Abingdonian 2018

47 www.abingdon.org.uk Summer Term Alexander Moss, Thomas Butcher, Calum Steer and Adewale Adebutu came away with two team gold medals, winning the 4x100m and medley relays. The medley relay is the highlight event, consisting of 2x200m, 400m and 800m. The senior team put in a storming effort and despite the low temperatures and stiff breeze came within four seconds of the all time record, held by Marlborough College since 1970. The junior team consisting of James Connelly, Daniel Burger, Luka Shanidze and Rowan Miell-Ingram also walked away with their first pieces of silverware, finishing second behind Harrow in the medley relay, in a time of 4 minutes 14 seconds. The intermediate squad made up of Joshua Ponting, Alexander Pennington, Fergus Sweeting, Kipp Mainstone, Liam O’Hickey and Jasper Rolls also ran well in both events but narrowly missed out on the medals. ESAA Track and Field Cup Each year Abingdon enter the English Schools’ Track and Field Cup. This national competition is open for all schools to enter and is completed in three rounds: county, regional and the National Final. The Abingdon intermediate and junior squads performed well enough to progress through the county round of the competition in first place, earning the chance to compete at the Norman Green Athletics Centre in Solihull. A combination of multiple PB’s and excellent performances on both the track and in the field resulted in the intermediate team placing a close second with 397 points and the Juniors placing first with 388 points on the day. Results collated across the Midlands show that Abingdon finished fourth overall, which was not quite good enough to qualify for the National Final, but was still an excellent achievement. Individual Success Abingdon were well represented at the Oxfordshire Championships with a number of boys representing the Vale district. The Championship combines the four Oxford districts (North, South, City and Vale), bringing together the best athletes in the county to compete for the title and the chance to represent Oxfordshire on a national level. The boys performed superbly taking a clean sweep of victories in their track events. Joshua Mensah finished third in the shot put, while still a year young, showing great potential. Congratulations must be extended to James Connelly who, off the back of his performance at the County Championships, was selected to run the 100m for Oxfordshire at the English Schools’ National Final, held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Finally I would like to thank everyone who has supported the Athletics Club this year. The programme would not exist without the dedication and commitment shown by the boys, staff and parents. Elliot Birkbeck