Town well represented (From Andover Advertiser)

Town well represented

2:06pm Tuesday 23rd June 2009

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A number of pupils who attend schools in the Andover District (Winton, John Hanson, Harrow Way, Clere, Test Bourne and Test Valley) recently represented Andover in the Hampshire Schools County Athletics Championships.

Highlights of the day came from the more experienced members of the team, all of whom are with local athletics clubs in Andover, Winchester and Bournemouth. Two of the Intermediate age group competitors gained qualification to the English Schools Championships as part of the Hampshire team. They were Claire Paterson, after bringing home both the 100m and 200m titles and Adam Harwood, who also won the 200m gold. Both Claire and Adam are seasoned competitors and had already achieved the English Schools qualifying times prior to the event. Gary Jones added to last year’s title and is now Hampshire champion in both the hammer and discus. Like Claire and Adam, Gary already has the qualifying distance for the discus so is also confirmed as part of the Hampshire team heading to the English Schools Championships which this year are at Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield on July 10 and 11. This prestigious event will be televised by Sky Sports.

Other top place Intermediate finishers were: Grace Paterson achieving a very respectable second place in the 300m and Matt Woodhouse in a very close second in the discus.

For many of the juniors this was the first time they had experienced competing and so the day was about the occasion. Key performances included Luke Holman and Jess Maw who both finished third in their respective 800m races, Harry Baker who missed out on first place by just four cm in the long jump, Shelby Baker who competed in the 75m hurdles and finished third and Sam Edwards who finished third in the triple jump.

Nicky Taylor, Andover Schools team manager said: “It was an exceptional day enjoyed by all the athletes and those who finished in the first two positions were all invited to represent Hampshire in an Inter counties fixture.”

In addition to the Hampshire schools, some local Andover athletes were also competing for Wiltshire schools in a similar event. Jack Templeman won the junior boy’s long jump with ease - again he already has the English school’s qualifying distance by some margin so will be joining Claire, Adam and Gary on the trip to Sheffield in July. Also competing were Sam Robinson, who won the junior boy’s 1500m and Roland Barter who achieved third in the javelin with a throw of 34.53m.

All in all an absolutely brilliant achievement for local schools and local athletes alike.

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