There was a superb end to the season for the young athletes of Herts phoenix AC last weekend at the Jarman Park Stadium in Hemel Hempstead where they won the Eastern Young Athletes League Plate Final. Having made the final in the last qualifying position the team were determined to show that with a full complement they could perform well and so it proved to be. Winning two of the individual age categories, the U15 boys and the U17 girls, the team went on to claim the overall trophy winning the match by 14 points from Basildon.

Match scores as follows
 
Herts Phoenix         535.5
Basildon                  521.5
Dacorum & Tring     481
Ipswich                   478
Southend                431.5
St Albans               383.5
 
This was a great end to the season for the Club’s younger athletes with the Eastern Young Athletes League acting as a development ground for the Club’s new and emerging talent, giving them a first taste of inter-club competition and helping them to build confidence for the future.  Supported by some of the clubs more established athletes it was a perfect way to go into the end of season break.
 
There were many fine performances with wins in the U13 girls section coming from Mary Gough in the 1500m A string, Melissa and Natasha Hadley in the shot and hurdles, Mary Gough in the 1500m A string and a host of fine performances from the rest of the team of Megan Breen and Lizzy Parry in both 200 and 800m, Natalie Allen who equalled her personal best of 11.50s in the hurdles despite a leg injury and Hannah Nolan in the 1500m and discus.
 
The U13 boys were also well represented with wins coming from Liam Cloona and Nick Doyle in the A and B string 1500m, and a host of good performances collecting points including Jake Cable in the 800m, Discus and high Jump and also from the other team members the Jones brothers, Sam and Jamie, Callum Scutt, Charlie Manning and Daniel Betts.
 
In the U15 girls the only win came from Abbie Griffiths in the 300m A string who also recorded a fine 2nd in the 200m, but other excellent performances came from Helena page 2nd in the B 300m, Gemma Armorgie, High Jump 2nd and Hurdles 3rd, Isabella Cacciatore 100m and 200m 4th, Miriam Franklin 2nd with a personal best of 1.70m in the Pole Vault, Lizzie Bird 2nd in the 1500m A string, Sarah Miller with a hatful of points in the Shot (2nd) Discus (2nd) and javelin (3rd) and other team members Ella Lloyd, Hannah Troiano, Shannon Proctor, Katie Burr, Georgia Bennett and Helena Page all contributing to the team points haul.

The U15 Boys won their category with strong performances from Andrew Walshe who won the 400m and 800m A string races with a PB of 2.05.6s in the 800 and also took a second in the B string shot. Simon Wake won the B string 400m and recorded a huge PB of 43.64m in winning the A string javelin and also took second in the shot. Miebeka Owubolori won the B string 100 and 200m races and was 3rd in the 80mH and Richard Sackey who, despite a nasty fall in the 80mH returned to take good points in the 200m A string in 25.8s. Prince Richmand ran a fine 100m to finish a close second in 12.1s. Elsewhere the rest of the team of Jonathan Stock, Alex Cloona, Robert Hibbs, Tim Warner, George Hudson and Ed Sheppard provided strong support with the highlight being the 4x100m relay team of Walshe, Sackey, Owubolori and Richmond breaking the U15 stadium record in their final race of the day.

The under 17 Women also won their category with a number of well established athletes competing. Claire Humphries completed a clean sweep by winning the A string 80mH, 100m and 200m races whilst being well supported by Hannah Lloyd who won the B string hurdles and 100m and was 2nd in the B string High Jump.  Other first places were taken by Katie Grehan in the A string Javelin and B string Long Jump, Steph Sattin in the B string 300m and Millie Phelan in the High jump.  A number of 2nd places were taken by Jenny Hutchings (hammer), Millie Phelan (Long Jump and shot), Deborah Willis (300m), Hannah Lintott (200m B) and other points being collected by Chloe Anne Currie in the 1500m and B string Shot.  The relay team of Phelan, Willis, satin and Humphries comfortably won to wrap up a fine victory for the U17 woman.

The U17 men also had a good day with wins coming from Nathan Wake with a PB of 1:57.3s in the A string 800m and 200m B string, Tom Barfoot in the B string 800m, Ross Armorgie, with a High Jump of 1.80m and also a second in the 100mH and a PB of 11.99m in taking 3rd place in the triple jump. Richard Humphries won the hammer and B string Shot whilst Ben Montgomerie won the B string Discus as well as collecting good points in the javelin and Shot.  Nick McNaught took second in the A string 400m and B string javelin and the rest of the team of David Wilson, Adam Wooten, Matt Gibson and Tom Gough all contributed to a fine team performance.

The trophies were collected for the U17 women by Jenny Hutchings and Claire Humphries and for the U15 boys by Ed Sheppard. The whole team including managers Claire Marsh (Girls) and Keith Smith (boys) collected the Plate trophy to end a good day and a good season for the club’s young athletes, showing that there is plenty to be optimistic about for the future.

Keith and Claire were particularly pleased because at a number of matches they had struggled with unavailability due to conflicting competitions but this showed that with a full team the club could perform at a very high standard.

Jon Humphries