High Peak AC had 13 of its athletes selected to represent a strong Derbyshire County team competing in the East Midlands Regional Final of the Sportshall Competition last Saturday 4th February, held at Grantham Meres Leisure Centre. 

The competition consisted of a variety of sportshall based athletic running, jumping and throwing events.

Competing against county teams from Leicestershire and Rutland, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire, HPAC athletes contributed massively to the successes of the Derbyshire teams in all age divisions. 

Encouraged by a raucous crowd of about 500 all the athletes competed with great effort and spirt, the noise levels in the tightly packed hall were high. 

For the U13’s and U15’s the Regional finals are a stepping stone to the National Finals to be held at Sportcity, Manchester in April, so the stakes were high, with all to play for, and this contributed to a compelling and exciting afternoon for athletes and spectators alike.  

Megan Harris Wood and Katie Taylor represented Derbyshire in the U13 girls, and the two girls combined for the 8 lap parlouf coming second to the Leicestershire girls in a very tight race. Megan also progressed to the 4 lap final where she showed great determination to take an impressive 2nd place.  Katie achieved an amazing 1st place in speed bounce. Both girls are highly talented, brilliant athletes and their effort was 100%. The U13 girls Derbyshire team came 2nd overall, losing out on getting to the national finals by the very narrowest of margins of only 4 points to Leicestershire and Rutland.  

The U15 girls contained one of HPAC’s most versatile runners Sosseh Badjie, who put on an excellent display of her talents to win in her 6 lap race. As always maximum effort from Sosseh in this and all the events she competed in. 

There was more success for the Derbyshire U13 boys team, whose score was greatly enhanced by the contributions of the HPAC boys: Byron Masterson, Frankie Heathcote, Eddie Fenton and David Laver.  There was individual successes for Byron and Eddie who won their overall finals for the 2 and 4 lap races respectively. Frankie ran superbly in the 6 lap race to also win, then along with Eddie had another win in the 8 lap parlouf, Frankie showed his versatility by having success in the standing triple jump too.  David contributed fabulously in his relay race. The Derbyshire team were the overall winners by a massive margin and hence qualified for the national finals!

The Derbyshire U15 boys were very strong, aided by two HPAC boys, Elliot Archibald and Fraser Masterson who both secured wins in their races.  Elliot along with a Derbyshire team mate won the 8 lap parlouf in great style.  Frazer competed very strongly, showing determination in all the events he competed in. The U15 boys Derbyshire team also won overall, so progressed to the national finals at Sportcity. 

The under 11’s Sportshall Fun In Sport competition was held at the same time but they compete in slightly different events, based more around fun relays, obstacle races and also a variety of jumping and throwing events.  

The Derbyshire U11 girls team included Alice Tolley, Eva Jane Berry and  Freya Hatcher, Courtney Limer had also been selected but unfortunately couldn’t attend on the day. The tremendous trio along with their Derbyshire team mates put in some excellent, strong performances winning many of their races. Showing how talented they are, totally deserving the 1st places position they won, ahead of Leiestershire and Rutland, to become regional champions.

It was fantastic to see so many of HPAC athletes selected to represent their county, it was plain to see what this meant to them all as they competed not only physically but also with all their hearts. As the compere opening the event said “you are all here because you are among the best athletes in your county” They were supported by many proud parents in the crowd. 

So it’s onto the Sportshall National Finals for the U13 and U15 boys, where the HPAC boys selected can pit their athletics abilities against other regional winning counties In Manchester on 23-24th April.