Round 2 of the Norfolk Sportshall League took place on Saturday 9 November 2013 at Taverham in Norwich with Waveney Valley Athletic Club taking a large squad of 32 junior athletes to compete against 228 other athletes from City of Norwich AC (CoNAC), Bungay Black Dog AC (BBD), Ryson AC/W Norfolk AC, Gt Yarmouth & District AC (GYDAC), Dereham and Hethersett High. Although a damp and drizzly day, the athletes were unaware, as all the events took place in the venues 2 large sports halls.

Waveney’s athletes competed in the U11 and U13 team categories for both girls and boys, with the U15’s competing individually. In both categories athletes compete in the 2 lap, 4 lap, standing long jump, vertical jump, speed bounce and relay, with the U11s also undertaking 2 lap hurdles, seated ball throw and 6 lap paarlauf and the U13s the 6 lap, standing triple jump, shot put, 8 lap paarlauf and 4x 2 lap relay.

The U11 boys team consisted of Theo Hudson, Joel Burgess, Benjamin Cone, Reuben Harvey, Finn Howes and Vaughan Beckham. The boys finished 4^th out of 11 team with 298 points – a huge improvement over round 1’s 7^th place finish with 234 points, and just 1 point from one of CoNACs teams in 3^rd place. Theo gained a 2^nd place (from 18) in the throw with 7m and 3^rd (from 17) in the 2 lap with a time of 27.5s. Benjamin achieved a 3^rd (from 14) in the speedbounce with 44 jumps, and Joel and Theo came 2nd in the paarlauf.

The U11 girls team included Maddie Archbold, Abeni Beckham, Brooke Oram, Shamara Hammonds, Libby Mayall and Maisie Elvin-Andrews who finished the day 6^th out of 13 teams, an improvement of a place and 10 points over round 1. Shamara was the star performer of the team in this meeting, winning the 2 lap (from 26 athletes) with a time of 26.1s and 4^th (from 24) in the 2 lap hurdles with a time of 29.2s.

The U13 boys team were the clubs team of the day with members of Tai Elvin-Andrews, Jamie Besford, Dylan Davies, Leon Cousins, Callum, Jake Hunter, Max Braddock, Harry Bernasconi and Ethan Lee. The boys achieved a fantastic 2^nd place finish of 8 teams with 387 points, much bettering round 1s 4^th place and 347 points. Dylan defended his round 1 shot put win with a throw of 7.5m (of 10). Leon came 3^rd (of 12) in the long jump with 2.0m and 3^rd in the shot put with 6.24m. Callum and Tai gained a 2^nd place in the paarlauf, and the 4x 2 lap relay team also gained a 2^nd place.

The U13 girls team again consisted of Hannah Mayne, Harriet Lyman, Harriet Gooch, Lily Collins and Mia and finished 4^th of 8 with 366 points, just 1 point off the 3^rd placed team from Ryston/W Norfolk. Hannah again excelled by winning both the 2 lap (from 14) with a time of 25.0s, the vertical jump (from 14) with 47cm, and a 2^nd place in the long jump with a leap of 2.01m. Harriet Gooch continued her good form in the speedbounce with a 3^rd place (from 14) with 74 jumps. The girls also finished the 4x 2 lap relay in 3^rd place.

Waveney had seven U15s competing individually against 16 boys and 24 girls. With a very high standard of competition with all athletes competing in all events, Kieran Covill’s performances were notable finishing in 3^rd place overall with 136 points, but winning both the 2 lap and 4 lap races in times of 22.3s and 47.4s respectively and a 3^rd in the standing triple jump with 7.03m. Jake Block gained 108 points for a 9^th place and Lewis Covill gained 66 points. For the girls, Emily Archbold gained 91 points for a 12^th place finish which included a 4^th in the long jump, and 5^th in the vertical jump, Shannon Hall gained 69 points for a 15^th place with Lauren Oram and Georgia Fairs gaining 37 points and 20 points respectively.

The next Sportshall league meeting takes place on 30 November 2013 in Kings Lynn.