Ashley’s luck changes with a silver medal

August has seen 4 Scunthorpe Youngsters compete at the English under 15 and under 17 championships. The first to try his luck was Jacob HAMMOND at the beginning of the month when he competed in the multi events championships at Stoke. This was Jacob’s first attempt at competing at this level when he lined up for the pentathlon. It would be fair to say he appeared overwhelmed in the first couple of events when surrounded by the best under 15 athletes in the country. The hurdles saw him down on his best when he hit a hurdle hard and nearly fell. The shot putt then saw him throw well over his personal best but it went out of the sector and didn’t count. However this seemed to spur him on and he then recorded a personal best in the Long Jump and was very close to his best in the High Jump. A solid run in the 800m helped him to a new points best and 13^th place. The experience will help for next year when he has to move up to a full Decathlon.

This weekend saw three more Scunthorpe athletes compete on the national stage when Ashley WREN, Alice KAYE and Kate PATTISON attended the track and field championships in Bedford. Pride of place went to Ashley who had suffered the heart ache of yet another fourth place at the English schools finals only last month earlier despite jumping a seasons best. This time around Ashley left nothing to chance and prepared by taking a short break to Dalyan in Turkey where not only did he carry on training but also picked up a ‘Turkish   eye ‘ symbol which the locals believe block evil and bring good luck. Ashley was  to finally enjoy some good luck after a season which had been littered with injuries, poor form and been relegated to fourth place in the final round of competitions. First he was greeted by  warm sunny conditions more like the weather he had left behind in Turkey , then he showed all his injuries were behind him with a consistent series of jumps over 6.63m which saw him 3^rd after the first 3 rounds and qualify for a further 3 jumps . Then Ashley raised his game to jump 6.84m and 6.85m in the last two rounds to claim a Silver medal. Throughout this time the Turkish eye was around his neck perhaps the good luck is more than superstition! 

Kate PATTISON was also competing in her first championships having only just moved into the age group. Kate was contesting both the Discus and the shot putt. Her first event the Discus should have been her strongest and a medal was a possibility however things didn’t go to plan and after only just qualifying for the final 3 rounds, Kate only managed to break 30m once and finished in 5^th place, with the frustrating knowledge that had she thrown near her best she would have won a medal. However Kate proved she is able to cope with disappointment and showed her competitive edge when she raised her game in the Shot putt and set a new personal best pushing her club record up to 10.76m. Unlike her club mates Kate is one of the youngest in her age group and will still be eligible for the under 15 championships next year were hopefully she will be able to push on for a medal or two.

The final competitor was Alice KAYE who had the choice of three events having shown excellent form this year over the 200m, 300m and the hurdles this season. Having run the 200m at the English schools finals and narrowly missed out on a place in the final Alice opted for the slightly longer 300m.Her decision seemed to be justified when on the first day after been drawn in the first of three heats, Alice put in a strong performance which saw her qualify easily for the final with a second place. However the final on the following day proved to be very quick with 3 girls going under 40 seconds, Alice should still take credit for a good run finishing in 7^th place in a time of 41.62 but again will think what could have been, having run very close to 40 seconds herself earlier in the season. Alice will look at what comes next when she will have the option to move up to the 400m or 400m hurdles next season.