Let’s set the scene. Meeting 1 in Stourport in June. The BRAT junior team delivered a crushing victory, finishing over 200 points clear of second place Banbury. Let’s not forget, we were only promoted to this division last year, so many of the existing clubs have no idea who we are and how strong our athletes are! It must have been a shock for the other teams, but with Banbury hosting this recent meeting, it was the perfect opportunity for them to put out their strongest possible team, and they did not disappoint! To complicate matters even more, this meeting unfortunately clashed with the Inter County Schools’ Championships (Mason Trophy) where we had a lot of athletes competing. In their absence, it was left to others to step up and make their performances count! What’s more…..Oxfordshire don’t compete in the Mason Trophy, so Banbury didn’t lose any athletes for this reason!
Challenge accepted.
From the first 1500m race at 11am to the final relay of the day, it was clear to see that BRAT and Banbury were head and shoulders above the rest. Every race, every event was a battle. Each position counts and every point goes towards our overall total. An intermediate points announcement around half way through the meeting stated that we were in the lead, but by just 25 points. With 16 points up for grabs in each event, we knew it could change very quickly! To be clear, if we have no-one in an event, we automatically score 0 for that event. So if you were competing in events that are outside your comfort zone or you were trying something for the first time, it’s highly likely that, without this extra effort, we wouldn’t have won! As our fantastic junior athletes posed for their team photo at the end of the day and everyone was departing, a final scores announcement was made and we had a big cheer!
From a team manager’s perspective, the standout performers of the day were the u17/u20 lads. We’ve found ourselves in a position where running sub 12 in the 100m doesn’t even guarantee a run. Not only that, but they are versatile and willing enough to tackle throws, jumps and hurdles (not to mention a 400m/800m double and a 800m/1500m double). This is a high calibre team and that is reflected in the results:
If I was to mention each and every stand-out performance, PB, event win and contribution i’d be here all day. Having looked at the results, it’s genuinely difficult to see any performances that weren’t of a high standard. Those that were attempting new or familiar events, competing for the club for the first time or doubling up all should be especially proud of themselves in what was, another amazing day out.
Congratulations and well-done in what was another amazing BRAT junior performance. By the way, did I mention that we are unbeaten in the league since 2020? Let’s keep that going in Corby on the 16th July!
Full results can be found here.
Colin