Record number of young athletes

Before I publish in the next few days the names of the 26 young athletes from WADAC that have been selected for English schools, it is worth reminding everyone of the journey they have been on to get there.This is an astonishing number from one club and a record for WADAC and represents the progress the club is making.For most of these athletes, particularly in the younger age groups, the journey started on the 9th May in the Eastleigh & Winchester District trials where the first two in each event are chosen for the E & W district team for the Hampshire schools champs. Just getting in this team can be an achievment in itself with so many talented athletes across many large schools in 1 district.The next part of the journey is the Hampshire Schools champs in Portsmouth on the 10th June and see below for what happened to the clubs athletes on this day. Frustratingly, the results from this event still haven't appeared on pof10 and it isn't always to spot the clubs athletes as they compete for their various schools districts so I hope I haven't missed anyone.For the Senior girls (U20), Beth Austin (coach Andy Fisher) won the 400mh and Amy Wall (coach Andy Fisher) won the long jump. Millie Cutts (coach Andy Fisher) was 4th in the triple jump.For the Senior Boys (U20), Rohan Gray (coach Mark Upton) was 3rd in the 100m, Henry Shadbolt (coach Mark Upton) was 4th in the 200m and Alex Beck (coach Mark Upton) won the 400m. Gus Bowden (coach Andy Fisher) won the sprint hurdles and came 2nd in the long hurdles. Sam Jarrett (coach Ernie Chambers) won the triple jump and Charlie Elford-Pond (coach Eric Davison) won the hammer.Next to the Inter girls (U17) where Carys Jeffries (coach Andy Fisher) was 3rd in long jump and 4th in the 200m. Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) won the 300m ahead of Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) in 2nd place. Rebekah went on to win the sprint hurdles. Darcy Hawkins (coach Nick Anderson) was 5th in her heat of the 800m. Eve Bailey (coach James Mann) was 5th in the 1500m with training partner Harriet Joslin (coch James Mann) in 9th. Grace Weeks (coach Gary Bettridge) was 2nd in the sprint hurdles. Mia Judd (coach Tony Bateman) won the high jump, Abi Belward (coach Andy Fisher) won the shot putt, Erin McBriar (coach Martin McBriar) won the discus and Evie Scott (coach Martin McBriar) was 2nd in the hammer.For the Inter boys age group (U17), Vander Thompson (coach Mark Upton) was 4th in his heat of the 100m. Oliver Wye (coach Mark Upton) was 6th in the 400m. Eddie Chambers (coach James Mann) was 2nd in the 800m with Ieuan Thomas (coach Nick Anderson) 6th in the same race. Will Atkins (coach Nick Anderson) won the 1500m with Thomas Jacobs (coach James Mann) in 4th and Ruben Price (coach Nick Anderson) in 5th. Jeffrey Chan (coach Andy Fisher) won the long jump and was 4th in the triple jump, Ethan Imhofe (coach Martin McBriar) was 5th in the shot putt and Sam Nicholson (coach Martin McBriar) was 6th in the javelin.Now the junior girls (U15), Bethan Bewick (coach Gary Bettridge) was 3rd in the 200m, Chloe Poore (coach Andy Fisher) was 2nd in the 300m ahead of training partner Lily Flute (coach Andy Fisher) in 4th. Francesca Joslin (coach James Mann) was 2nd in the 800m where Ellie Jepson (coach James Mann) and Millie Austin (coach James Mann) were 5th and 8th in their respective heats. Poppy Taylor (coach Nick Anderson) won the 1500m ahead of training partners Grace Baker (coach Nick Anderson) and Kate Atkinson (coach Nick Anderson) who were 8th and 10th respectively. Esme Buchanan (coach Andy Fisher) won the high jump ahead of training partner Poppy Crook (coach Andy Fisher) in 2nd. Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) won the long jump ahead of training partner Izzy Jordan (coach Andy Fisher) in 3rd. Beth Mball (coach Heather Sheffield) won the shot putt and Abi McBriar (coach Martin McBriar) won the discus.Finally the junior boys (U15). Felix Bowyer (coach Dave Sherry) was 7th in the 100m. Joel Stanton (coach Andy Fisher) was 5th in the 200m ahead of Hayden Rogers (coach Dave Sherry) in 6th. Zac Reynolds (coach Andy Fisher) won the 300m ahead of Monty Brindle (coach Dave Sherry) in 4th. Seth Noott (coach Nick Anderson) was 2nd in the 800m, Ivor Martin (coach Nick Anderson) won the 1500m ahead of Seb Murray (coach James Mann) in 2nd. Daniel Parr (coach Martin McBriar) was 4th in the discus. Ned Scott (coach Martin McBriar) won the javelin ahead of training partner Laurence Hutchison (coach Martin McBriar) in 2nd place and Reuben Noott (coach Martin McBriar) was 2nd in the hammer.Many of these athletes were then selected to compete for their county schools team in the schools inter-counties match in Basingstoke on Saturday and I will report on the results from this event tomorrow.