Cardiff & Vale Schools track and field season ends on high note

For the last thirty years, the year 7 championships have been held as a long, all-day event for boys and girls, usually at Jenner Park and starting at 10am in the morning and finishing at 5pm. Following problems at the 2008 championships, it was decided this year to split into separate afternoons for boys and girls and the change seemed to work well.

In the boys’ events, it was interesting to see a possible solution emerging to a long-standing Cowbridge problem. The Messrs Williams – the now retired Hugh and the still contributing Glan – have long expressed their disappointment that they have been unable to unearth a quality sprinter. Not since the days of ginger-haired Neil Powell in the 90s have they had a boy who can make his mark at Cardiff & the Vale level, or beyond, over 100 metres. It is very early days, but in George Griffiths they may have found one. In the second half of the meeting, after the relay heats and some of the field events, the young Griffiths won his 100 heat easily, clocking 13.4 seconds into a 1.7 metres head wind, and then went on to take the A final in 13.2 seconds, but aided with a following wind. That A final provided Cowbridge with 29 of their 225 team points with Griffiths claiming 17 for his win and team-mate Harry Dowell-Bennett adding another 12 for his fifth place.

There was further success for young Griffiths in the field where he won the long jump with a leap of 4.67 metres and claimed third place in the high jump thanks to a clearance at 1.40 metres, and in the last event of the day when he ran a leg for the Cowbridge team which won the A relay final.

There were four more Vale winners. After his fifth place in the 100 metres, Harry Dowell-Bennett contested the shot, in which he finished seventh, and the discus, which he won with a best throw of 22.47 metres, while his team-mate Josh Thomas was the fastest of the 48 boys who competed in the 800 metres time-trials. Llantwit had two winners, Hugo Billington in the shot and Ben Brown in the 1000 metres walk.

The Vale girls matched and almost bettered the boys’ performances.

In Chelsea Siirak, they had arguably the top sprinter in action. In the first half of the meeting, the Bro Morgannwg pupil was easily the top 200 metres runner winning her heat with the fastest time (29.2) of the day and taking the A final in a slightly slower 29.5. In the 100 metres, after the relay heats, she won her heat in 14.8 and was first to finish in the A final but was disqualified. She bounced back to help the Bro Morgannwg quartet to win the A relay final.

The two middle distance time-trials were dominated by girls who had represented Cardiff & the Vale district at last February’s Welsh Schools National cross-country championships. In the 800, Cowbridge pupils had the two fastest times, with Jordan Carpenter winning and Annabel Curle, who won the high jump at 1.35 metres, finishing second while Kate Coker (Stanwell, 5:29.7) was faster than Erin Hayes (Llantwit, 5:34.1) over 1500 metres.

On the field, in addition to Curle’s victory in the high jump, there was success in the throws for Ellis Auclas (St Cyres, 17.50m) in the discus and Danielle Dakin-Weston (Llantwit, 19.82) in the javelin.

In the team competitions, mention must be made of one other performance. In finishing third in the boys’ section, St Cyres produced its best result for many years.

All the pupils, who won events at these two championships, are due to receive their awards at the Cardiff & the Vale Schools’ Track & Field Presentation Evening, which will be held at Cardiff High School on Tuesday, September 8, starting at 7 pm.

VALE RESULTS

Year 7 Boys - Jenner Park

100:

Ht 1 (-0.1): 1 Che Pomphrey (St Cy) 13.5; Ht 2 (-3.3): 5 Joshua Slack (St Rich G) 16.4; Ht 3 (-2.0): 4 Gethin Evans-Cooper (Bro M) 15.0; 5 John Fraser (Barry) 15.8; Ht 4 (+0.8): 3 Ben Murphy (Lwt) 14.7; 4 Nick Sherrin (Barry) 14.9; Ht 5 (-0.2): 1 Jake Keating (St Cy) 14.0; Ht 6 (+1.9): 3 Joel Lapton (Stan) 14.4; Ht 7 (+1.5): 2 Niall Curtin (Stan) 14.9; 3 Robert Tucker (St Rich G) 15.6; 4 Kellen Gregg (West) 15.9; Ht 8 (-1.7): 1 George Griffiths (Cow) 13.4; 2 Frank Peake (Bro M) 15.1; 3 Rhys Buglar (Lwt) 15.3; Ht 9 (-0.7): 1 Harry Dowell-Bennett (Cow) 13.6; 5 Sam Sharpe (West) 16.0; A Fin (+1.2): 1 George Griffiths (Cow) 13.2; 4 Che Pomphrey (St Cy) 13.5; 5 Harry Dowell-Bennett (Cow) 13.8; B Fin (-1.6): 2 Jake Keating (St Cy) 13.9; C Fin (-2.1): 6 Joel Lapton (Stan) 16.1

200:

Ht 1 (+1.5): 2 Sam Laity (West) 28.8; 6 Alex Griffiths (Lwt) 32.2; Ht 2 (+2.1): 3 Zak Summerhayes (West) 31.1; Ht 3 (+1.9): 1 Joe Gaughan (Cow) 29.6; 2 Connor Clarke (Lwt) 30.0; 3 Duncan Kieling (Stan) 30.3; 6 Jamie Raisis (Barry) 33.3; Ht 4 (+0.3): 1 Che Pomphrey (St Cy) 28.1; 2 James Walsh (Bro M) 29.4; 3 Oliver Evans (Cow) 29.7; Ht 5 (+2.7): 1 Callum Smith (St Cy) 27.6; 3 Joel Lapton (Stan) 31.4; Ht 7 (+2.6): 5 Tom Bellamy (St Rich G) 36.6; Ht 8 (+0.9): 5 Anthony Goddard (Barry) 33.8; 6 Callum Crabbe (St Rich G) 33.9; Ht 9 (+2.6): 1 Gethin Evans-Cooper (Bro M) 28.2; A Fin (-0.7): 2 Che Pomphrey (St Cy) 27.6; 3 Callum Smith (St Cy) 27.6; 5 Gethin Evans-Cooper (Bro M) 30.3; B Fin (+1.8): 1 Sam Laity (West) 28.0; C Fin (-2.8): 1 Joe Gaughan (Cow) 29.8; 2 James Walsh (Bro M) 29.9; 4 Oliver Evans (Cow) 30.5

800:

1 Joshua Thomas (Cow) 2:28.6; 3 Ben Owen (Lwt) 2:30.1; 4 Cameron Jones (Cow) 2:32.9; 6 Tomos Havard (St Cy) 2:37.6; 17 Iwan Mepham (Bro M) 2:49.3; 18 Lucas Jones (Barry) 2:49.4; 22 Tim Harry (Stan) 2:50.7; 24 Calvin McCann (Barry) 2:55.2; 26 Joe Solomon (Lwt) 2:55.6; 27 Daniel Bell (St Rich G) 2:56.9; 28 Kieran Daw (St Cy) 2:57.1; 34 Mitchell Heffernant (St Rich G) 3:01.6; 36 Joseph Richards (Bro M) 3:03.2; 40 Kellen Gregg (West) 3:06.7

1500:

2 Dafydd George (Bro M) 5:25.8; 4 Rhys Schuster (St Cy) 5:32.2; 6 Iwan Thomas (Bro M) 5:34.6; 8= Arran Bright (Lwt) 5:35.8; 13 Mark Radz (Barry) 5:39.7; 14 Tom Owen (Cow) 5:41.9; 24 Scott Townsend (Barry) 5:56.6; 26 Robert Tucker (St Rich G) 5:59.1; 29 Jordan Row (St Rich G) 6:01.3; 30 James Humage (Stan) 6:01.6; 31 Caynan Bowen (St Cy) 6:02.0; 32 Connor Beattie (Lwt) 6:05.6

75H:

Ht 1 (+1.0): 4 Alan Evans (Bro M) 15.3; 5 Harry Simpson (St Cy) 15.3; Ht 2 (-2.9): 2 Kieran Daw (St Cy) 15.3; 5 Jack Burbidge (Bro M) 15.8; Ht 3 (+1.2): 3 Reece Bennett (Lwt) 15.4; 4 Duncan Kieling (Stan) 15.5; Ht 4 (-2.9): 5 Connor Beattie (Lwt) 17.1; 6 George Kynaston (Stan) 17.2; Ht 5 (+0.9): 1 Brad Rosser (Cow) 14.9; 2 Jamie Raisis (Barry) 16.1; 4 Ashley Steer (St Rich G) 16.5; Ht 6 (+2.4): 2 Tyler Rogers (Cow) 14.6; 4 Daniel Brock (Barry) 17.5; 5 Jack Marshman (St Rich G) 17.7; A Fin (+2.6): 3 Tyler Rogers (Cow) 14.4; B Fin (+0.9): 1 Brad Rosser (Cow) 14.5; C Fin (+0.7): 2 Harry Simpson (St Cy) 15.3; 3 Alan Evans (Bro M) 15.3; 4 Kieran Daw (St Cy) 15.4; 5 Rhys Bennett (Lwt) 15.7

4x100:

Ht1: 1 Cowbridge 53.9; 3 Stanwell 58.3; Ht3: 1 Bro Morgannwg 58.2; 4 Westbourne 60.0 1; 5 Barry 62.7; Ht 4: 1 St Cyres 55.7; 3 Llantwit Major 58.6; 5 St Richard Gwyn 63.6; A Fin: 1 Cowbridge 55.0; 2 St Cyres 55.3; B Fin: 2 Stanwell 58.2; 3 Bro Morgannwg 58.3; 4 Llantwit Major 59.2

1000 Walk:

1 Ben Brown (Lwt) 5:56.8; 8 Josh Richmond (Barry ns) 6:45.0; 9 Tom Havard (St Cy) 6:56.6; 10 Marcus Knevett (Cow) 7:07.0; 11 Leon Clifford (Barry ns) 7:14.5; 12 Theo Richards (Barry ns) 7:16.0; 13 Lewis Foran (Barry) 7:21.3; 14 Gareth Hurman (Barry) 7:22.1; 15 Gareth Peake (Bro M) 7:22.3

HJ:

3 George Griffiths (Cow) 1.40; 6 Declan Thomas (Cow) 1.25; 8 Gareth Peake (Bro M) 1.25; 9= Gethin Evans-Cooper (Bro M) 1.20; 14 Tim Harry (Stan) 1.20; 18 Jake Sutch (Lwt) 1.20; 22 Kieran Daw (St Cy) 1.15; 28 Tom Bellamy (St Rich G) 1.10; Scott Townsend (Barry) & Iori More (West) nh

LJ:

1 George Griffith (Cow) 4.67; 4 Che Pomphrey (St Cy) 4.18; 5 Callum Smith (St Cy) 4.13; 10 Joshua Thomas (Cow) 3.99; 11 Alan Evans (Bro M) 3.98; 20 Iwan Mepham (Bro M) 3.71; 21 Duncan Keeling (Stan) 3.68; 23 Dylan Robertson (West) 3.67; 25 Calum Hughes (Stan) 3.61; 28 Ben Murphy (Lwt) 3.56; 29 Iorri Moore (West) 3.50; 39 Rees Bennett (Lwt) 3.21; 40 John Frazer (Barry) 3.19; 41 Callum Crabbe (St Rich G) 3.16; 42 Rhys Davis-Herbert (Barry) 3.11; 44 Taylor Fiddler (St Rich G) 2.87

SP:

1 Hugo Billington (Lwt) 9.65; 2 Sam Laity (West) 9.05; 3 Joe Gaughan (Cow) 9.00; 4 Rhys Forse (Barry) 8.94; 7 Harry Dowell-Bennett (Cow) 8.59; 9 Nigel Lucero (St Cy) 8.29; 11 Richard Evans (Bro M) 7.84; 12 Cengiz Ziyaiddin (Stan) 7.83; 17 Ben Brown (Lwt) 7.38; 23 Trenton Scantlebury (St Cy) 7.16; 24 Jordan Case (Barry) 6.96; 32 David Bell (St Rich G) 6.29; 33 Jacob Conway (Bro M) 6.29; 35 Matthew Holder (Stan) 6.26; 42 Ashley Steer (St Rich G) 5.71; 45 Paul Hicks (West) 5.25

DT:

1 Harry Dowell-Bennett (Cow) 22.47; 3 Hugo Billington (Lwt) 19.02; 4 Nigel Lucero (St Cy) 17.34; 7 Joe Richards (Bro M) 15.75; 10 Cengiz Ziyaeddin (Stan) 14.65; 13 Mitchell Hessernan (St Rich G) 14.05; Lucas Jones (Barry) nt

JT:

2 Harry Stubbington (Cow) 26.47; 3 Jack Sutton (Lwt) 25.16; 5 Iwan Mepham (Bro M) 24.03; 6 Daniel Brook (Barry) 21.85; 11 Harry Simpson (St Cy) 20.50; 13 Kellen Greg (West) 19.69; 20 Jack Hazelwood (St Rich G) 12.52; 22 George Kynaston (Stan) 11.25

Team:

1 Cowbridge 225; 3 St Cyres 155; 5 Bro Morgannwg 109; 8 Llantwit 91; 14 Barry 41; 15 Westbourne 31; 16= Stanwell 24; 25 St Richard Gwyn 4

Year 7 Girls – Jenner Park

100:

Ht 1 (-0.8): 4 Meg Langton-Cryer (Cow) 16.6; Ht 2 (-0.8): 2 Niamh Gallagher (Cow) 15.5; 3 Alice Nottingham (Stan) 15.6; Ht 3 (-2.2): 3 Millie Jones (Bro M) 15.8; 6 Kirsty Hogg (St Cy) 17.2; Ht 4 (-2.8): 2 Paige Lewis (St Cy) 16.5; Ht 6 (-2.3): 3 Rachel Cosier (Bryn H) 15.4; 4 Sophia Swaffield (St Rich G) 16.4; Ht 7 (-2.2): 2 Imogen Sibert (Stan) 15.7; 4 Phoebe Nixon (Lwt) 17.2; Ht 8 (-2.8): 1 Chelsea Sirak (Bro M) 14.8; 2 Shanella Evans (Lwt) 14.9; 4 Gabby King (St Rich G) 16.3; 6 Siobhan Lewis (Bryn H) 19.4; A Fin (-3.4): 3 Shanella Evans (Lwt) 15.1; Disq Chelsea Siirak (Bro M); B Fin (-2.9): 2 Rachel Cosier (Bryn H) 15.5; C Fin (-1.1): 1 Niamh Gallagher (Cow) 15.4; 4 Alice Nottingham (Stan) 15.8; 5 Imogen Sibert (Stan) 16.0

200:

Ht 1 (-1.2): 3 Angharad Poole (Cow) 32.6; 5 Gabby King (St Rich G) 35.2; Ht 3 (-0.2): 1 Chelsea Siirak (Bro M) 29.2; 4 Paige Lewis (St Cy) 33.5; 6 Phoebe Paley (Stan) 34.9; Ht 4 (-0.1): 2 Ellie Atkinson (Lwt) 31.1 Ht 5 (-1.9): 1 Paige Jones (St Rich G) 31.9; 3 Elllie Cridland (Cow) 33.9; 6 Nikita Statham (Bryn H) 38.1; Ht 6 (-0.4): 2 Tamara Summerhayes (St Cy) 33.0; Ht 7 (-0.6): 3 Zola Hargreaves (Stan) 32.7; Ht 8 (-0.8): 1 Millie Jones (Bro M) 30.9; Ht 9: 2 Alannah Goss (Lwt) 34.1; 4 Laura Spencer (Bryn H) 37.6; A Fin: 1 Chelsea Siirak (Bro M) 29.5; 4 Millie Jones (Bro M) 30.7; B Fin (0.6): 1 Ellie Atkinson (Lwt) 31.0; C Fin (-0.4): 1 Paige Jones (St Rich G) 31.5; 4 Zola Hargreaves (Stan) 33.0; 5 Angharad Poole (Cow) 33.1

800:

1 Jordan Carpenter (Cow) 2:40.6; 2 Annabel Curle (Cow) 2:43.4; 4 Tillie Carter (Bryn H) 2:52.7; 5 Rachel Cosier (Bryn H) 2:53.9; 16 Leah Wanger (Stan) 3:09.2; 18 Ruby Morgan (Bro M) 3:09.7; 19 Caitlin Young (Bro M) 3:09.8; 23 Laura Gale (Stan) 3:14.5; 29 Laura Braggins (Lwt) 3:24.6; 32 Jessie Price (Lwt) 3:28.9; 36 Abby Lee (St Rich G) 3:34.4; 37 Rachel Shalom (St Rich G) 3:36.2; 39 Abbie Keen (St Cy) 3:40.9

1500:

1 Kate Coker (Stan) 5:29.7; 2 Erin Hayes (Lwt) 5:34.1; 3 Lauren Williamson (St Rich G) 5:36.4; 6 Chloe Lewis (Stan) 5:59.1; 14 Georgina Wilson-Dixon (St Cy) 6:24.1; 15 Lydia Parsons (Lwt) 6:25.4; 17 Charlie Bowen (Bro M) 6:28.7; 19 Olivia Brown (Cow) 6:30.2; 22 Ffion Davies (Bro M) 6:33.8; 25 Alex Moss (St Rich G) 6:38.8; 27 Chelsea Newman (Bryn H) 6:40.7; 29 Sophie Thomas (Cow) 6:47.1; 35 Tamara Summerhayes (St Cy) 7:28.2; 40 Rowan Smith (Bryn H) 7:48.3

70H:

Ht 1 (-0.6): 2 Jessica Morgan (Bro M) 14.9; Ht 2 (1.6): 1 Hannah Woodward (Cow) 13.8; 5 Lora Spencer (Bryn H) 17.4; Ht 3 (-0.2): 2 Jennifer Hampton (Bro M) 13.6; Ht 4 (0.5): 1 Sarah Lewis (Cow) 14.1; 3 Amy Drew (Lwt) 14.8; 4 Alisa Jones (Stan) 16.2; 5 Charlotte Hobbs (St Cy) 16.5; Ht 5 (0.3): 6 Natasha Small (St Cy) 17.9; Ht 6 (-0.2): 4 Kate Coker (Stan) 17.1; 5 Chloe James (Bryn H) 17.8; Ht 7 (-1.4): 2 Emily Ward (Lwt) 15.6; 4 Shanon Williiams (St Rich G) 17.1; Ht 8 (-0.5): 1 Sophia Swaffield (St Rich G) 15.0; A Fin (-1.6): 2 Hannah Woodward (Cow) 13.4; 3 Jennifer Hampton (Bro M) 13.8; B Fin (0.6): 1 Sarah Lewis (Cow) 14.1; C Fin (-0.4): 1 Amy Drew (Lwt) 14.5; 2 Jessica Morgan (Bro M) 14.5; 3 Sophia Swaffield (St Rich G) 14.6

4x100:

Ht1: 1 Bro Morgannwg 58.6; 3 St Richard Gwyn 63.7; Ht2: 2 Cowbridge 61.1; 3 Llantwit Major 61.3; Ht3: 1 Stanwell 62.1; 3 St Cyres 66.2; Ht 4: 4 Bryn Hafren 67.5; A Fin: 1 Bro Morgannwg 58.6; B Fin: 1 Cowbridge 60.2; 3 Llantwit Major 61.6; 5 Stanwell 62.5

1000 Walk:

5 Megan Dancey (Bro M) 6:41.0; 6 Kate Llewellyn (Cow) 6:41.8; 7 Kate Spence (St Rich G) 6:46.0; 8 Jessica Morgan (Bro M) 6:47.2; 10 Elenor Morgan (Cow) 7:02.7; 11 Suzie Collins (Stan) 7:09.0; 14 Sophie Lee (Lwt) 7:23.3; 17 Taylor Sullivan (St Rich G) 7:26.7; 21 Adele Mortimer (Lwt) 8:01.2

HJ:

1 Annabel Curle (Cow) 1.35; 8 Kate Spencer (St Rich G) 1.15; 11 Jennifer Hampton (Bro M) 1.15; 13 Charlotte Hobbs (St Cy) 1.15; 20= Jessica Morgan (Bro M) 1.10; 20= Amy Drew (Lwt) 1.10 & Issie Eddie Williams (Cow) 1.10; 28= Lauren Williamson (St Rich G) 1.05 & Laura Gale (Stan) 1.05; 32= Rowan Smith (Bryn H) 1.05; 37 Emily Ward (Lwt) 1.05; 38= Lauren Bailey (St Cy) 1.00; Nikita Statham (Bryn H) nh; Megan O'Brien (Stan) nh

LJ:

3 Rachel Cosier (Bryn H) 3.60; 4 Shanella Evans (Lwt) 3.59; 7 Alice Nottingham (Stan) 3.50; 8 Nagan Dancey (Bro M) 3.43; 10 Sarah Lewis (Cow) 3.40; 12 Lilly Evans (Bro M) 3.35; 16 Izzy Eddie Williams (Cow) 3.26; 17 Leah Wenger (Stan) 3.25; 18 Ellie Atkinson (Lwt) 3.22; 21 Kirsty Hogg (St Cy) 3.06; 28 Tillie Carter (Bryn H) 2.97; 39 Lauren Bailey (St Cy) 2.57; 41 Angelina Hoyle (St Rich G) 2.55; 43 Abby Dee (St Rich G) 2.48

SP:

3 Lydia Hitchings (Cow) 7.09; 4 Hannah Woodward (Cow) 7.05; 10 Taylor Sullivan (St Rich G) 6.58; 11 Danielle Dakin-Weston (Lwt) 6.48; 12 Melissa Lewis (St Cy) 6.42; 26 Adele Mortimore (Lwt) 5.72; 30 Shannon Williams (St Rich G) 5.58; 33 Ellie Blake (Bro M) 5.12; 34 Keeley Durham (Stan) 5.10; 36 Fiona McGuin (Stan) 5.07; 38 Mannon Cooper (Bro M) 4.94; 45 Siobhan Lewis (Bryn H) 3.95

DT:

1 Ellis Auclas (St Cy) 17.50; 11 Rhian Bimford (Bro M) 14.02; 13 Shanella Evans (Lwt) 13.87; 15 Natasha Stait (Bryn H) 13.39; 18 Paige Jones (St Rich G) 12.27; 19 Caitlin Howells (Cow) 12.16; 23 Vicki Williams (Stan) 10.66

JT:

1 Danielle Dakin-Weston (Lwt) 19.82; 2 Rachel Shalon (St Rich G) 18.29; 11 Georgina Wilson-Dixon (St Cy) 13.00; 18 Ailsa Jones (Stan) 10.65; 19 Ashley Williams (Bro M) 10.49; 20 Jordan Carpenter (Cow) 9.98; 22 Hannah Moore (Bryn H) 9.36

Team:

4 Cowbridge 143; 7 Bro Morgannwg 108; 9 Llantwit 98; 11 St Richard Gwyn 66; 13 Stanwell 55; 14 Bryn Hafren 41; 15 St Cyres 35.