4 September 2010

Team London left Gateshead International Stadium yesterday leading the athletics competition medal table going into day two thanks to the heroics of Redman, Farnham-Rose, Judd and Bolarinwa, amongst others. Team Bristol were in second place with Team Birmingham chasing their tails in third place after day one. But could Team London hang on for the Sainsbury’s UK School Games 2010 title for athletics? Or was there another team who would be king?

The home team celebrated success in the girl’s hammer with Abbi Carter, with a best throw of 52.98m, secured in the third round. Cater completed the triple crown by securing the Sainsbury’s UK School Games title, with The Aviva English Schools and Aviva England Athletics U15/U17 Championship gold medals already in the bag from earlier in the season, Cater collected the gold medal to a huge cheer from supporters of the host town team in the stadium. Kimberley Reed (50.41m) and Sarah Jane Anthony (41.39m) of Team Glasgow and Team Bristol sharing the spoils taking silver and bronze respectively.

And it was double joy for Team Gateshead, with Aviva English Schools bronze medallist Cameron Boyek powering down the home straight to take the 1500m title. Boyek kept his composure and picked his time to strike, kicking away from the chasing pack raising his finger in celebration before crossing the line to a well earned gold medal in a time of 3:57.80secs.

Team Birmingham’s Naomi Reid got in on the act breaking the UK School Games record for the girl’s triple jump. Reid recorded 3 no jumps in a row before breaking the long standing record, with a fifth round jump of 12.04m, only 2cm ahead of Team London’s Shimaala Harewood, who thought the record was hers after the 12.02 mark set in round two. Team Cardiff’s Megan O’Sullivan came third with a best jump of 11.26m

Despite her record breaking gold medal, the Aviva England Athletics U15/U17 and 2010 Sainsbury’s UK School Games Champion commented candidly on her disappointment after the competition, having not managed to realise her goal at this event;

“It sounds a bit bizarre, but I’m actually disappointed because I didn’t come here for a win, I came here for a distance, my PB is 12.23m which is 1cm from the all time record (under 17), and I came here to beat that record. It’s disappointing but a win is a win, so I am pleased with that.”    

“The UK School Games experience has been amazing, it’s been better for me than last year, because last year I came and went away sick, had a pretty bad injury this year, but all the winter training has paid off.  I’m with a new coach (Long and Triple Jump Coach, John Crotty) who’s worked on everything, my technique and my running over the last five months and everything is coming together which I am really pleased with. I have been on two internationals and the UK School Games is a lot like an international, it’s helped me prepare for competitions like that.”

Both days of the competition provided the ideal opportunity for UKA to give some of the new generation of officials experience at a higher age group competition, with over 10 officials coming through UKA programmes targeted at developing young people within the sport such as the recent Young Leader’s Camp in Reading last month (read more about the young officials at this year’s UK School Games in September’s E-Inspire for Officials).

Team Bristol’s Sean Adams pipped Aviva English School’s champion Jacob Paul of Team London to the gold medal in the boy’s 400m with a time of 53.87secs, with Paul, coming second with a time of 54.60secs. Third place went to Ewan Dyer of Team Glasgow, 55.46secs

Rhys Jones of Team Cardiff capitalised on a disqualification of a fellow competitor to win the boy’s 200m ambulant race with a time of 26.93secs. Thomas Burton representing Team Manchester took the gold in the ambulant discus with a throw of 22.15m, ahead of Michael Pope of Team Manchester, claiming silver with a best throw of 20.04m.  

There was a close finish in the boy’s 200m, Team Glasgow’s Tom Holligan ran a strong first 100m and held is nerve to pass through the line on 22.09secs. Edmond Amaning of Team London had to settle for silver, closely behind Hollingan in 22.23secs. Jamaul Whyte of Team Cardiff came in third in 22.56secs.

The second day of the Sainsbury’s UK School Games came to a close with two relays to settle. Team Manchester took the 4x400m boy’s title, the final runner of the quartet coming through the line 3:17.11, cancelling out the UK School Games record set in Cardiff in 2009. Team Glasgow came through to take second in a time of 3:21.19secs, with Team London coming in third, 3:23.23secs. In the girl’s 4x100m relay, Team Glasgow strung together a series of inch perfect baton changeovers and composed sprinting to take the coveted title to be decided on day two of the Sainsbury’s UK School Games athletics competition, with a winning time of 47.62secs. Team Birmingham put in a determined run in an attempt to chase down the team from Scotland, taking the silver (47.91secs), with Team Manchester taking the bronze (48.32secs).

With an overwhelming collective team performance, Team London was declared Sainsbury’s UK School Games 2010 team champions for athletics. Together, Team London proved to go faster, climb higher and throw stronger than their rivals here in the North East, taking away 16 gold, 14 silver and 2 bronze medals and bringing down the curtain on the 5^th edition here at Gateshead International Stadium.

For all the Sainsbury’s UK School Games athletics competition results, click here.