Noah Jones and Lucy Allen with their broken pole vault bars
CITY of Plymouth youngster Noah Jones achieved his goal of making the UK’s all-time best list for the under-13 pole vault at his club’s Spring Warm-up Meet on Sunday.
Jones achieved a new personal best and extended his lead at the top of the 2017 UK rankings with a leap of 2.60m.
But, crucially, it helped him write his name in history as one of just 23 British athletes at under-13 level who have ever achieved that height.
He competed on Sunday against Cornwall’s Lucy Allen, who is currently the UK’s top under-15 girl pole vaulter. She recorded a height of 3.20m at Brickfields.
Strangely both pole vaulters snapped a bar at the City of Plymouth meet.
Jones also won the under-13 75m hurdles (14.7 seconds) and javelin (27.13m) events on Sunday.
Erme Valley Harriers’ Ella Isaias smashed her PB and moved into the UK’s top 25 in the under-13 girls’ 600m.
Isaias clocked a stunning 1:53.8 minutes for the one-and-a-half lap event, which was seven seconds faster than she had previously run. She also set a new PB of 1.40m in the high jump.
Tavistock’s under-17 athlete Natasha Farrington claimed a new PB in the 1,500m. She clocked 4:58.5, while Erme Valley’s Nathan Brown won the men’s 1,500m in 4:23.4.
Plymouth Harriers’ John Porter claimed an 800m and 3,000m double. In the 3,000m race he beat over-50 World Masters’ indoor champion Simon Anderson, who had just returned from a week of competitions in Korea.
On a perfect day for running, Porter, in his first season in the over-45 age group, clocked 9:37.00, with Anderson finishing in 9:45.2.
There was some impressive throwing performances at Brickfields.
Cornwall’s Connor Drew moved up to second in the UK under-17 javelin rankings with a throw of 50.98 metres.
Fellow Cornish athlete Patrick Swan moved into the UK’s top eight seniors and is top under-23 in the discus with a throw of 44.58m on Sunday. He also won the shot putt with 13.75m.
City of Plymouth’s Commonwealth Games competitor Jonathan Edwards took victory in the javelin with 58.25m.
Young wheelchair racer Doaa Shayea opened her 2017 season by clocking 21.0 seconds for the 100m, 37.3 seconds for the 200m and 76.7 seconds for the 400m.
The future for Plymouth athletics looks promising with a host of talented under-11 coming through. Poppy Northcott, Rosie Northcott, Mia Endacott and Olive Endacott all impressed individually and then teamed up to break City of Plymouth’s 4x100m relay record. They recorded a time of 63.3 seconds.
Full results from Sunday’s meeting can be found HERE.