ESAA Championships
11th / 12th July 2003
Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield
Full
results, and photographs of ESAA T &F Champs 2003 on ESAA website
The 73rd English Schools Athletic
Championships were held at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffied for the fourth
time in the past eight years. This
year’s Dorset team was an equal mix of boys and girls (twelve of each) and one
in which the field events were less dominant than last year with fourteen field
eventers and ten track event athletes wearing the Dorset green. One of the most striking features of the
team was the high number of its members who were at the bottom end of their age
group: ten out of the twenty four representing their county were in the bottom
half of their age group, which means that, fitness and selection permitting,
they will be competing in the same age group again at Gateshead in 2004.
The warm up area was the brand new
English Institute of Sport indoor track adjacent to the stadium. It was
incredible to see the behaviour of some athletes and their team managers who
seemed to regard this pristine provision as a lounging area where litter could
be left and high jump and pole vault landing beds could be used to accommodate
an entire team at times. It is on such
occasions that Dorset team managers are grateful to be in charge of athletes
whom they know well and whose behaviour once again was impeccable. The atmosphere among the squad was as
positive and enthusiastic as I can recall: athletes supported each other when
things were going badly as well as when they were doing well, and we even had
the phenomenon of a team jog on each of the two evenings to loosen up after the
coach journey or a day spent sitting in the stands.
It is invidious, perhaps, to pick out
individual performances, but such is the nature of our sport that this is,
perhaps, inevitable. Top Junior Boy was
Andrew Mapstone, who displayed calmness, pace judgement and racing nous well
beyond his years. In the Inter Boys
category, the star was unquestionable Danny Hepplewhite who snatched victory in
the Shot with his last effort. The runner-up was not too pleased! This win
gained him an international vest the following weekend. In the 3000m, Sean
Hogan recorded a huge personal best
before going off to try and make his name with AFC Bournemouth. We wish him the best of luck in this
exciting venture. A seventh place for the young Daniel Brunsden was an
indication of the ability of this multi-talented thrower. Boys’ captain,
Stephen Small , is another athlete who is “a year young” and one who could
reach the top next season.
The Intermediate Girls were our most
successful category, winning the “C” counties trophy. Nikki Hamblin was
majestic in the 800m, despite not feeling 100%. She dominated her heat and semi
before emphatically stamping her authority on the final. Louise Watton may well
have been disappointed in “only” finishing second after winning last year, but
when one considers that this was her first competition of any sort for two
months and that she had been struggling with injury since January, it was a
remarkable effort underlining her talent, her competitiveness and her focus.
Judith Kaye’s podium position was a splendid reflection on the work done by her
coach, Dave Pearson, to raise the profile of this developing event in the
county. With Rachel Cork finishing eighth, this was a very successful age
group. Girls’ captain, Cara Roberts, finished a fine fifth in her event and it
was a delight to see one of the stalwarts of Dorset athletics, Helen
Arbuthnott, whose efforts are not limited to throwing heavy implements around
the stadium, but who also contributes to the sport as a team manager and level
2 coach, making the team in her final year.
The support of parents was as welcome
as it was well-directed. So often one hears of and witnesses over-ambitious
parents who push their offspring too hard. There was no evidence of this over
the weekend – only supportive encouragement and a n unobtrusive presence when
such was required. How encouraging, too, for the athletes to see their coaches
at the event! Many had travelled all the way to Sheffield to lend their support
– a testimony to their dedication.
Although this was not our most
successful championships, we achieved what we did without two of our strongest
runners who would probably have won two medals between them. When we can say that fourteen of the
twenty-four strong squad finished in the top ten in the country, we need not be
too despondent! No report is complete without reference to the excellent work
of the team managers whose patience, stamina, tact, humour and enthusiasm never
faltered over the weekend. It was
appropriate that Keith Hayman received a special Dorset Schools AA medal on
this his tenth successive English Schools Championships as a team manager.
Peter Fryer
Chairman Dorset Schools Athletic
Association.
Jun Boys (4)
Andrew Mapstone Beaminster 400m 6th Final 52.72 (N)
Matthew Clark Uplands 1500m 7th Ht. 4-25.61
Philip Anscombe (*) Sherborne Triple 14th
Final 12m01
Matthew Calver (*) Allenbourn Triple 16th Final 11m73
Inter Boys (6)
Nick Phillips (*) Purbeck 800m 6th Ht 2-03.81
Karl Welsh Summerbee 800m 7th Ht. 2-01.46
Sean Hogan Corfe
Hills 3000m 7th Final
8-51.82 (N) (PB)
Aaron Davies (*) Clayesmore 1500mS/C 15th Final 4-51.33
Dan Hepplewhite St. Peter’s Shot 1st Final 15m38 (N)
Dan Brunsden (*) Summerbee Javelin 7th Final 52m06 (E)
Senior Boys (2)
Dan McDonald (*) Purbeck High 9th Final 1m90
Stephen Small (*) (Capt) Queen
Elizabeth Long 6th
Final 6m92 (E)
Junior Girls (4)
Serita Shone Thomas
Hardye 100m 5th Ht. 12.71 (E)
Hannah Stammas (*) Bournemouth SG 800m 8th
Final 2-24.06
3rd Ht. 2-19.9 (E)
Sarah Warsop Corfe
Hills Long 15th Final 4m86
Laura Carr Purbeck Javelin 10th Final 28m13
Inter Girls (5) Winners
of the Minor Counties trophy
Nikki Hamblin (*) Wey
Valley 800m 1st Final 2-10.28 (N)
Gemma Eastman Parkstone
GS High 21st Final 1m49
Judith Kaye Parkstone GS Pole Vault 5th
Final 2m95 (E) (=PB)
Rachel Cork St.
Mary’s Shot 8th Final 10m39
Louise Watton Lytchett
Minster Javelin 2nd Final 41m05 (N)
Senior Girls (3)
Carly Dean (*) Weymouth
Coll. 400mH 8th Final 68.11
Cara Roberts (Capt) Gillingham Long 5th Final 5m45 (E)
Helen Arbuthnott B’th
& Poole Coll. Hammer 11th Final 34m70
Team Managers:
Kerry Hayman (Highcliffe), Fiona Lilley
(Ashdown), Liz Scott (Kings High), Keith Hayman (Bournemouth), Peter Fryer
(Canford)
(*) = athlete at the bottom end of the
two year age group.