What a performance and what a season.
3 league meetings and 3 wins. Let’s not forget, we had to completely rebuild and start afresh following the difficult COVID shutdowns. We have come a long way since those rule of 6 sessions at Rowheath playing fields!
Anyway, on to last (last!) weekend’s results. It really is a terrible idea of the league to schedule a junior league meeting at the start of the summer holidays. A long list of athletes were either on holiday or at the commonwealth games. What was really pleasing for me, as team manager, is that a whole group of athletes came out to compete in the league for the first time, amazing! From those new athletes, T’maya Tweede-Robinson came out with 2 1st places (shot put A & javelin B) and 2nd in the high jump B. Louisa Bando was first time league competitor, securing 2 4th place finishes and a 3rd (13.4 & 28.3 in the 100m & 200m respectively). Both T’maya and Louisa featured in the winning 4x100m team, alongside Olamide and Katie, both winners in various events throughout the day. Ellie McKeon competed in the league for the first time too, taking victory in the B 1500m for the u15 girls and Emily Wise was another first timer, securing 2nd and 4th in the B long jump and high jump respectively. Maliq Aqibi ran a strong 200m in his first league race for the club too, 26.7 to claim 2nd. Ethan Hevey was also competing for the first time, an amazing 1st in the B hurdles and 2nd in the B 100m. Well done guys, I hope you enjoyed the experience and want to do it all again next season!
As for the overall results from the match. We won, comfortably. What does that mean for team BRAT? Well, actually I don’t know, because i’ve read the documents, because they are boring. I assume that we get promoted and I think that we might get a trophy. In any case, at some point, I will find out exactly what happens now and keep everyone apprised! For sure, we will organise some sort of promotion celebration at the track when we get back on there, will keep you posted.
Due to Julie being such an amazing on the day team manager, I actually get to watch quite a bit of the action and it’s great for me to hear various athlete’s stories throughout the day. From Robert’s mum’s panic about the hurdles (i’m not sure if she genuinely did look where the nearest hospital was) to James’s 11th hour arrival before taking victory in the 1500m. We actually prepped a vest with a number and had it ready and waiting at the start line, with sister Sophie proudly handing it over! Mike Plummer’s constantly telling me “he’s gone off to slow, he’s gone off too slow” in regard to Nathaniel’s 200m were drowned out by proud mum’s cheers “go on Nathaniel!!!” with the latter also being repeated in the 4x100m where we just about closed the gap to take 1st place! I should probably mention Noor’s high jump too, where she improved her PB 6 times, to go from 1.15m to 1.35m. I don’t think she could quite believe it herself!
It would take me ages to mention absolutely everyone and all the amazing performances, so apologies to anyone that doesn’t get a specific mention, it’s just things that I remember seeing on the day. Anna Newman’s brave 600m run where she made every effort to stick with the leader. The Kai & Will u11 combination in the LJ with both jumping mid 3s. Sebastien Emery’s loan to Tamworth where he led them out to beat our own team in the 4x100m! Mason & Muayyad putting in strong performances in the 200m & LJ. Alfredo pipping Robert to maintain their 300m rivalry. Matty Morris throwing a very impressive javelin with some doubt about him even being able to do it and brother Sam’s strong 800m at the start of the team. Jessica’s wasp paranoia. Kenyah & T’yana super reliable and strong across all their events. Izzy’s disappointment when she found out she was the only BRAT athlete doing the 300m, but taking Jake along to the start for moral support! Lots of smiles, lots of support, and an overall jubilant atmosphere.
Well done to everyone involved in this last meeting and throughout the season. You’ve all played a part in showing everyone else that we are a force to be reckoned with!
The full results can be found here.
Final results after all 3 meetings:
