Athletics Meet – Monday 23rd January
This week our Under 11 athletes took part in their first ever athletics meet at St Christopher’s School in Saar. The meet consisted of 5 track events (75m sprint, 150m sprint, 300m & 600m) and 6 field events (Long jump, triple jump, high jump, shot put, javelin & ball throw). Competing in the event were seven other International schools in Bahrain.
The meet began with the boys track events, with some solid performances from all of our male athletes. Jason Gutzmann ran a particularly quick 75m to make the final, eventually finishing third to claim the bronze for Nadeen. There were some fantastic performances from Ali Sabaa, Jano Cronje, Arthur Elson and Aiden Nieuwenhuijsen in our other track events, all narrowly missing out on medal places. The boys track events culminated in the boys relay race, with all four boys (Jason Gutzmann, Leo Konsiken, Jano Cronje, Arthur Elson) running exceptionally good legs, bringing home the bronze medal for Nadeen.
In the boys field events there were a number of stand out performances. In the javelin, Nadeen picked up the one-two, with Aiden Nieuwenhuijsen picking up the gold and Leo Konsiken picking up the silver. Not to be outdone, Leo Konsiken threw the biggest throw of the day in the ball throw to take home the gold again for Nadeen. In the triple jump, Ali Sabaa, (affectionately nicknamed ‘spring legs’, and for good reason) jumped the furthest distance of the day, and only 1cm off the Primary Sports League record, to claim the gold medal. In the long jump, Arthur Elson claimed the silver medal, narrowly edging out Ali Sabaa into the bronze.
“It was a great day, I was so happy when they announced my name as the gold medal winner!”
(Ali Sabaa)
Meanwhile, in the girls field events, Mia Minucci, known for her speed, used that to her advantage to propel herself to the bronze medal in the long jump. Joni Choyce, threw a monster throw in the girls ball throw to claim gold. There were a few other notable performances that narrowly missed out on medals. Alessandra Cafiero, Lydia Sakr, Sofia Saberi and Lila De Prat Gay all performed consistently highly and were all unlucky to miss out on a medal in their events.
In the girls track events, there were some significantly good performances. Mia Minucci set a new Primary Sports League record in the 75m heats. Joni Choyce and Lydia Sakr ran incredibly spirited 600m races, showing exceptional determination and grit to finish the race off and earn valuable points for the team. Lila De Prat Gay narrowly missed out on the 300m, eventually pipped on the home straight to miss out on a medal as well as Alessandra Cafiero who ran a lovely, controlled 300m, again missing out marginally on a medal.
After all events were completed, the scores from each event and each competitor were added up. Although only the top 3 in each event take home a medal, the higher each competitor finishes in each event, the more points they score for their school. Nadeen School performed exceptionally well, with plenty of medals and a lot of 4th placed finishes helping to contribute to our total points tally. Nadeen finished third overall, which is a fantastic achievement for such a small school. Particular thanks must go to the staff and parents who attended the event, providing plenty of support, encouragement and roaring crowd noise as our athletes came down the home straight. I am sure all of the athletes appreciated their amazing support.
“This has been another fantastic sports event to attend. All of the children have been amazing and I couldn’t be prouder of their performances! I cannot wait until next year’s athletics meet when we will have been able to train in our new facility.”
(Mr Kyle)
“It was great to see our athletes demonstrate their skills learnt in PE in a competitive environment. It’s always nice to come away with some medals, here’s to more success next year!”
(Mr Matt)
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