Small BAC squad produces big results at final EYAL meeting
With many regular team members away on holiday, only nine BAC juniors were available to join the composite (BAC and Luton AC) Bedfordshire Lions squad which competed at this season’s final Eastern Young Athletes League (EYAL) meeting in Luton on Sunday July 27.
However, those who did take part performed brilliantly, producing a new club record, four event wins and nine new PBs between them. They also showed a great club spirit, highlighted by the fact that most multi-evented to boost the team points tally, including newcomer Freddie Sykes who ran three points-scoring races on his EYAL debut!
The new club record was set by Henry Knox in the U-17M 800m where he finished 3rd in the A event in 2:03.5, shaving 0.7 secs off his own previous CR to confirm his position as Bedfordshire’s current leading U-17M 800m runner, according to the Power of 10 rankings. He followed that up by winning the U-17M 400m B race in 54.3.
BAC’s top event winner in Luton was Nathania Lewis who continued her fine track and field form this season with an impressive hat-trick of A event wins in the U-13G category – 100m (13.7), 200m (27.5) and long jump (4.17m). According to Po10, Nathania is currently ranked number one in the whole East region for the U-13G 100m and 200m and fourth in the long jump.
New PBs were achieved by:
● Katie Everitt, U-13G, in both the 200m (31.9) and long jump (3.38m)
● Tomás Mendelssohn, U-13B, in the long jump (3.95m), plus a first official PB in the 200m (30.1)
● Sidney Hammond in the U-17M 800m (2:05.7), a time which pushes him up to a current second place in the Bedfordshire rankings for that event, according to Po10
●In addition, Freddie Sykes established his first official PB times in the U-13B 100m (15.0), 200m (30.2) and 800m (2:37.8) where he ran particularly well to finish 4th in the A event.
After the event, Bedfordshire Lions team managers Michael and Kat Lewis commented: “Thank you to all athletes and their parents/guardians for participating in the fourth and final EYAL match of the season. Bedfordshire Lions earned an impressive 255 points on the day (325 points when 70 points awarded for provision of event officials are also included), bringing our season’s total to 892 points and securing 21st place overall.
“It was inspiring to witness many new personal bests once again – a consistent feature of all our EYAL fixtures this season and a true reflection of the dedication and effort shown by our athletes in training. Also, a warm welcome to Freddie Sykes, who joined the EYAL squad for this match and ran so well.
“Special thanks go to our coaches and volunteers for their unwavering support and commitment throughout the season. We’re also grateful to the event organisers and officials, whose hard work made it possible for BAC to proudly participate in the EYAL series. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for the 2026 EYAL matches!”
BAC members of the Bedfordshire Lions team which competed in Luton:
U-13G: Ariana Lewis, Ayla Akay, Katie Everitt, Nathania Lewis
U-13B: Tomás Mendelssohn, Freddie Sykes
U-17W: Sureyya Akay
U-17M: Henry Knox, Sidney Hammond
PHOTOS: Thanks to Phil Hastings, Doug Hammond and Melissa Knox for the photos.
Individual Results: Power of 10: https://www.thepowerof10.info/results/results.aspx?meetingid=680231
Team Results: http://eyal.org.uk/results/