Carl Worthington
In 2014, British Athletics launched the Club:Connect initiative, with the objective of recognising and rewarding significant contributions made by clubs in supporting athletes through all levels of their athletics journey.
In recognition of Sale Harriers getting to the Junior YDL final in 2018, Club:Connect invited our junior U13 & U15 athletes to compete in a 4x200m relay competition at the Muller International Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday 16th February 2019. Competing against some of the fastest junior athletes in the country, there was a lot of pressure on our young athletes; especially as the winning teams would each receive £250 for their club.
The U13 girls were first up and included Thea Brown, Holly Garner, Lily Edson and Tia Grover. Our first runner was Thea, who despite being given the outside lane stormed round the track and handed over to Holly in second place to Milton Keynes. Holly powered round the first bend and soon overtook the Milton Keynes athlete down the back straight. Despite being three meters in front, Holly was forced to handover to Lily on the outside, which meant Lily and then Tia had to cover a greater distance than any other athlete. Coming round the final bend, there was a three way sprint to the finish line with Sale Harriers eventually being placed a close third.
Next up were the U13 boys who consisted of Joshua Eme, Tolu Adeyemi, Max Cunningham and Tim Zola. Fortunately, the U13 boys were given the inside lane and took full advantage of it. Our first two runners, Joshua and Tolu were in a different league to the other runners and by the time Tolu handed over to Max, Sale Harriers had a 10 meter lead on the other clubs. Despite Max only being 11 years old, he ran with maturity and was able to maintain the lead when handing over to Tim. Reading and Black Heath were defiant in their running and were right on Tim’s shoulder coming around the last bend. Despite immense pressure, Tim was able to hold off the other athletes and triumphantly came through the line in first place!
Our U15 fast girls were next to race and included Success Eduan, Favour Joseph, Jasmine Richardson and Natachi Nwosu. As expected, Success and Favour were dominant in their running and gained us a massive lead on the other clubs. Despite Black Heath gaining on Jasmine, their hand over was poor; thereby enabling Natachi to take a five meter lead and easily win the race.
Finally, it was the turn of the U15 boys’ team, consisting of Leonardo Scott, Basil Zola, Sammy Breingan and Tom Boyd. Despite a valiant effort from all four lads, Marshall Milton Keynes dominated the race throughout and convincingly won the race.
For the rest of the day, the athletes were able to relax and get inspired watching international athletes break world records.
Congratulations to all athletes who competed.
