GOLD was the order of the day for Stratford-upon-Avon Athletic Club’s junior athletes at the West Midlands Sportshall Finals in Solihull.
Age group teams were selected to represent Warwickshire in the West Midlands regional final, which was dominated by athletes from Stratford and Rugby and Northampton AC, against Birmingham, Shropshire and Hereford and Worcester.
Some nine under-11 Stratford athletes joined a strong Warwickshire team to compete in the final as Isabella Marriott, also selected for the under-13’s, threw 14-metres in the javelin which landed on track judges.
And Warwickshire dominated the over/under relay as the boys, girls and mixed non-scoring team all finished their respective races in first place.
Stratford’s Billy Sheppard won the standing triple jump with a leap of 5.82m whilst Warwickshire also won the speed bounce, standing long jump and target throw and finished with victories in both the boys and girls four by one lap relay races.
This saw both of Warwickshire’s boys and girls team crowned overall winners with 495 points and 481 points respectively much to the delight of team managers Carolyne Johnston and Lucy Edwards.
Next up, 21 Stratford athletes joined the Warwickshire squad for the under-13 and under-15 competitions.
The under-13 boys won the obstacle relay which set the tone for some fabulous track results as Lois Ford (under-13) won gold in the six-lap race and Annie Silvers (under-15) topped the podium in the speed bounce with Ella Peeke just behind to claim silver.
And Silvers also won gold in the four-lap race before taking silver in the overall individual all rounder competition.
There was more gold for Stratford courtesy of Scarlett Dawson (under-13) in the speed bounce whilst Nikola Wodzisz took gold in the under-15 shot put with a throw of 9.11m and Ruby Edwards claimed silver with a throw of 8.08m.
The gold trail continued with Aran Cooper (under-13) who jumped 6.27m in the standing triple jump and Arthur Mansbridge (under-13) in the speed bounce.
There was individual success for the under-15 boys as Jake Richardson won gold and Seb Hillard silver in the standing triple jump whilst Sam McKenzie won gold in the four-lap race.
Warwickshire were crowned overall winners in the under-13 and under-15 boys events whilst the under-13 girls and under-15 girls finished second and third overall respectively.
The boys will now go on to compete at the UK finals in Stoke-on-Trent this weekend (Saturday, April 1).
