I would like to congratulate all of the athletes – Eric, Brent, Andrew, Nathan, Patrick, Sean, Joel, Sahad, Max, Lyle, Matt, Jeremey Schalm, Emily, Delainy, Dana, Jill, Anna, Lauren Kruger, Meghan, Madelaine, Emma, Kate, Rhea, Anise, Marissa, Kiannah, Hawaa, Caitlin, Grace and Lauren Yardley – who competed at the first New Balance meet on 7th May. Among them, these thirty athletes produced some excellent results. The JD Group is off to a great start this outdoor season – well done!
I would especially like to acknowledge the performances of JD’s newest athletes – Andrew, Lyle, Jeremey, Joel, Emily, Anise and Hawaa – who were competing in their first meet with CALTAF. Despite their lack of experience and training, these athletes produced some outstanding results. Well done new athletes!
I am also very impressed with the performance of JD’s bantam (1998/1999) athletes. It is clear from the results that these young athletes were not in the least intimidated by having to compete up in the midget age category (1996/1997). A number of bantam athletes finished ahead of the midget athletes, and many used the opportunity to achieve personal best performances. Well done bantams!
For those athletes who had competed previously, there were 23 personal best performances.Madelaine led the way with 3 personal best performances, while Nathan, Dana, Anna, Rhea andKiannah each achieved a personal best in two of their events. Eric, Brent, Patrick, Sean, Max, Delainy, Meghan, Caitlin, Grace and Lauren each contributed to the PB tally by recording a personal best in one event. Well done athletes! It is good to see you benefit from your hard work at training sessions.
Here are some highlights from the meet:
First-year midget Madelaine had an outstanding meet, winning both the discus and hammer throw and achieving personal bests in all three of her events. In the hammer throw, Madelaine threw the hammer an impressive 28.41m, a remarkable improvement from her previous personal best of 7.37m. In the discus, Madelaine finished 1st of three athletes with a throw of 27.09m, a personal best of 3.57m. Finally, Madeline took more than a second off her PB in the 100m. Well done Madelaine!
First-year midget and brand new JD athlete Joel impressed his coaches by placing 3rd of ten athletes in the long jump, where he cleared 4.62m. Well done Joel!
First-year bantam Grace ran an outstanding 800m, finishing 4th of twelve athletes in 2:41.28s, a personal best of 6.33s. This was a remarkable feat given that Grace was competing in a race with athletes three years her senior. Grace also competed very well in the midget 80m hurdles, where she finished 8th of fifteen athletes in 16.26s. Well done Grace!
First-year midget Max recorded an outstanding personal best in the long jump, where he cleared 4.17m, a personal best of 64cm. Well done Max!
In her very first meet, new athlete Emily placed 3rd of twelve athletes in the 800m, finishing in 2:38.91s. Well done Emily!
Despite having to run in a race with girls three years her senior, first-year bantam Lauren Yardley ran an outstanding 800m, finishing 5th of twelve athletes. Lauren finished in 2:46.02s, a personal best of 5.41s. Well done Lauren!
First-year midget Dana finished 2nd in the discus, where she recorded a throw of 18.11m, a personal best of 32cm. Dana also ran an outstanding 100m, finishing 9th of nineteen athletes in 15.49s, a personal best of just under one second. Well done Dana!
First-year midget Meghan ran a very impressive 100m, where she finished 2nd of nineteen athletes in 13.65s. Meghan was also 6th of fifteen athletes in the 80m hurdles, where she finished in 15.32s. Finally, in the long jump, Meghan added another 29cm to her PB, clearing 3.94m. Well doneMeghan!
Second-year bantam Emma clearly wasn’t intimidated by the older athletes. In her first attempt at the midget 80m hurdles, Emma finished 4th of fifteen athletes in 14.96s, an outstanding time for a bantam athlete. Emma also finished 7th of seventeen athletes in the long jump, where she cleared 3.76m. Well done Emma!
Bantam Caitlin wasn’t intimidated by the older athletes in the midget 800m, where she finished 8thin 2:49.42s, a personal best of 2.08s. Well done Caitlin!
In her very first meet, bantam athlete Hawaa finished 9th of seventeen athletes in the midget long jump, where she cleared 3.72m. Well done Hawaa!
Bantam athlete and one of JD’s hardest workers Rhea demonstrated how much stronger she is becoming by recording personal bests in both of her events. Rhea took 1.66s off her PB in the 100m, and 4.93s off her PB in the 200m. Well done Rhea!
Bantam Kiannah had an oustanding meet, recording personal bests in two of her three events. In the 800m, Kiannah improved her PB by an impressive 9.34s, while in the long jump, Kiannahimproved her PB by 6cm. Well done Kiannah!
Bantam Marissa finished ahead of several midgets in the long jump, where she cleared 3.76m and finished 7th of seventeen athletes. Well done Marissa!
Brent ran very well at the meet, finishing 4th of twelve athletes in the 200m in a time of 26.81s, a PB of 1.51s. In his first attempt at the 100m, Brent placed 5th of ten athletes, finishing in 13.21s. Well done Brent!
Eric showed a remarkable improvement in the 800m, where he took an impressive 10.35s off his personal best. Well done Eric!
New athlete and first-year midget Andrew impressed his coaches by finishing 4th in both of his events. Andrew was 4th in the challenging 2000m and in the discus. Well done Andrew!
First-year midget Nathan enjoyed an excellent meet, finishing 3rd of six athletes in the discus with a personal best throw of 21.55m. Nathan also took 1.55s off his PB in the 200m. Well done Nathan!
In his very first meet, first-year midget Lyle finihed 6th in the long jump, where he cleared 3.83m. Well done Lyle!
Bantam Matt clearly wasn’t intimidated by the midget athletes in the 800m, where he recorded a personal best. Well done Matt!
First-year midget Jill, one of the few girls in the JD Group willing to run the long distance races, finished 3rd of six athletes in the 2000m. Well done Jill!
First-year midget Anna recorded one of the most impressive PBs of the meet, taking 11.16s off her PB in the 800m. Anna also recorded a personal best in the 100m. Well done Anna!
In her first attempt at the 80m hurdles, first-year midget Lauren Kruger finished 11th in 17.55s. Well done Lauren!
Delainy took almost a full second off her personal best in the 100m. Well done Delainy!
First-year midget and new athlete Anise finished 3rd in the discus, with a throw of 15.95m. Well done Anise!
Patrick took more than a second off his PB in the 100m, while Sean took 1.31s off his PB in the 200m. Well done boys!
In his very first meet, first-year bantam Jeremey (Schalm) competed very well in both the discus and long jump, establishing some excellent standards to challenge himself with at the next meet. Well done Jeremey!
Congratulations to all athletes – what a great start to the outdoor season. I look forward to watching you compete on the weekend. See you later today at Glenmore. Robin
