2 September 2007.

World Youth Championships 100m bronze medallist Ashlee Nelson (Stoke) bowed out of the UKA National Young Athletes’ League by rewriting the record books with a double flourish while Enfield and Haringey AC clocked a UK Under 17 men’s 4x100m best at the seasonal Final at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, on Sunday 2 September.

The E&H quartet of Antonio Infantino, Jordan Huggins, Rhion Samuel and William Ife clocked 41.92 seconds to take three full tenths of a second off the previous UK club record, by Thames Valley Harriers in 1989.  Fittingly, they received their gold medals from Olympic 4x100m gold medallist Darren Campbell, who spent much of the afternoon helping with the presentations, signing autographs and endlessly posing for photographs with athletes, coaches and proud parents. The previous League record of 42.28 had stood to Birchfield Harriers since 1998.

Despite hardly having trained since her adventures with Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland teams at the World Youth and European Junior Championships in July, Nelson first lowered the under-17 women’s 200m record to 24.15 seconds. Despite a head wind measured at 0.2 metres per second, she took five-hundredths off the previous YAL record set by Jemma Simms (Notts AC) in 2001. And she was chased all the way by Shaunna Thompson (Sale), who took the silver medal in 24.51 seconds.

Then Nelson – whose brother Alex, the European Junior 200m champion, is with the 4x100m bronze medal winning Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad at the World Championships in Osaka – added the 100m title in a record time of 11.70 seconds. It took nine-hundredths off the previous League record, set in 2002 by Montell Douglas (Bromley), who is now the European Under 23 100m silver medallist.

Katarina Thompson (Liverpool Harriers) won the Female Field Athlete of the Match Award by equalling the YAL Under 15 girls’ high jump record of 1.76m she set earlier this season. It took her 6cm higher than the previous Final best performance, by Jessica Matthews (Blackheath and Bromley) last year. It was one of three victories the talented multi-eventer contributed to her club’s cause.

Other meeting records…

Romain Walcott (Enfield) earned the Male Field Athlete of the Match award by winning the Under 15 boys’ long jump with 6.35m, a personal best that cements him in third place in the Power of 10 rankings.

Infantino, top of the Power of 10 Under 17 men’s 200m rankings with a windy 21.28 seconds, again had the benefit of a breeze slightly above the legal limit of 2 metres per second as he lowered the meeting best to 21.67 seconds. Impressive as he was, he still fell 0.34sec short of the league record set by Jamahl Alert-Khan (Shaftesbury) in 2003.

Uzoma Nwachukwu (Enfield and Haringey) sped through the Under 13 girls’ 150m in 19.19 seconds, taking a massive 0.28sec off the meeting best run in 1998 by Amy Spencer (Wigan and District), who went on to win a 4x100m bronze medal with the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland team at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Jamaica. Uzoma was almost as dynamic in the 75m, zooming to 9.90 seconds, only seven-hundredths outside Spencer’s nine-year-old meeting best. And she ended with a spectacular final leg of the 4x100m relay to haul her team from nowhere to the gold medals.

Among other outstanding performances…

The clash of the Power of 10 rankings’ top two Under 13 boys’ 75m hurdlers lived up to expectations. After a stride-for-stride battle, Aaron Lloyd (Blackheath) won in a meeting record of 12.11 seconds, eight-hundredths ahead of James Taylor (Stoke) with the next three finishers also clocking Grade 1 times. It earned Lloyd the award for Male Track Athlete of the Day.

A superb Under 17 women’s 80m hurdles race ended in victory for Abbie Bennett (Liverpool) in 11.56 seconds, only just outside the meeting record, a hand-timed 11.5 by Stoke’s Chelsea Cooper 12 months ago. Bennett was pushed all the way by Chanel Taite (Windsor), second in 11.62, and Alice Lennox (Stoke), third in 11.64.

Ben Williams (Stoke), third in the Power of 10 Under 17 men’s triple jump rankings, won with 14.40m, within 12cm of his best.

Jade Weston (Stoke) won the Under 17 women’s shot with 11.72m, reaffirming her position in third place in the Power of 10 rankings.

Oyebanke Jemiyo (Blackheath) improved her hammer best by 43cm in winning the Under 17 women’s title with 43.20m.

Reece Thomas (Birchfield) added 2cm to his shot best in winning the Under 17 men’s competition with 16.28m. He is sixth in the season’s Power of 10 rankings.

Clovis Asong (Sale), currently ranked third in the Power of 10 Under 13 boys’ shot, equalled his best of 11.60m in earning his gold medal.

Regan Sembatya (Enfield), ranked third in the Power of 10 Under 13 boys’ 100m, completed a sprint double: 12.36 into a slight head wind after romping home in the 200m in 25.17.

Jordon Huggins (Enfield) was a mere hundredth outside the meeting record as he powered home alone in the Under 17 men’ 100m in 10.67 seconds with the wind measured at a perfect +2.0.

The stiff breeze – usually in the athletes’ faces on the exposed back straight – made life tough for the longer-distance track runners but Tom Bensted (Blackheath) lived-up to his reputation as No.2 in the Power of 10 Under 15 boys’ 400m rankings by registering 51.54 seconds for a crushing victory.

The match finished: 1 Blackheath and Bromley AC 813.5; 2 Enfield and Haringey AC 777; 3 Liverpool Harriers 702; 4 Sale Harriers Manchester 653; 5 City of Stoke 632; 6 Birchfield Harriers 627; 7 Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow AC 617.5; 8 Edinburgh AC 547.

But the final word has to go to Ashlee Nelson, who holds the YAL Under 15 200m record as well as the two Under 17 sprints marks: “I’m really sad this is the end of the Young Athletes’ League for me. I’ve loved the competition ever since I came into it when I was 12. Oh well – I’ll just have to strive on to better things … bigger and better!”

The day’s A event winners were…

Under 17 boys – 100m: J Huggins (Enfield) 10.67. 200m: A Infantino (Enfield) 21.67 (meeting record). 400m: D Putnam (Blackheath) 50.02. 800m: N Brooks (Sale) 2:01.77. 1500m: A Cotton (Birchfield) 4:16.40. 3000m: D Clarke (Stoke) 9:39.18. 1500m steeplechase: Clarke 4:46.94. 100m hurdles: J Meredith (Liverpool) 13.29. 400m hurdles: O Oyewobi (Enfield) 57.06. High jump: M Ehlen (Sale) 1.95. Pole vault: A Sutcliffe (Sale) 4.20. Long jump: M Rollings (Stoke) 6.67. Triple jump: B Williams (Stoke) 14.40. Shot: R Thomas (Birchfield) 16.28. Discus: B Elias (Enfield) 39.37. Hammer: A Jordon (Blackheath) 60.25. Javelin: S Light (Windsor) 49.60. 4x100m: Enfield and Haringey 41.92 (UK best). 4x400m: Blackheath and Bromley 3:25.80.

Under 17 girls – 100m: A Nelson (Stoke) 11.70 (league record). 200m: A Nelson (Stoke) 24.15 (league record). 300m: D Annon (Blackheath) 41.33. 800m: K Anderson (Stoke) 2:18.94. 1500m: H Holt (Stoke) 4:57.08. 3000m: L Goodson (Edinburgh) 10:56.04. 80m hurdles: A Bennett (Liverpool) 11.56. 300m hurdles: K Cosby (Blackheath) 45.14. High jump: J Matthews (Blackheath) 1.65. Pole vault: A Haywood (Sale) 3.30. Long jump: C Taite (Windsor) 5.45. Triple jump: D Bakre (Enfield) 11.17. Shot: J Weston (Stoke) 11.72. Discus: J Moore (Stoke) 37.76. Hammer: O Jemiyo (Blackheath) 43.20. Javelin: S McGuire (Blackheath) 30.41. 4x100m: Sale 49.02. 4x300m: Birchfield 2:52.94.

Under 15 boys – 100m: T Bensted (Blackheath) 11.46. 200m: J Arthur (Enfield) 23.30. 400m: Bensted 51.54. 800m: J Oguntayo (Sale) 2:08.36. 1500m: P Sessman (Blackheath) 4:21.33. 80m hurdles: B Hopkins (Blackheath) 12.00. High jump: C Hastings (Edinburgh) 1.70. Pole vault: C Debola (Blackheath) 3.11. Long jump: R Walcott (Enfield) 6.35. Shot: J Newman (Birchfield) 13.89. Discus: N Fox (Stoke) 38.90. Hammer: M Takpak (Blackheath) 38.91. Javelin: B Crowe (Windsor) 44.12. 4x100m: Enfield and Haringey 46.19. 4x400m: Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow 3:49.57.

Under 15 girls – 100m: S Tewogbade (Enfield) 12.52. 200m: K Thompson (Liverpool) 24.91. 800m: Z Woodward (Liverpool) 2:18.57. 1500m: K Holt (Stoke) 4:47.10. 75m hurdles: J Sawyers (Stoke) 11.83. High jump: Thompson 1.76 (equal meeting record). Long jump: Thompson 5.22. Shot: K Davey (Blackheath) 10.47. Discus: Davey 25.08. Javelin: D Bentley (Sale) 31.52. 4x100m: Liverpool 50.57.

Under 13 boys – 100m: R Sembatya (Enfield) 12.36. 200m: Sembatya 25.17. 800m: D Heald (Sale) 2:20.89. 1500m: R Harvie (Windsor) 4:52.18. 75m hurdles: A Lloyd (Blackheath) 12.11 (meeting record). High jump: A Matthew (Windsor) 1.45. Long jump: K Hogg (Enfield) 4.63. Shot: C Asong (Sale) 11.60. 4x100m: Blackheath and Bromley 51.49.

Under 13 girls – 75m: U Nwachukwu (Enfield) 9.90. 150m: Nwachukwu 19.19 (meeting record). 800m: S Minogue (Liverpool) 2:28.38. 1200m: J Jones (Blackheath) 4:08.09. 70m hurdles: S Clitheroe (Windsor) 11.72. High jump: K Anson (Liverpool) 1.45. Long jump: N Campbell-Smith (Birchfield) 4.36. Shot: I Adekunle (Enfield) 8.38. 4x100m: Enfield and Haringey 54.54.

For full results, please click here