A forty-strong band of DASH AC Athletes, Coaches and Parents travelled on the Coach to Leeds for the 2012 Leeds Young Athletes Indoor Open on Saturday, coming home with a host of medals and big personal bests.

In the Under 11 Girls, Catherine Giller demonstrated that her success this winter is not just limited to the sportshall, winning two Gold medals. The first of these came in the 60m, where a time of 9.6 seconds was good enough to take the victory ahead of Macy Ellis of Longwood Harriers. In the Long Jump, Catherine leapt out to a personal best jump of 3.34m, with Macy Ellis again in silver medal position with Alice Orton of Holmfirth Harriers taking the Bronze. Eva Lock, competing indoors for the first time, jumped fantastically well to finish in fifth place and just nine centimetres off a medal position.

 In the Under 13's there was a strong silver medal for Katie Waterworth in the 60m, winning her heat in a personal best time of 9.0 seconds, ahead of Stockport Harrier Grace Bower with 9.1 seconds. Brooke Tilley, in her forst competition as an Under 13, also won her heat, finishing 13th overall in a time of 9.6 seconds. In the 60m Hurdles, Ruth Hardy finished 10th in 12.6, with Alice Giller 13th with 13.1 in her first race over the hurdles. Rebecca Muirhead took silver in the Under 13 Girls shot with 7.35m, just a single centimetre ahead of Doncaster AC's Kara Wilson. 

The Under 13 Boys also performed well, with several athletes making their debuts in the age group. James Ainley took bronze in the 60m with a time of 8.7 seconds in hisfirst ever race at the distance. Also competing in the event for the first time were Sam Cofano, Dexter Gilbert and Matthew Ainley, who finished in sixth, seventh and thirteenth places respectively, with a win in his heat for Dexter in his first competition for the Club on the track. Adam Day took silver in the Shot with 6.33m, behind Brandon Lewis of Chesterfield AC. Adam completed a successful day with another silver, this time with a jump of 1.15m in the High Jump.

Evie Hancox finished second in her heat of the Under 15 Girls 60m Hurdles, with a time of 11.1 seconds, but showing a much improved technique over the barriers. David Ward finished just out of the medals in fourth place in the boys race, in 11.0 seconds, whilst Sam Doherty ran 12.5 for sixth. Libby Geary beat the nine-second barrier in the 60m for the first time, running 8.9 to win her heat, with Lizzie Stanway fourth in 9.4 seconds. Megan Franklin also ran a personal best to take the victory in her heat in a time of 9.0. James Cash jumped 4.49m in the long jump to finish fifth but just fourteen centimetres outside of the medals, and showing promising technical improvements with his new hitch-kick technique. James also competed in the high jump, where a personal best of 1.45m saw him take a well-deserved bronze medal, 10cm ahead of fourth-placed Aaron Kettlewell of Holmfirth Harriers. Joe Mullin smashed his personal best in the Shot to finish fifth with 7.85m in his first year in the age group.

There was a nail-biting finish to the Under 17 Girls 60m final between two DASH AC Athletes, with Charlotte Ogden taking the victory in a new personal best of 8.1 seconds, the silver medal going to Laura Pegler, who also ran a personal best of 8.2. Both Athletes times surpassed the previous Championship Record. Clare Teeling ran 9.6 for 9th, with Emily Dacey 10th in 9.9 seconds, both running indoors for the first time. There was another Championship record for Charlotte in the Long Jump, where a consistent series of jumps finished with a leap of 5.16m to take the gold medal ahead of Leeds City's Hannah Ukandu, with DASH AC's Laura Pegler taking the bronze despite being significantly behind the takeoff board on all three attempts. There was a third Championship Record for Charlotte in the High Jump, an event she doesn't train for, but this time her 1.50m clearance was only good enough for the bronze medal, with Lucy Chappell of Doncaster AC and Beth Taylor of Rotherham Harriers both clearing the same 1.50m height, but going ahead of Charlotte on count back. Sam Carter-Blyth surapssed his personal best in the Long Jump by almost seventy centimetres with 4.98m, after winning his 60m heat in a personal best of 7.6 seconds. Sam rounded the day off, with another personal best and 1.45m to take the bronze medal in the High Jump.

It was a great day for all the DASH Athletes who travelled. Thanks to all the Coaches who supported the trip and to all the parents who came along. Well done to everyone who took part, especially to the Under 11 and Under 13 Athletes who waited around for well over an hour after their events had finished for the older athletes to finish.

The next and final stop of the indoor season for our athletes is next Weekend's Aviva England Athletics Indoor Championships, where a record number of DASH Athletes have qualified to compete, as well as the North West Inter-Counties Sportshall Athletics Finals, where many of our Athletes are representing Greater Manchester. Both events take place next weekend. Good Luck to everyone competing.

Download full results here: Leeds YA Indoor Open 2012 Results

JF 19-02-2012