Hamstels Quality Quadkids
After some lovely sunny weather, Wednesday 11th May was the KS1 Quadkids competition so keeping with tradition the wind and rain joined us. The team was made up of 4 boys and 4 girls from Year 2. They headed off for the short walk up to Garons for a day of Athletics competition. Every child needed to compete in a 50m sprint, standing long jump, mini hurler throw and a 400m to finish. Each event would gain the children points that would be totalled up as the day went on. The faster you were in the running the more points you would get and for every centimetre in the jump and throw would add on points.
The team arrived on track greeted by the SPSSA coaches and the 13 other schools that were competing. Everyone started with the 50m timed sprint. The Team Hamstel boys set the pace with such a close race it was impossible to say who won. The girls followed with some very quick running Sophia crossed the line first closely followed by Dakota, Sophie and Elsie. After a quick drink and a toilet break the team were over to the standing long jump. Each child would get 3 jumps each with the longest jump being scored. The team worked well together listening carefully to make sure their jumps were measured accurately. The girls showed the boys how it was done, using their whole body to leap as far as they could. Sophie and Elsie did amazingly well to get a lot further than they had done in practice. The boys followed the girls brilliant example with Albert, Rufus, Michael and Lewi improving their jumps each time. Another quick break for some refreshments and the team were over to the throws. To make it more difficult the team were throwing into the wind however this didn’t seem to faze our focused and determined team. Albert started with his longest throw of the 3 measuring 14.44m, the team’s second longest throw. Next up was Lewi, who threw 13.76m closely followed by Rufus with 11.20m. The star thrower for the boys was Michael with a massive effort of 18.43m. The girls were ready for their turn and Dakota was able to push her best effort out to 7.42m after a wonky opener. Sophie again improved on her practice effort with a 8.61m and Sophia got her throw slightly further at 9.13m. The best throw for the girls was from Elsie with a wonderful effort of 10.20m.
After their great performances the team were ready for lunch. All we knew was we had tried our best and posted some good results but it was impossible to know how the other schools were doing. Once the lunch break was over, the only event left was the 400m. This was the first time we would be up against another school and we were paired with Thorpedene. The boys went off first and unfortunately started on the outside of the track, this meant they had to battle to get across the track into a good position. Michael went out hard and found the pace a little too fast to keep it going. Rufus managed to track the Thorpedene leader the whole way until the final straight and after some dubious tactics from the leader he was able to dip across the line in first place. Lewi was our second boy across followed by Albert and Michael. The boys were finished and the team cheered on the remaining schools. By the time it was the girls race the team were feeling quite nervous having seen the long hard track battle from the boys. To help, the team ensured they got a good track position and the girls got off to a great start. Sophia led the whole way storming down the home straight to take the victory. Dakota’s determination and resolve meant she was the second Hamstel girl across the line closely followed by Sophie and Elsie.
The team carried on supporting the other schools and watching the races carefully. After the final race had finished it was time for the results. The team, Mrs Walker and Mr Sayer were so proud when Sophia was announced, to huge cheers, as the overall top girl out of the 56 competing.
After the top boy awards were handed out it was a nervous wait to find out our position. Team Hamstel finished in 5th place overall with 1277 points, 6 points off 3rd place. The team were disappointed to have just missed out by a matter of centimetres but also incredibly proud of their performances.
Mr Sayer and Mrs Walker could not have asked for any more from the team. They showed every single one of the School Games values; passion, belief, respect, honesty, determination and teamwork.
Well done Team Hamstel!