Reading Athletic Club’s U17/U20 male and female athletes made the long trip to Norwich this past Sunday for the opening fixture of the Youth Development League fixture of the Upper Age Group.
Although the team were depleted in a few areas, the effort could not be faulted by the many who attended and covered the events of those who were missing as the club finished 5th of the 6th teams, although they can take heart from a number of good performances on the day, but equally it’s clear that with those missing at the weekend, back in the team for round 2, that they are more than capable of improving on that position.

Reading’s female side fared well in tough conditions, not helped by a few absentees, meaning those who competed had to more than their fair share on the day to cover as many events as possible. But huge credit to those who competed however as they rallied round very willingly to ensure every point was squeezed from the match, despite what was clearly a long day for all concerned.
Amber-Leigh Hall made a more than smooth transition from the U15 age group into the U17 age group as she completed a fantastic hatrick of victories, one of which was a new club record. Her day began in the U17 100m in which she held her form well to take victory in 12.57. Amber then sliced off almost an entire second off her 200m personal best when romping to victory in 25.35, but it was the 80mh hurdles that saw her set a new club record as she raced to victory in a time of 11.62 to break the club record and lift Amber to 2nd in the UK rankings for her age group.
Amy Herrington was another to add her name to the record books as she set a new league record as she beat the existing mark in the U17 hammer throw with a winning distance of 51.33m. For good measures she later secured 2nd in the U17 shot putt with a distance of 10.22.
The throwing squad excelled themselves during the match, elsewhere in the hammer, Danni Opara & Michaela Whitton both secured 4th in the U20 strings, the shot putt also proved profitable as Danni won the competition for the U20’s with Amy Holder securing victory in the b-string. The discus saw a similar theme, Amy Holder won the competition with 42.08m, Danni secured maximum points in the b-string with 40.51m whilst Michaela threw well in the U17 string to claim victory with 35.48m. Katherine West took javelin victory on her last throw with a winning distance of 40.16m, Rosie Stanton won the U20 b-string, whilst Katie Holt placed 2nd in the U17 string.
Some pleasing results were gained in the jumps as Amy Holder secured 2ndA in the pole vault, with Melissa Lowe winning the b-string, whilst Phoebe Thomas secured 2nd in the U17 string. Mollie Pritchard jumped well in the high jump with a 1.50m clearance whilst Lauren Herrington cleared 1.35m for valuable points. In the long jump Nicole Harkness placed 6th with Grace Tatam 3rdB, whilst in the U17 string Katrina Vidzupe leapt 4.88m which surprisingly was only good enough for 5th. The triple jump saw Amy Holder place 3rdA with Nicole 4thB, whilst Rosie Stanton’s first competition in the event resulted in 3rd in the U17 string.
The middle distance events saw many of the girls double up to cover the events. Lauren Herrington claimed 3rd in a fast U20 a-string whilst Shannon Kennedy set a new best in the b-string for 5th. Georgia Walton showed a terrific turn of speed as she won the U17 800m race, with Lydia Blythe taking 4thB. Both Lydia & Georgia then filled in the 3k to make sure no points were missed. Mollie Haines & Katherine West ran the 1500m for the U20’s as they took 5thA & 4thB respectively. Lois Meredith & Yasmin Thompson ran the U17 event both taking 5th, then as a sign of their commitment to the the club, Mollie, Lois & Yasmin literally finished their 1500m race & jogged to the 1500m s/c start to fill that, as Mollie took 3rd U20, with Lois & Yasmin both 4th in the U17 category.
In the sprints Reading were missing key U20 sprinters which meant a few others had to cover their events. U17 Amber McDonnell was the unlucky one who had to step up to a very fast U20 100m a-string, whilst Mollie Pritchard filled in for the b-string. In the 200m both Grace Tatam and Shannon Kennedy contested that race, whilst the 400m races saw Lauren Herrington place 5thA & Shannon Kennedy 6thB
In the U17 sprints, Phoebe Thomas ran both the 100m & 200m to good effect, in the 100m she placed 2nd in 13.33 before placing 3rd in the 200m. In the 300m race Grace Tatam & Georgia Walton both placed 4th in their respective races.
In the hurdle races both Katrina Vidzupe & Katie Holt set new personal bests in the U17 300mh races as Katrina placed 3rdA with 46.61 whilst Katie placed 2ndB with 48.13, Katie then later winning the b-string 80mh race very impressively.
The relays were met with mixed results, the most impressive came from the U17 quartet of Amber, Katie, Katrina & Phoebe raced to 2nd in 50.86.