After reaching the top eight following a sterling performance throughout the season, Thetford’s U17 Boys team earned their place in the East Anglian League Final at Bury St Edmunds. It is the second time in three years that a Thetford team has made it to the grand final of the region’s main athletics league competition after many of the same boys reached an identical point as Under 15s.
However, on this occasion, the U17s went one stage further as several tremendous performances resulted in the team grabbing third place in the competition.
Aiden Try finished 2nd in the 800m with a time of 2:07.4 whilst there was a fifth place finish in the 400m sprint where he clocked a time of 55.2. Over in the field events, Try secured a third place finish in the Triple Jump with a final leap of 10.97m.
William Jaura secured a hat-trick of personal best performances in his attempt to gain as many points for the team as possible, starting with a second place in the ‘B-string’ 100m sprint with a time of 11.8 followed by a third place in the ‘B-string’ 200m clocking 24.2 along the way. Jaura then threw 8.81m in the Shot Putt competition for fifth position.
Sam Rolph leapt 3.91m in the Long Jump event to secure sixth place followed by a 7th place in the ‘A-string’ 100m with a time of 25.2. Rolph managed a fifth place finish in the ‘A-string’ 100m with a time of 12 seconds.
Harley Swan ran 56.3 over 400m for second place in the ‘B-string’ event followed by 4th place in the 1500m with a time of 4:29.4. Swan also threw a personal best of 4.17m for fifth position in the javelin competition.
There was a second place in the Hammer Throw competition for Joseph Nicholson recording a distance of 41.37m whilst he threw a PB of 8.45m in the Shot Putt for third spot. Nicholson also threw 20.14 for fifth place in the Discus event.
James Parker-Hammond ran 2:32 for fifth position in the ‘B-string’ 800m. Parker-Hammond also leapt 1.25m in the High Jump for 5th place.
Despite finishing behind U17 winners, Ipswich Harriers (165 pts) and second place Nene Valley Harriers (143 pts), a third place finish on 114 points represented a fabulous day out for the hard-working and talented Thetford team who finished above many significantly larger clubs such as City of Norwich and Cambridge & Coleridge.
Elsewhere, Thetford’s senior athletes were in action at the Wissey Half-Marathon where Sabine Schaefer was the third place female athlete, finishing on a time of 1:32.34. Craig Goldie finished in 28th place recording a time of 1:30.19 whilst Karl Wright ran 1:35.54 for 48th position. Charlotte Smith ran 1:46.14 to finish in 93rd place.
