had a good contingent of athletes with several athletes taking part in their first track and field competition and others moving up in a age groups and attempting events for the first time. As a result there were over 100 Bicester personal bests set but many of these were from first time athletes.
Bicester’s under 17 women’s team finished a very competitive second in their team competition, only 4 points off first place, the highlight of which was a win and new club record in the 4 by 100 relay of 54.7secs set by the quartet of Georgia Bower, Grace Jarvey, Olivia Naidu-Johnson and Yasmine Shephard. This knocked 3 seconds off the old record that had stood since 2018. The same quartet also hold the under 15 club record in the same event. Individual wins were hard to come by but Yasmine Sheppard produced an impressive 19.54m throw to win the javelin in what was a new best. Georgia Bower set a new best in wining the B shot (7.04m) and produced a season’s best in finishing 2nd in the A 100m (13.3secs). She was also runner up in the long jump (4.47m). There was also a win in the B javelin for Olivia Naidu-Johnson (11.97m) and third places for Grace Jarvey in the A 300m (47.7sec) and Jessica Shepherd, who ran her first ever sub 3 minute 800m in clocking 2mins 59.0secs.
Bicester’s under 15 boys performed well to finish 4th in their team competition and every Bicester individual performance was a personal best. Despite entering a new age group, Cyrus Ariana powered to an impressive win in the A 300m with an EA PB level 6 run of 40.6secs. Harry Cruickshank has made a good start to the season and he bettered his 1500m metre best further with 5th place and 5mins 1.9secs. However Cruickshank proved to be something of a surprise package competing in his first ever javelin where he finished 3rd with a promising throw of 22.45m. Finlay Harrell threw a 4kg shot for the first time and won the B shot with 5.56m. Theo Cogan enjoyed a good competition and his efforts included new bests in the long jump (4.13m) where he was 3rd and 100m (13.6secs). Jayden Beadle produced a trio of bests which included a 3.79m mark in the long jump. And Emeras Mohandes, competing in his first ever track and field meet gained the team valuable points in three events which included a 6mins 47.8secs run in the 1500 metres.
Lily Childs made a welcome return to track and field action in the under 15 girl’s competition and was in impressive form in the sprints. Childs has only just moved up to the under 15 age group and was an impressive 2nd in the A 200m with a new best and EA PB level 6 clocking of 28.6secs. Childs also won the B 100m clocking a new best of 13.9secs. Child’s efforts helped the Bicester under 15 girl’s team into 4th place. Aaliyah Beadle finished a good 3rd in the long jump (4.36m) as well as setting a new best in the shot finishing 4th (4.36m). Maya Korn just missed out on breaking the 6minuite barrier in the 1500 metre but still set a new best in finishing 6th (6mins 00.8secs) with teammate Meagan Surman 2nd in the B string (6mins 00.9secs). Grace Fulcher was 5th in her first ever javelin (11m) and filled the same slot in the discus (11.36m). And Liv Babister produced her best ever jump in the non scoring long jump with 3.73m.
Dotty Conlon finished an impressive overall 13th out of the 69 competing athletes in the under 11 quad’s competition. Competing in only her 2nd ever quad competition Conlon set a clean sweep of personal bests which included a 3.15m long jump and an 2mins 18.3secs clocking in the 600m. Next in for Bicester was Isla-grace Cruikshank in 23rd place which included a new best in the 75m (13.1secs) and howler (15.42m) . Lorelei Whelan finished 35th which included a new best of 2.85m in the long jump. Other Bicester placings were Eva Thompson 40th, Evie Childs 44th, Ivy Balch 45th, Amira Thompson 55th, Cherry Bartholomew 56th, Annabel Gallacher 57th, Isabelle Bryan 60th, Ruby Maxwell 63rd and Emma Surman 66th. Sienna Scott Haynes, in her first competitive quad competition was overall 5th in the under 9 competition.
Bicester AC’s under 13 boys finished a competitive 4th in their team competition. There was a brilliant win in the 4 by 100m relay for the quartet of Levi Fulcher, Stanley Conlon, Charlie Simpson and Oliver Jarvey with a winning time of 59.5secs. Oliver Jarvey was in great form in the long jump finishing 2nd with new best and EA PB level 5 mark of 4.07m. Charlie Simpson performed creditably in new events with 5th in the A 1500 metres (5mins 41.4secs) and 4th in the discus (12.15m) but he was a winner in the more familiar B 200m with a new best clocking of 31.2secs. There was also a win in the B discus for Shay Gallager (10.19m). Levi Fulcher produced a promising first effort for 5th in the javelin (15.12m). Stanley Conlon, competing in his first track and field fixture, was 7th in the A 800m (3mins 14.6secs) with fellow track and field debutant Lucius Mohandes 4th in the B event (3mins 15.3secs). Brendan Kelly showed promise in the non scoring discus throwing 11.03m. And Samuel Wilson set a new best of 3.27m in the non scoring long jump.
Theodore Simms finished in overall 16th out of the 66 competitors in the under 11 boy’s quad competition. Simms set a new best in the 600m (2mins 13.9secs) and produced a good 3.20m leap in the long jump. Charlie Dixon, in his first competition, threw a colossal 25.29m in the howler placing 35th in the overall competition. Jaxon Fabri, also in his first competition, was next in for Bicester in 42nd which included a 19.22m howler. Other Bicester placings were Franek Markiecizw in 43rd, Reece Dunwell in 50th which included a 12.5secs in the 75m, Alex Kelly in 52nd and Oliver Kelly in 66th. Sam Dipple, in his first competitive quad competition was overall 11th in the under 9 competition.
The under 13 girls were 6th in their team competition. There was a hugely promsing first 1500m metre run from Hannah Parsons who was 4th in the A event clocking a sub 6 minute run (5mins 58.0secs). Olivia Maxwell set a new best in finishing 5th in the long jump (3.22m). Ruby Majonga set a new best in finishing 6th in the A 200m (31.1secs). And Charlotte Waton competed in three events on what was her competitive track and field debut and this included a 7.77m throw in the discus.
George Hart was Bicester’s sole competitor in the under 17 men’s competition and his one event was a winning one crossing the line first in the 1500 metres (4mins 43.3secs).