JUNIOR athletes from Halesowen Athletics Club took part in their first fixture on Sunday, April 27.

The under 17 and under 20s were up against clubs from Tamworth, Dudley and Stourbridge, Kiddermister and Stourport, Tipton and Bromsgove and Redditch competing in the Youth Development League competition held in Stourport.

There were solid performances from the sprinters with Halesowen’s Joseph Rogers winning the under 17 200m B race with a PB of 23.4.

In the ladies under 17 200m, Alex Bartlett placed second in the A race in 27.5 just behind Tamworth’s Olivia Woodward in 26.4. Holly Tildesley won the B race in 27.2. It was another second place and PB for Alex in the under 17 ladies 300m A race (43.6).

The 400m races also provided solid results for the club. Sam Efiong took third in a tight under 20s race finishing in 52.9, losing out to second place by 0.5 of a second.

It was another third place in the B race with James Hoult finishing in 55.6.

The under 17 men faired better. Joseph Rogers placed second in the A race in 52.7 and Niall Geraghty took the win in the B race in 55.8. In the women’s under 20 400m A race Hannah Sharkey placed third (66.3) with Beth Sharkey winning the B race (68.6).

As the distances covered on the track got longer, the results kept coming. Niall Geraghty missed out on a win in the under 17 800m A race by just one second, finishing in 2.02.3.

Tom Parker won the B race in 2.35.9. Hannah Sharkey won her under 20 800m A in 2.33.4, with Martha Payne winning the B race in 2.40.6.

For the under 17s, Chloe Chapman took second in the A race (2.30.7) and Nicole Bailey first in the B race (2.36.4).

The under 20s 1500m saw Sam Efiong take second in 4.30.6 with Joshua Timmins winning the under 17 1500m A race (4.23.1) and Ben Willets winning the B in 5.10.6.

In the women’s under 17 1500m race, Hannah Sharkey took second in 5.21.9. Lydia Wilkinson took third in the under 17 race.

The under 17 3000m race saw a win for the club through Jack Holman who finished in a convincing 9.57.8. In the women’s races, Phoebe Dodd won the under 20 A race in 11.01.0 and Beth Sharkey won the B in 12.58.7. Isobel Hall took second in the under 17 event in 12.17.4.

A flurry of further Halesowen wins came through Oliver Dodd in the u20 110m Hurdles (15.8), Samuel Mason u17 400m Hurdles (73.9), Elise Williams u20 400m Hurdles A (75.3) Beth Sharkey u20 400m Hurdles B (85.2), Sam Lloyd-Perks u20 2000m Steeplechase (6.45.9), Oliver Dodd u20 High Jump (1.82), Elise Williams u20 Long Jump B (4.31), Beth Sharkey u20 Triple Jump A (9.01), Tom Parker u17 discus (10.15).

After such a successful first competition of the season Halesowen now lead the table.