Ross’ late show caps fine day for athletes from Norfolk schools

Norfolk Schools Championship athletics. Denis Assongo Tree, 14, from Langley School, winner of the triple jump.Picture: ANTONY KELLY (Image: Archant Norfolk 2015)

McLachlan came up with an outstanding long jump of 7.2m in the senior boy's event – a distance, seen by few since it came at the end of a very long meeting, which would rank him as second under-20 in the country.

In the under-17s age group, Daniel Bainbridge threw the javelin out to 56.86m to mark him as one of the top six in the country.

Another national top-six ranked performance came from Oliver Massingham, in the under-17 boys discus, when he threw the excellent distance of 46.06m.

There were good performances on the track, too, although these were affected by the breezy conditions. Elliott Holland ran a good 400m in 50.8secs in the senior age group and Luke Spear was a dominant winner in both the 800 and 1,500m in the under-17 age group. High jumpers did well too.

Matthew Grapes cleared 1.90m in the senior age group and newcomer A Leonard cleared 1.74m in the junior boys' group.

The sprints were very competitive, but were affected by the headwind. Jack Dearden was a clear winner in the senior age group, but was unable to repeat his recent county record 100 record. Ellie Taylor won another county title in the under-15 girls 1,500m, although she didn't have it all her own way as there were several other athletes in hot pursuit. Another good performance came from Megan Rushmore, who threw the hammer out to 41.03m.

Most of these athletes will be hoping to continue their success in the English Schools Championships at Gateshead next month.

The best of Norfolk's young athletes will be in action next week in the Anglian Schools Championships at Peterborough.

As ever, there was great enthusiasm in the younger age groups when new talent for the sport emerged.

However, there is cause for concern for numbers in the older age groups as the exam season takes its toll.