The sun was shining on Sunday as Waveney Valley Athletic Club travelled to the Sportspark at the UEA, Norwich for round one of the East Anglian Athletics League. Waveney took a squad of 32 to compete against City of Norwich AC, Cambridge & Coleridge, West Norfolk, Gt Yarmouth & District AC and Ryston.

Hoping to build on a very solid debut season last year, Waveney face a difficult year, drawn against some larger athletic clubs. A squad of 32 travelled, although with no under 17’s available for the fixture, and very few seniors, they finished the day in 5th place overall with 212 points. The club faired much better in the individual categories, with the under 13 girls placed 4th and just 12 points from the 3rd placed Gt Yarmouth and the under 15 boys finishing 3rd with 61 points – the best on the day for Waveney.

Waveney took 9 under 11’s – Abeni Beckham, Maisie Elvin-Andrews, Grace Forster, Maddie Archbold and Brooke Oram for the girls and Joel Burgess, Theo Hudson, Vaughan Beckham and Jacob Bendall for the boys in the events of 80 metres, 600 metres, shot and long jump. This was the first meeting for the boys, and many PBs tumbled notably three for Joel Burgess with 12.6s in the 80m, 2:05s in the 600m and 3.29m in the Long Jump and also three for Abeni Beckham with 13.7s in the 80m, 2:10.4 in the 600m and 4.97m in the Shot Put. Maddie Archbold also put in a great leap of 3.07m in her first ever Long Jump, and Grace Forster another PB of 2:06s in the 600m.

In the girls under 13 category, Harriet Gooch, Hannah Mayne, Ellysia Bendall and Mia made the team and ended the day with 3rd place in the relay. Hannah continued her excellent winter form with wins in the 100m (14.0s) and Long Jump (PB 4.57m) and 2nd in the 200m (29.95s).Mia took another tenth off her PB in the 70mh with a 3rd place 14.1s and 3rd in the javelin with 15.02m with Harriet recording PBs to finish 3rd in both Shot Put (5.62m) and Discus (11.38m), and Ellysia recorded a put of 4.65m in the Shot in her first league appearance for Waveney.

The under 15 girls were represented by Harriet Lyman, Lily Collins and Lauren Oram with Harriet pleased to record a PB and 3rd place in the 800m with 2:51.3s. Harriet and Lily both finished 3rd in their respective 300m races in 50.5s and 56.4s respectively. Lauren recorded a 2nd place in the 1500m with a time of 6:26.8s.

A larger under 13 boys team saw Ethan Lee, Callum, Sam Stevens, Leo Joscelyne, and Rio Clements competing with PBs again tumbling all round. The teams best performance saw both Sam and Leo finishing 4th in their respective 800m races with times of 2:58.2s and 3:02.5s. Callum and Ethan also claimed 4th places and PBs in their 100m races with 15.1s and 15.8s, with Ethan also throwing well in Shot Put (4th with 4.24m) and Discus (4th 8.82m).

The under 15 boys were represented by Jake Block, Leon Cousins, Lewis Covill, Dylan Davies and Aidan Hewitt. Jake battling against the UK under 15 number 1 triple jumper achieved 3rd place with a jump of 9.71m in the TJ and 3rd in the 300m with 43.4s – a massive PB of over 3 second with a 4th place in the 200m with 28.2s another large PB. Lewis, performing as a second thrower behind Dylan won the Shot Put with a throw of 6.03m and 2nd place in the javelin with 9.92m in his first outing in the club vest in the league. Leon again impressed with jumps of 4.21m and 8.85m in the Long and Triple Jumps, with Aidan running a great first leg in the relay, and also winning his 300m race.

The Ladies were represented by Karen Archbold, Michaela Gooch, Frances Fairs, Vicki Fairs (and Caren Elvin in the relay) with Simon Bunting and Alan Fairs the compact Mens team. Karen recorded 5th in the 800m and 1500m with times of 2:51.9s and 5:47.8s, with Frances Fairs in her club debut performing very well especially the throws with 18.81m in the hammer (5th), 18.15m Discus (5th) and 7.62m Shot Put (4th) beating her mother Vicki who Put 12.76m in the Discus. Michaela recorded a PB in the Long Jump with 3.40m and a javelin throw of 13.10m for a 5th place finish. The ladies finished the day with some fun in the relay. Simon’s day ended early with an injury suffered in the 100m but still recording 5th places in the Shot Put and Javelin 7.12m and 20.0m with Alan reaching a PB in the Long Jump with 3.59m and a javelin throw of 23.64m.