August

Outdoor Season Continues Track & Field competition starts to wind down with the last YDL league match of the season.

DOUBLE SELECTION DELIGHT FOR SPRINT HURDLERS! Jess Hunter put her Commonwealth selection disappointment behind her by being selected as part of the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team for the multi-sport European Championships taking place in Munich between 11th – 21st August. Jess went on to win her heat in one of the fastest times of the year, making it to the semi-finals. Unfortunately Jess hit a hurdle in the semi-final which impacted her race. Jess's training partner Marli Jessop (both coached by Scott Grace) qualified for the World Junior Championships taking place in Cali, Columbia from 1st – 6th August. Marli was ranked 8th in the competition so she had a good chance of making the final. Marli had two great runs in the heats and semi-finals, narrowly missing out on the final.

WATFORD OPEN MEETINGS 10th August Woody Day was again competing at a Watford Open, returning to the 800m event, this time with a 2mins 18.11secs clocking. U17 athlete Lucy Cuthbert joined him by running 2mins 46.46secs for the 2 lap event. 24th August Lucy kept the middle distance theme going at the next Watford Open by running the 1500m and coming away with 5mins 55.54secs to her name.

EUROPEAN TRANSPLANT & DIALYSIS GAMES At the tail end of August, VoAAC athlete Trevor Lynch made the short journey across to Oxford to take part in the European Transplant & Dialysis Games with the Athletics events taking place at Radley College. For a bit of background on the event – The Games comprise a week of multi-sport competition amongst solid organ transplant recipients and kidney dialysis patients from over 25 countries across Europe (Trevor has received two bone marrow transplants to treat lymphoma). The event is similar to the Paralympics Games or Invictus Games, and had over 400 competitors attending in Oxford.

Trevor, competing for Ireland, performed brilliantly in the Vet50 category and he became a double European silver medallist! He competed in three events across the week and took silver in the 800m and 1500m and he was just outside of the medals in the 5k as he finished 4th. Trevor’s endeavours helped his Ireland team to 6th in the medal table out of 26 countries.

Trevor said of his campaign, “I did much better than I expected, after being injured for much of the year! The thrill of competition encouraged me to push hard! But, more than anything, this event increases the profile of organ donation and how it can save lives”

UPPER YDL MATCH 4 - 7TH AUGUST – STEVENAGE With promotion almost within their grasp, a holiday depleted VoAAC team travelled to Stevenage for the final league match of the season. The team did not disappoint and won 14 events on the day. In the U20 men there were wins for Christian Choy (100m b-string) and Alastair Walls (400m a-string.) The quartet of Christian, Alastair, Quinlan Bartlett and Luca Toth claimed the victory in the 4x100m relay. U17 men wins went the way of Woody Day (1500m a-string), Thomas Babb (High Jump b-string), Ryan Ryder (Shot Put b-string) and Ben Wellman (Discus b-string.) The U17 women gained the team a fantastic total with 7 wins between them. There was a double victory in the 100m for Ohuninioluwa Murele (a-string) and Kianna De Mesa (b-string.) Kianna also won the b-string Javelin. Olivia London had two wins on the day in the 80m Hurdles (a-string) and in the Long Jump (a-string) where she also leapt to a PB. Lucy Cuthbert completed the victories for the Vale with wins in the 1500m Steeplechase (a-string) and the Long Jump (b-string.) These results meant that the Vale not only gained promotion but won the match on the day! A superb promotion for the team which is well deserved. Special thanks to team manager Pat Card, Rebecca London, Paul Mabey and parents who came along to matches and of course the athletes who put in the hard work to finish 2nd in the table and achieve promotion!

U20 MEN

100m

A 2nd Quinlan Bartlett – 12.10s (-0.9) B 1st Christian Choy – 12.15s (-0.9)

200m

A 2nd Luca Toth (U17) – 24.11s B 2nd Quinlan Bartlett – 24.15s

400m

A 1st Alastair Walls – 51.23s

Long Jump

A 2nd Quinlan Bartlett – 5.99m

Shot Put

A 4th Christian Choy – 6.56m (PB)

Javelin

A 5th Christian Choy – 9.29m

4x100m

1st Alastair Walls, Christian Choy, Quinlan Bartlett, Luca Toth (U17) – 45.36s U17 MEN

100m

A 4th Luca Toth – 12.01s (-0.6) B 2nd Ben Wellman – 13.87s (-1.2)

200m

A 3rd Adam Ankers – 24.95s B 2nd Thomas Babb – 25.24s

400m

A 3rd Ryan Ryder – 57.43s PB

800m

A 2nd Ryan Ryder – 2m 33.38s PB

1500m

A 1st Woody Day – 4m 40.64s

Long Jump

A 2nd Luca Toth – 5.73m

High Jump

A 2nd Adam Ankers – 1.55m PB B 1st Thomas Babb – 1.40m PB

Shot Put

A 2nd Adam Ankers – 7.47m PB B 1st Ryan Ryder – 6.68m PB

Discus

A 3rd Thomas Babb – 21.06m PB B 1st Ben Wellman – 13.32m PB

Javelin

A 2nd Ethan Perry – 20.83m SB B 2nd Ben Wellman – 14.37m PB

4x100m

4th Thomas Babb, Ethan Perry, Ben Wellman, Adam Ankers – 49.38s U17 WOMEN

100m

A 1st Ohuninioluwa Murele – 13.59s PB B 1st Kianna De Mesa – 14.23s

200m

A 3rd Olivia London – 28.17s

80m Hurdles

A 1st Olivia London – 12.77s

1500m Steeplechase

A 1st Lucy Cuthbert – 6m 45.08s

Long Jump

A 1st Olivia London – 4.77m PB B 1st Lucy Cuthbert – 4.33m PB

Discus

A 2nd Lucy Cuthbert – 13.11m

Javelin

A 3rd Ohuninioluwa Murele– 19.96m PB B 1st Kianna De Mesa – 15.33m SB