Report by James Hind, High Jump coach

By 11am on the first day of competition Dorset had secured their first medal as Imogen Pope put on an excellent performance in the Junior Girls High Jump.

In a field of 16 athletes with PBs ranging from 1.55m to 1.70m this would be a hotly contested final.

Imogen went into the competition with the second highest PB after having an already great season in both individual high jump and Pentathlon.

Imogen opted to play it safe and began jumping at the lowest starting height of 145m and cleared it first time to settle the nerves, she then went on to clear 150m, 1.55m, 1.58m and 1.61m first time too. This was starting to look like a masterclass in putting pressure on your opponents and just focussing on her own jumps.

It wasn’t until 1.64m (equal PB height) that Imogen failed her first bar, she then failed for a second time. But after an encouraging and supportive chat with parents, coach, teammates and training friends from other counties Imogen was able to compose herself to go clear at 1.64m to take home the silver for Dorset. A wonderful performance, well done Imogen!

 

Moving on to 3pm on Day 2 we had Theo Knott competing in the Senior Boys High Jump.

Having earlier in the season improved his PB by 3cm to 2.00m, Theo was well positioned in the field of 12 jumpers with PBs ranging from 1.85m to 2.20m!!

Entering the competition at 1.82m Theo went clear first time and at 1.87m, 1.92m saw the first blip but Theo got back on track with good second attempt clearance.

Theo then managed to gather himself to clear 1.95m at first attempted, which displays good resilience self-belief having failed a previous lower height.

At this point the field was still at 9 remaining jumpers, with one still yet to enter. This was now turning into a competition on composure, sticking to your process and focussing on the things only you can control.

At 1.98m some began to struggle as we got into equal PB territory for many of the athletes, Theo was one of these athletes but manged a solid third time clearance to keep himself in the competition again showing great resolve and determination. His first attempt at 2.01m very nearly stayed on, but he just gave it a slight touch with his calfs which took off the uprights. Attempts two and three fatigue was showing and unfortunately it wasn’t to be (on this day) and he placed a very respectable 7th. On reflection Theo said he was happy with his performance and knows there are much bigger jumps to come in the future. A great performance, well done Theo!