Following a massive medal haul at the ISA Regional Finals, eight Ballard pupils made the long trip north to Manchester to compete for the London West region in the ISA National Finals. It was Ballard’s largest representation of pupils at this event and the whole school community were cheering them on. Held in the wonderful Regional Arena, Sportcity (Manchester) over 180 schools were representing the 7 regions of the ISA. With the prospect of personal bests and champion status available, nothing more could have been asked of the athletes. Max Davis started the medal rush, with a superb bronze medal in the Y6 boys long jump – a new PB of 4m07, breaking that 4m barrier. Jemima Chetwood then ran a fabulous championship winning performance in the Y6 girls 600m, pulling away from the crowd on the final bend and storming home in a magnificent time of 1min 48sec, equalling her PB and claiming gold. Next up, Sophie Cotroneo took to the track in a hard fought battle in the Y7 1500m. Sophie had never competed competitively at this distance previously. With just 200m to go, Sophie stepped up her pace and managed to secure a bronze, in a new PB time of 5mins 24.
There wasn’t time to catch our breath as Frankie Moulds was on the board for her Y10 long jump final. Superb jumps from the Midlands competitor meant that Frankie had to push herself, and so she did. A magnificent 4m75 gave Frankie silver place.
Delays kept Aurelia Sexton-Chadwick waiting for her Y7 100m final sprint, but it was worth the wait! A false start kept nerves high but she rocketed down the home straight and managed to grab third place in 14.15 seconds and bag Ballard its 5th medal.
Blistering 4x100m relays concluded the day which featured Frankie Moulds (Girls, Y10, Gold Medal) and Aurelia Sexton-Chadwick (Girls, Y7, Silver Medal) to ensure London West were the victorious region and everyone came away proud with their efforts.
Special mentions must go to Jasmine Robinson (Y6 rounders ball throw, 4th), Darcy Hawkins (Y9 1500m, 4th) and Bear Bayliss (Y7 javelin, 6th) who all did brilliantly but just missed out on the medals. From the 10 events Ballard competed in, they were rewarded with seven medals – what an achievement for the individuals and Ballard School.