17 athletes from Paddock Wood A.C competed in the Sportshall Athletics competition at Swanley on Sunday. The club had 3 U/11 teams competing and one individual who joined another team from Ashford. In team 1 Alfie Stemp, who had competed for Kent in the Aviva Fun in Athletics Regional competition the previous Sunday at Burgess Hill, won the Vertical Jump with 52 cm, just one cm less than his win at Burgess Hill. He jumped 47 bounces in the Speed Bounce. Joining Alfie in team 1 was Richard Spencer who came 2nd in the Standing Long Jump with 2.03m. He came = 5th in the Ball Push with 5.25m. Another team member was Joelle Wilton who came 12th in the Vertical Jump with 36cm and jumped 42 in the Speed Bounce. The final team member was Paige Alford who was =2nd in the Ball Push with 5.50m and jumped 1.60m in the Long Jump. The team came 5th in the Obstacle relay and 3rd in the Under and Over. The team collected Bronze medals for finishing 3rd overall. In Team 2 Tory Randall and James O’Gorman both competed in the Standing Long Jump with James jumping 1.90m and Tory 1.80m finishing 4th and 5th respectively. James also finished 5th in the Ball Push with 5.25m and Tory 11th 4.75m. Jack Wakeford jumped 48 in the Speed Bounce and came 10th in the Vertical Jump with 36cm. His partner Sam Rustrick jumped 35cm. Sam also did the Speed Bounce and got 41 bounces. The team finished 3rd in the Obstacle Relay and = 9th in the Under and Over race. Team 2 finished in 4th place overall just 6 points behind team 1. The youngest team was team 3. Two members were competing in their first Sportshall and did very well. George Meavan came = 2nd in the Ball Push with 5.50m he jumped 1.44m in the Long Jump. Josh Parr, also in his first competition, jumped 1.68m in the Long Jump and managed 4.75m in the Ball Push. Thomas Hendley jumped 33cm in the Vertical Jump and 30 in the Speed Bounce. He was joined by Jem Devine in both these events. Jem jumped 31 in the Speed Bounce and 21 in the Vertical Jump. In the obstacle race Thomas Hendley on the last lap took the team from 3rd place up to first to win their heat. The team finished 11th. Harry Wakeford, who joined another team, was also a first timer at Sportshall. He pushed the ball 4.50m and jumped 29cm in the Vertical Jump. Harry also had a good run in the Obstacle Relay, bringing his team up from 4th to 1st place on the last lap.
In the U/15 age group Laura Wellbelove did well in the Vertical Jump scoring 44, then putt the Shot 5.12m and jumped 1.71m in the Long Jump. She finished 3rd overall. In the U/15 boys Mason Doyle, who has been picked to represent Kent in the Regional Final at Burgess Hill, jumped a magnificent 68 in the Vertical jump, 2.60m in the Long Jump and putt the Shot 8.94m. Mason had a tough race in the 2 lap with Alex Lynch from Ashford and managed to win the race, with both athletes being given the same time. Mason came 2nd overall. U/17 Georgia McCall got a PB in her Speed Bounce 73, jumped 2.18m in the Standing Long Jump and got 6.06m in the Shot Putt. Georgia won the U/17 event and took the Gold Medal. Rochelle D’Arcy jumped a PB in the vertical Jump 41cm, to finish 3rd overall.
Janet Duffin
