Secondary Track and Field
Track & Field
June 2009
On Thursday 11th June Barnet Copthall Stadium was once again teeming with excitement as Maccabi GB held the annual Secondary Schools Athletics Tournament, in partnership with UJIA. This event has become one of the highlights in the sports programme's calendar and this year was no exception with students from Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 representing the five secondary schools taking part: JFS, Immanuel College, King Solomon, Hasmonean and Yavneh College.
The morning started with 150 girls competing in a variety of different events including 70m hurdles, 100m, 200m, 300m, 800m, long jump, high jump, javelin and shot put as well as the team relays. There were a number of superb performances throughout the morning and all the athletes were cheered on from the stands by their respective school teams. Each year group was run as a separate tournament this year so there were four separate team winners. In year 7 Immanuel College came third, King Solomon came in second with JFS taking first place. In Year 8 Yavneh College took third sport, with King Solomon coming second and JFS winning the group. The Year 9 tournament saw Hasmonean come in third position, with King Solomon again just finishing behind JFS in second spot, with the girls in white making it three wins in a row. However the year 10 King Solomon girls did manage to take first place, with JFS in second place and Hasmonean in third.
By the time the boys arrived for the afternoon the sun had broken through the clouds and covered the stadium in sunshine adding to the ever increasing atmosphere. The boys followed a similar format to the girls in the morning and once again there were some exceptional performances and some extremely close races. The team four by one hundred metre relay was a great spectacle and the perfect finale for all the schools with the boys sprinting through the final leg of the race in front of great support from the packed stand. All the schools stayed to be a part of the awards ceremony and there was a competitive, but sporting atmosphere as the schools congratulated each other on their successes. In year 7 Yavneh College came third with JFS in second and King Solomon taking first place. The year 8 tournament was the mirror image of the year 7's with Yavneh College coming in third place behind JFS, and King Solomon winning the tournament in first place. In the year 9 group Hasmonean came third, JFS once again came second and King Solomon won the group, making it three trophies in row. In the year 10 tournament JFS took the glory, winning the group with King Solomon coming second and Hasmonean taking third place.
Special thanks must go to all the students who took part in the event. Once again the event proved hugely successful and everyone involved in the day had a great time. Alex Pinnick, Head of the Junior Team GB delegation for the Maccabiah Games this summer was impressed with the event, "I had not been to this event for a couple of years and it really has been tweaked to perfection. All the kids seemed to enjoy themselves and the rain kept at bay! It is great to see so many young athletes competing at one event and hopefully we will see most of these athletes taking part in the 2013 Maccabiah Games!"
The next secondary school tournaments will be the first ever Secondary Schools Tennis tournaments to be run by Maccabi GB, taking place in July.
To view photos from the day click here!