EAL Round 1 – Cambridge – 29/04/2026

EAL – Match 1 – Cambridge

The track & field team opened the season with Round 1 of the East Anglia League in Cambridge, Sunday 19th April.

The team gained 202 points and finished 7th overall, with age-groups as follows:

Evalyn Fuller – 1st U14 HJ (1.40m) and 6th in 800m (2:24.7)

U14 girls – 6th – 11 points

Top performance in U14 girls was Evelyn Fuller who scored a win in the High jump with 1.40m (also ran a 2:24.7 800m for 6th place scoring all 11 points).

U16 girls – 7th – 33 points

In the U16 girls, Scarlett Campbell ran 29.1 200m for 4th, 46.4 for 4th in 300m and 2:39.4 for 5th in the 800m for a personal points total of 14. Best individual performance was Evie Freeland who jumped 1.50m for 2nd place in the High Jump.

Martha May (winner of the U18 High Jump) with her coach Derek Mason

U18 women – 4th – 15 points

In the U18 women, we had a 2nd place in 400m – 66.1 (name to be confirmed). Meanwhile, Martha May won the High Jump with 1.55m.

Senior women – 6th – 23 points

Hannah Smith provided a 2nd place in the Senior Women’s Long Jump, while April Reid threw 6.70m (4th place) in the Shot Putt, and 17.01m for 4th in the Javelin (total of 10 points). Josephine Larkins threw 38.48 for 3rd in a very competitive Hammer competition.

U14 boys – 5th – 31 points

In the U14 boys, Folabi Caleb Saiki was 3rd in both 100m (13.9 sec) and 200m (29.1 sec). He capped it with a win in the Long Jump (4.54m) for a points total of 20 points. George Loring finished 2nd in the 200m (B) with 29.6sec, and 5th in the 1500m (5:12.6) for a personal total of 11 points.

U16 boys – 7th – 7 points

Zach Munday was our only representative in the U16 boys, scoring 2nd place in the 1500m with 4:38.8.

U18 men – 7th – 5 points

In the U18 men, Alexander Holmes’s 4th in the 100m (11.7 sec) was our only scorer. However, we put out a much stronger Senior Men’s team.

Ben Clarke – 1st in the Shot Putt (12.36m), 2nd in Discus and 3rd in Hammer

Senior men – 4th – 77 points

Reuel Appleby ran 100m in 11.3 sec for 2nd, and 200m is 23.2 sec for 3rd, plus 5.66m in the long jump (2nd place) for a total of 20 points. Kurtis Swan just missed out on a win in the 1500m with 4:13.4.

Meanwhile, Ben Clarke easily won the Shot Putt with 12.36 (Luke Scillitoe

Luke Scillitoe – Braintree’s highest scorer at Cambridge

took 3rd in the B-string with 6.97m), plus 2nd in a close Discus with 32.57m (Luke took 2nd in the B-string with 19.73), and  3rd in the Hammer with 33.76m.

In the Javelin, Henry Scillitoe won a closely contested event with 38.59m with Luke Scillitoe winning the B-string with 34.41m (forth overall). Ben’s points total was 20.

The highest points contributor was Luke Scillitoe with 21 points proving how important it is to have B-string competitors in league matches.

Luca Walsh ran 75m (11.3sec) and 600m (1:49.2)

U12 and non-scoring

In the non-scoring U/12 events, Luca Walsh ran 75m in 11.3sec and 600m in 1:49.2, while Ellie Sawyer ran 75m in 12.4  and 600m in 2:16.5.

Thank you to all athletes who took part in this very early season opener. We’re looking forward to more participants competing in more events at the next league match – EYAL, 26th April, Basildon.

ps – if you’re attending league competition and managed to snap a few photos, please send a copy to webmaster@braintreeanddistrictav.co.uk

East Anglian League – timetable of events – 19th April

Here’s the timetable for the East Anglia League match on 19th April.

EAL-League-Timetable-Matches-1-and-3-2026

Register the events you are interested in competing with your team manager.

Team Managers

• U12G / U12B – Mike Hills
• U14G / U14B – Mike Hills
• U16B / U18M – Jane Roach
• U16G / U18W – Mike Hills
• SW / SM – Mike Hills

Use this QR code or click here to register availability.

How to set-up starting blocks – England Athletics video

Here’s a useful tutorial TikTok from England Athletics – How to set-up your starting blocks.

Click here for the video – Starting blocks set-up

NOTE – if you’re a hurdler you need to set-up according to which is your lead leg (not necessarily your stronger leg). Most sprint hurdlers take 8-strides to the first hurdle. That means that if you’re a right-lead-leg you should set-up your blocks with your left leg at the front.

Track & Field Fixtures – 2026

Here are the fixtures for all our Track & Field league matches in 2026.

Click here for a downloadable PDF file.

Awards Evening – March 2026

The annual club awards night was this year held on Friday 13th March at Braintree Rugby Club.

Samantha Ambrose – winner of the Challenge Female Vet 35 and Ultra Marathon awards

Ross Boyer – winner of the Danny Jones Award for dedication to non-competitive service to the club, and the Championship Male V60 award

Louise Edwards – Winner of the Championship Female Vet 35 award

 

Aidan Coe – winner of the X-C Junior Boy award

Martha May – winner of the X-C Junior Girl and High Jump awards

 

 

Ben Clarke – Male Club Athlete of the Year and winner of the male Hammer, Shot Putt and Discus awards

Lydia Davey – Female Club Athlete of the Year and winner of the female Hammer, Discus and Javelin awards

Scarlett Campbell – winner of the Adam Zulewski Memeorial Award for most promising 15+ athlete and the female 800m award

 

Lynne Wouldham – winner of the Loyalty Award

Jacob Pickering – winner of the Charlie Partridge award for Fair Play, and the Pole Vault award

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the first time, we were entertained by a live band – Pulse played us into the night : https://www.instagram.com/pulse.band.official?igsh=MWU4MWM1ZHBxOXFyOA==

Thanks to all who organised the event, and to our hosts Braintree Rugby Union Football Club.

 

 

Photo Gallery

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Note – If I’ve got your photo caption or award wrong, please email me at: webmaster@braintreeanddistrictac.co.uk

Bruce Longdon Foundation – Hurdles Fest! (all age-groups especially U14s)

Would you like to try racing over Hurdles? If you’re an Under-14 athlete, do you want to try out 200mH?

The Bruce Longdon Foundation is running Hurdles Fest in Chelmsford on Sunday, 31st May. All age groups from Under-14 upwards, including the brand new

Under-14 (female and male) 200mH.

If you are a seasoned hurdler, a beginner or just want to try it out, this is a great opportunity to compete against competitors from all over the South and East of England.

For full details and applications, click here: https://www.brucelongdenfoundation.com/blcf-hurdles-fest/

Cost:

• £14 for 200mH / 300mH / 400mH  /  
• £19 for 75mH-110mH (sprint hurdlers get two races)

You may ask, “Who is Bruce Longdon?”  Bruce was one of the most successful UK hurdles coaches of all time, and worked with many top hurdlers including Sally Gunnell and Daley Thompson (who? Ask your Grandma). The foundation was set-up in his honor to continue his work as a hurdles coach.

New age groups and what that means to you

If you’re a ‘junior age group’ athlete, i.e., you’re not 20 years old yet, you’re probably going to be in a new age group from the 1st April. And that’s not just a new age group to you, but an actual new age group that didn’t exist before.

England Athletics has changed the rule book to help provide a smoother development route for you as you work through from age 10 to adulthood. The aim is to help keep more athletes in the sport and into the senior age group.

So, no more U/13, U15 or U17s. Instead, you’ll be racing as U/12, U14, U16 and U18 before moving into he U20 and Senior age groups. You can read more details here: https://www.englandathletics.org/about-us/age-group-changes/

But what does that mean for the coming season?

It means that some of you will only get 1-year in your new age group because you’ll unexpectedly be ‘top of the age group’ when you expected to be in the first year of your new age group. And for those of you in technical and throwing events, it means you may have to get used to different hurdles specifications.

For example, a girl sprint hurdler who was at the top of the U13 age group last year will be at the top of the U14 age group this year. And where as she would have gone from 70mH with 2’3″ hurdles to 75mH with 2’6″ hurdles in the old age groups, she instead goes to the new spec of 75mH with 2’3″ hurdles. Good news! But the bad news is that next year she goes into the U16 age group doing 80mH with 2’6″ barriers and stays there for two years.

Another example, a boy competing as a hammer thrower who was last year as a 1st year U15 with a 3kg hammer will now be at the bottom of the U16 age group with a 4kg hammer.

So something you absolutely need to do is check the technical spec of the events you want to compete in this season and get familiar with your new implements or distances and heights.

What about Schools competitions?

Just to confuse things, the English Schools Athletics Association has decided to continue consultations on age groups. For this season at least, they will continue with the old U/13, U15, U17 and U20 age groups and technical specifications.

That means that our hurdler needs to also run over 75mH with 2’6″ barriers as well. And if she were a year older she would have to flip between 80mH and 75mH in an event that is all about cadence and rhythm. Similarly, our hammer thrower will be throwing 4kg hammers for the club, but 3kg hammers for his school.

What should you do next?

My advice is have a chat to your coach and make a plan. If you have ambitions involving selection for Essex Schools to compete at the English Schools Championships you need to decide how you will build different specs into your training programme and your competition programme. And if you don’t you will need to decide how you can build through the season to possibly take on new specifications again next year.

Where can you get more information?

Fortunately, England athletics have published some useful tools. The main page is this: https://www.englandathletics.org/about-us/age-group-changes/

From there, you can download a summary of the new events and event specifications (including new events, such as the 200mH and new Steeple Chase specs) : https://www.englandathletics.org/?media-alias=e22da66f5dc6d18e4a0b

If you’re not sure which age group you will be in from the 1st April 2026, try this handy Age Group Checker from Scottish Athletics : https://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/events/age-group-changes/age-group-checker/

Good luck in the coming season and most of all, ENJOY your athletics.

Chris Webb
Hurdles / Combined Events Coach

Looking for budding sports writers

Do you fancy yourself as a sports journalist or blogger?

We’re looking for exciting and interesting articles on Braintree and District AC, and athletics in general. If you fancy writing an article, please get in touch with webmaster@braintreeanddistrictac.co.uk

• Maybe you could interview your coach about how they got involved with the club?
• Or if you’re a coach, what about interviewing one of your athletes about what they love about athletics?
• Maybe commentary on the age group and rule-book changes?

Don’t be shy – get in touch.

Sadie Frater-White breaks club 800m record

Sadie Frater-White receives the trophy for breaking the 800m U13 Club Record. Sadie ran a fantastic race to finish in first position in a time of 2:27:73 at Lea Valley. This puts Sadie 4th in the UK for U13 800m.

An amazing result & congratulations to Sadie.

Taylor excels in the Lake District, May/June 2017

At Hutton Roof Crags, 27th May, Taylor (9) finished 3rd out of 14 U11 Girls & 11th out of 26 U11 Boys & Girls. The course did a lap of a meadow to spread the field before climbing steeply up through some rocky woodland then turning onto the fell side, through a farm & back to the finish. She finished just before a hail storm raged through the village fayre blowing various marquees over dry stone walls including the Fell Race registration tent right down a farmers field!

Then at the Killington Sports, 1st June, she finished 8th out of 48 U12 Girls & 31st out of 103 U12 Boys & Girls. The course was an out & back route climbing 300′ on the fellside with the last section being the steepest, around a flag post at the top with a very fast descent returning the same way to finish back in the show field to the cheers of the spectators. This is a traditional sports event & competitors travel from far & wide to compete in not only this but other track events.