Ben has had an amazing throwing season this year, following a difficult couple of years during the pandemic.

At the beginning of this season, Ben was throwing about 61m – not a bad achievement, number 2 in the UK.  He continued to improve his distances with every competition and was selected to compete at the UK Senior Championships in Manchester in June 2022.  Here, he had the competition of his life and finished 2^nd with a massive personal best throw of 73.49m – only 50cm behind the winner! 

Ben then overcame two injuries to qualify for the U20 World Championships in Cali, Colombia, in August 2022 where he represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  He had an amazing experience and learnt a lot – but unfortunately finished outside the top 12.

Ben has now been selected to represent England in the upcoming ETC Throws Fest in Northampton in September 2022 – the first time he’ll wear an England vest.  It will be run in the same format as the World Championships as there will be qualifying the day before the actual competition.  This is a new format to Ben, but he is hoping he will gain more experience ahead of future competitions.

Throughout these competitions, Luke Angell has been by his side, guiding and supporting Ben.  He was unable to go to Cali but managed to speak regularly, despite the 6 hour time difference.  

Ben is off to Loughborough University in September but hopes to continue his javelin training and competitions and to have Luke as his coach.  Who knows what’s round the corner for him!

Ben has a new website: beneastjavelin.co.uk where he regularly posts Instagram updates of his training, performanceand achievements. There is also the possibility to sponsor him and watch some videos there.

Team Kennet had several Athletes take part in the Berkshire Cross Country Championships held at Copas Farm in Cookham near Maidenhead on Sunday, in cold conditions and parts of the course still with snow underfoot.

The under 13 Girls from Team Kennet secured a Bronze Medal as their two teams finished 3^rd and 5^th places.

Charlotte Bailey was the clubs first runner home in 6^th place with a two way battle just behind of Amber Stiles in 11^th and Emerald Hill-Sawyer 12^th for the scoring A team which was won by WSEH.

Ella Cronk came home in 17^th leading the second team home with Chloe O’Riordan just behind in 18^th and Lola Mitcham 20^th

In the Senior Mens Race, Andy Colling was placed 50^th but secured 2^nd Vet 55 

Ethan Kuijten came 11^th in the under 15 boys and Isaac Mitcham also came 11^th in the under 17 mens race

Team Kennet had 14 young athletes take part at the Bracknell Open on 31^st March.

Elodie Burdett U11 Girls scored personal bests in all 3 of her events, 75m, 150m and 600m.  In the 600m she finished 4^th clocking 02:08:41. In the U13 group there were 4 athletes taking part.  Euan Jones in the Javelin finishing in 1^st position throwing 26.90m.  Josh Bailey entered the 1200m finishing in 10^th.  Ella McDonald competed in 150m, long jump and made her debut with the Javelin finishing in 4^th with 10.44m.  Penelope Lyth also in the long jump, 75m and 600m clocked a new PB 1:45:76 to finish in 4^th. In the U15 group Anna Hall was next with the 1500m with a time of 5:52:90.  Ella Cronk entered high jump finishing 3^rd with a new PB 1.30m , long jump another PB 4.24m and 800m 2:41:46.  Charlotte Bailey finished in 3^rd with a new PB in the 1500m 5:13:70.  Noah Lauder-Clarke finished in 5^th in the Javelin throwing 26.87m and Will McDonald 3^rd 32.33m.  McDonald also entered the Discuss finishing 6^th with a throw of 19.98m.  Zoe Dickson finished in 9^th place in the Discuss throw 17.60m and 5^th in the Hammer 16.77m.  For the U17’s Evie Lewis finished 3^rd in the Hammer with 30.59m and 5^th in Discuss 26.83m. Bethany MacLean entered 300m and 800m clocking personal bests in both events.  James Simmons entered 100m , 200m and finish 5^th in the long jump.

Team Kennet were in action again this time in the Oxfordshire YA Track and Field League being held at Horspath in Oxford, going in to the match a overall league champions the athletes were greeted with superb early summer sunshine and light winds.

TK under 13 girls continued their great start to the season with a team win, Isla Ladds started the day off on the track with a great 3^rd place in the 70m hurdles 13.5, after the hurdles was the 1500m, where a double win came from Penelope Lyth 5.39.3 and Maisie McCurtin 5.40.9, in the Shorter 800m there was another double win from Ella Larkin 2.32.2 and Quinn Joyce 2.42, The Sprints picked up good points for the girls in the 100m Ella Larkin came 2^nd with 15secs, and in the B string Sophia Mahoney came 3^rd 15.7, in the longer sprint the 200m Matilda Clare was just pipped on the line for 2^nd place 29.3, Mahoney matched the same placing in the B string with 33.1, the 4 x 100m relay team of Clare, Larkin, Affra Bailey and Lyth were involved in a nail biting finish and were eventually had to settle for 3^rd place 61.0 seconds just 1 second separating the first 3 teams. The Field events is one of TK strongest areas, first in the High Jump, Clare came 3^rd A string 1.20 and McCurtin had her second B string win 1.20, A double win came in the Long Jump Ladds leaping 4.10 and Larkin 3.56, Clare came 2^nd in her Javelin 17.49, while in the Discus Ayla Wyvill was 3^rd A string and Lyth taking 2^nd in the B string and Finally the Shot Affra Bailey took 2^nd place in the A string and Lyth adding a B string win

The under 15 girls faired well to finish 4^th in their match with a much depleted squad, Olivia Bentley continued her personal bests early in the season winning her 800m with a fast 2.27.6, she matched this earlier in the 300m to win in 45.2, and in the 100m came 2^nd B string with 14.0

Jessie McCurtin ran in the B strings on the track, 800m she was 2^nd 2.38.6 but went one better to win the 300m B string 48.2, and had to settle for 2^nd A string in the High Jump 1.33.

Emerald Hill Sawyer lept 4.30 in the Long Jump for 4^th place, which she matched in the 100m A string 14.2 and in the 200m was also 4th 29.8

Ella Cronk was also in action winning the B string High Jump 1.25, coming 3^rd in the Discus and 6^th in the Shot

The under 17 Women Zoe Dickson came 2^nd in the Shot 7.67 and Discus 21.97 and had to settle for 5^th in the Javelin 12.13

The under 17 men Theo Nightingale lept a good personnel best in the high jump with 1.83 for a win, he p.b. in the long jump with 5.77 to finish 2^nd on the day and finally in the 200m B string he ran 25.1 to claim his 3^rd p.b and to help with a double win with team mate Kenechi Akosa clocking 23.2. Turkay Altuntas threw 12.65 in the Shot to win this event and also set a New League Record.

The under 15 boys lead all the match till the very end and had to settle for 2^nd team on the day out of 8, Berkay Altuntas was fired up with the heat as he went in to the top UK 10 in the Discus winning with 35.35 throw, and team mate Oscar Hook throwing 25.68 taking B string win. Hook won his Shot with 9.62 throw with Euan Jones taking 3^rd B string, I the longer throw the Javelin Noah Lauder – Clarke took a convincing win with 37.53 and Jones winning the B string 26.73, on the track Harry Smith tackled the 1500m clocking a new p.b. with 4.46.6 for 2^nd place and Rueben Kuijten took 3^rd B string 5.39.8, in the sprints firstly 300m Lauder-Clarke came 3^rd A string 44.4 and Josh Brian 2^nd B string 48.1, Matias Manrique Huelgas was 3^rd in his 200m 26.4 and 4^th in the 100m 12.9 and in the B strings 100m Brain 5^th 13.6 and 200m 2^nd 29.7

The under 13 age group saw a few wins, Jenson Nichols won his Javelin with a throw of 30.35, he also went on to win the 100m in 14.0 but had to settle for 2^nd place in the 200m 29.5 in a photo finish. Sam Atkins had a good day in the High Jump came 2^nd with 1.25 and 3^rd in the 800m 2.40.7 and 5^th in his long jump 3.74, Alfie Cronk is now believing in him self by winning his first throws event the Shot with 6.48 but had to settle for 5^th in the Discus, Josh Kuijten came 3^rd B string in the Shot and was 6^th in the 1500m.

Team Kennet QuadKids – Oxford League Match 2 Results

Another brilliant day yesterday for our QuadKids at the Oxford League!

 • U9 Boys – 3rd place overall, with Rory Ridler winning the day

 • U9 Girls – 1st place

 • U11 Girls – 1st place

 • U11 Boys – 1st place

Two new Club Records!

 • The U11 Boys 4x100m Relay Team broke a 21-year-old Team K record with a flying run of 61.6 seconds – and that was their very first outing together!

• Chester Bailey smashed his own 600m record for the second match in a row – unbelievable consistency and speed!

Huge congratulations to all our young athletes — you’re doing Team Kennet proud every single time!

West Berkshire Quadkids Athletics Festival took place on Saturday at Park House School after a 2 year gap, 21 schools took place on the day with 420 excited Youngsters battling it out.

Team Kennet and School Sports Partnership who run the event, hailed it a great success and with the weather being amazing for any athletic event made sure it was a great day.

Park House School and St Bartholomew schools helped with Young leaders taking the groups around for the 4 hour competition where each child has to run a Sprint (50m yr3 / 4)(75m yr 5 / 6) and distance run (yr 3 /4 400m)(yr 5 / 6 600m), standing Long Jump and Vortex Howler throw, gaining points for each event on their times or distances achieved.

The year 5 /6 Competition was the closest ever in the 14 years of the  event.  John Rankin School came out as winners by just 1 point scoring 1559 over Falkland in second place 1558 who had won all previous competitions, with Francis Baily taking 3^rd spot with 1435 points.

The individual top 3 performances on the day for the boys saw Vinnie Bardsley from John Rankin School take overall with 248pts, Noah Lauder-Clarke from Francis Baily runner up 239 points and Louie Braidwood from Hungerford third with 232points.

The girls was so close only 1 point separating top 2 girls, it was Hallie Reed from Hermitage taking the win with 205pts from Emerald Hill-Sawyer from Hungerford 204 and Ella Cronk from Curridge 3^rd place 194.

The Best performances from each event on the track, the 75m Sprint for Girls Emerald Hill-Sawyer ended up fastest out of all boys and girls clocking 11.1, with the boys fastest Louie Braidwood 11.4, the 600m again Hill-Sawyer was the girls fastest 2.06 and the Boys Vinnie Bardsley from John Rankin clocking 2.00, the Field saw Falklands Alfie S. throw 36.70m in the Vortex and Nina Reid from John Rankin 28.90 for the Girls, the Standing Long Jump saw a massive jump from Olivia from Falkland School with 2.06 longest jump of the day recorded, and in the Boys Josh Brian from Parsons Down lept 2.01.

The year 3 / 4 saw Falkland crowned champions with 1392 points from Francis Baily in second 1287 and John Rankin taking third place 1258.

The individual placings in the Girls saw a superb all round performance from Falklands Ella Larkin score 178 points to win, Chloe L also from Falkland came 2^nd 166pts and third place went to a joint score of 165points from Emily Mussy Francis Baily and her team mate Ella McDonald.

In the Boys competition Malik Gaye scored a huge 206 points from Spurcroft School just ahead of Alex C from Falkland 204, and third place went to Harry B also from Falkland 185 points.

The Best Performances on the day for each event, saw Ella McDonald from Francis Baily  jumped the furthest of all year 3 /4s leaping 1.84m, Ella Larkin from Falkland claimed the fastest times in the 50m sprint 8.6 and 400m 1.18mins and Sophia Kocovska from John Rankin throwing 26.80 in the vortex, with the Boys Alex C from Falkand threw 28.30 in the Vortex, Aymans from Falkland lept 1.80 on the standing long jump, while the track events were both shared, the 50m Sam Atkins from Spurcroft and Alex C Falkland both clocking 8.3 and Alex C 1.18 and Malik Gaye Spurcroft clocking 1.18 in the 400m same time as the girls.

Team Kennet started the Wessex Young Athletes League with a excellent 2^nd place overall at Abingdon On Sunday.

With numbers down due to other winter sports, a good start to the season is always hit and miss, the 40 strong squad made sure of a clutch of wins to give them that great start.

Match score on the day was

Camberley           488.5

Team Kennet      416.5

Abingdon             337

Southampton      315

Slough                  312

Fleet                     166

On the Day the under 15 girls won their age group, the clubs biggest squad on the day, in the field events Eliska Simpson won the Javelin 18.54, and her B string Zoe Dickson made it a Double, The discus saw another Double win from Simpson 20.22 and Evie Lewis 19.90 and in the Shot Lewis had to settle for 2^nd 7.56 and Simpson won the B string 6.72, elsewhere on the field Charlotte Bailey cleared 1.30 in the High Jump for 3^rd A string and Chloe O’Reardan  came 2^nd in the B 1.25, The long Jump Ellie ross came 4^th A string.

On the track new comer Melisa Kalikwani started her debut wit ha win in the 75m hurdles 16.2, A double win came later in the 300m Bailey and O’Readan, in the 1500m Bailey came 2^nd in 5.32.3 and Lola Mitcham winning the B string 5.59.6, In the shorter 800m O’Reardan came 4^th 2.55.6 and Ellie Ross 2^nd A string. The sprints saw Ava Brade come home in 14.6 for 5^th place and Kalikwani in 3^rd B string 15.1, earlier Kalikwani came 5^th in the A string in the 200m 31.7.

The 4 x 100m relay team had to settle for 4^th place 59.7 made up of Bailey, Ross, Brade and Kalikwani.

The under 17 men came 2^nd in their age group on the day, Seb Simpson left off as he did from last year, winning his Shot 11.47, the Discus 38.19 and the Javelin 29.74, The Long Jump saw newcomer Ivan Pathirathna jump 5.24 for 2^nd place and Isaac Mitch taking 2^nd b string.

On the Track Pathirathna came 2^nd in the 100m Hurdles 16.90, the 1500m saw a great run by Isaac Mitcham taking 2^nd place in 4.38.1

The 100m Pathirathna came 4^th in 11.9 in a very close race on the line, Caden Thomas came 2^nd in the B string 12.8, Thomas also took part in the 200m clocking 26.4 for 5^th place.

The under 13 boys came 3^rd in their age group, the 1500m saw a great run by Euan Jones to take 2^nd place in 5.27.8, B string Liam Neil won this string in 5.37.3, elsewhere on the track, Noah Lauder-Clark won the B string 200m 30.5, Josh Ladds coming 6^th in the A string, in the 100m Ladds had to settle for 6^th A string and Jones 4^th B.

On the Field Josh Brian came 3^rd in the A string 3.86 and a B win came from Jones 3.57, Rueben Kuijten came 3^rd in the Shot 5.73 and went one better in the Discus 15.78, while in the Javelin Lauder-Clark came 2^nd with a throw of 28.74 and another B win came from Ladds 20.05.

The relay quartet came in 2^nd pipped right on the line in 62.4, Ladds, Lauder-Clark, Jones and Brian were the quartet.

The under 15 boys were 4^th James Simmons took part in the sprints 100m 12.6 for 4^th and going one better for 3^rd place in the 200m 26.1.

Ethan Kuijten ran a great race in the 1500m to win in 4.47.4 and later on clocked 43.2 in the 300m for 4^th place.

On the field Will McDonald won the Javelin with a throw of 31.15, The Discus Turkay Altuntas came 2^nd with 27.88 and McDonald taking 2^nd in the B 15.79 and in the Shot Altuntas also came 2^nd in the A string 10.09 and Kuijten had another win in the B string 7.44, The Long Jump Simmons jumped 4.37 for 4^th A string and McDonald 3.96 for 3^rd B string.

The under 17 Women had to settle for 3^rd in their age group, Zoe Allen won the 80m hurdles in 14.6, she threw 10.32 to win the Shot with Clare McGonnell winning the B string 7.20, McGonnell also won her Javelin with 30.80 throw. Amelie Ross came 3rd in her 200m B string which was matched by Allen in the A string 28.0.

The under 13 girls saw only 4 girls take part and came 4^th overall only 1 point behind 3^rd, Ella Cronk won her high Jump with a great effort of 1.30, She came 2^nd in the Long Jump 3.65 with Jess McCurtin taking 3^rd B 3.02, in the 1500m McCurtin came 2^nd A string 6.29 and newcomer Elena Wilkinson won the B string 6.33, a superb double win came in the shorter 800m Emerald Hill Sawyer stalked her rival to ease past in the final 100m in a fast time of 2.36.8 and Cronk made it another win for her in the B string 2.59.1, Hill Sawyer also took part in the sprints 200m coming 3^rd in 29.4 and 100m also 3rd 14.2, in the B string 100m McCurtin also came 3^rd 16.2 and Wilkinson 4^th B in the 200m 35.2, the 4 girls also took part in the 4 x 100m coming 4^th in a nail biting finish where the girls led for 75% of the race.

Team Kennet had lots of non Scoring athletes in the under 20s 200m Euan Avery clocked 25.1 and Digby Riggal 25.5, both ran in the 100m Avery and  Riggal both clocking 12.4, josh Brian clocked 15.6 in the u13 100m

Under 20 Charlotte Absolom broke the clubs u20 Shot record throwing 9.89 and also threw Discus 24.42, and under 20 Brandon Carter threw the Javelin 40.59.

Results link above