Oxfordshire Track and Field League – Match 1 report
Published: 24 April 2018
Oxford City’s junior teams had a good start to the season in the first Oxfordshire Track and Field League match held at Horspath on 15th April. In wet, blustery conditions most events were made more challenging than usual, so the strong showing by Oxford’s teams has to be seen as a good sign for the coming season.
The U13 girls had a great turn out, with all events filled and many athletes trying events for the first time. Inevitably this led to a string of PB’s too lengthy to list. Special mention to Maisie Kavanagh who won A string Javelin (G4) and Shot(G4) and to Lily Brabbin who won the A string 1500m (G4) in some style and also took victory in the B string Discus. Bronte Bennett’s first outing in Shot Putt and Javelin saw her take B string victory in each, with Tyler’s non scoring throw showing she has much promise. Matilda Percy-Bowersox stepped to fill a gap in the 1500m gaining valuable points for the team. The U15 and U17 Girls’ teams were similarly outstanding. The U15s did really well to win against a very strong showing from many clubs, but Radley in particular gave them a great run. The U17s smashed it, winning almost twice as many points as the 2nd placed team. Despite the cold temperatures and gusty headwinds down the home straight, there were some excellent performances all round with plenty of PBs, but we should call out the sprinters in particular, underlined by their victories in both relay events. It was really encouraging to see so many new athletes in the team, some of whom were competing for the first time, do extremely well in their events. That bodes well for a strong performance for the rest of the summer. A special mention for Olivia Barton; here’s to a speedy recovery.
After the first round the girls lie first in the league in all three age categories.
The boys were also massively improved from last season, with credit due to coaches and team managers for coaxing a large number of boys to compete this season. The under 13 boys struggled for wins, but finished third overall. The under 15s were also third, and the under 17s 5th. The outstanding performances were from Tom Wood, doubling up to win the under 17 A string 100m and 200m in his first competitive outings, while Louis Enskat and Henry Channon cruised to victory in the under 15 800m A and B string races. Willem Walker-Smith won the B string U17 100m and later dipped under 60s in his first ever 400m race.
