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Reading Athletic Club |
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Latest News - March
Loren tops the table after convincing victory in Midweek Handicap series!! The 2009/2010 Midweek Handicap Series Presentations were
made this past Tuesday evening at Palmer Park. After another successfull winter series, in which 142 athletes took part over
the 6 races. 50 athletes gained a trophy for their efforts as the overall standing's were finally revealed after a couple
of weeks waiting since the last race!
The trophies were presented by club chairman, John Pearce and also by Brian Funnel, who donates the
money for the trophy, in memory of his father Tom Funnel, who was a life member of the club.
The overall winner for this winter, with one of, if not the, biggest winning margin was U13 Loren
Hunter. Loren proved a very worthy winner. Beginning the October race with a time of 8.52, she remarkably shaved that down
to 7.25 in the pen-ultimate race and ended the series with a 7.37 clocking in March to clinch the title. It was improvements
on this scale and a consistant series over the winter that saw her end up such a worthy winner.
The runners up spot fell to Georgia Walton. Georgia, firmly established herself as the club's top
U13 cross country runner during the winter, also proved to be one of the quickest females during the handicap series. Her
fastest time coming in Febraury and March with 6.26.
3rd position saw Phoebe Fenwick, just 5 points behind Georgia. Phoebe was another big improver, beginning
the series with 7.56, she ended March with a 7.09 clocking.
Hannah Willis took 4th, with the fastest time by a 10 year old ever in this competition, that being
a 6.19 clocking coming in the February race. Amy Herrington occupied 5th, she too vastly reducing her time from 8.15 in October
to 7.40 in March.
Two of the youngest competitors in the race, namely Jane Kennedy and Charlotte West, took 6th and
7th respectively. Melissa Lowe finished up in 8th, with Libby Penny finishing strong for 9th. Whilst 10th place saw the highest
male placing, as Daniel Brock ended March on a high with his fastest time of 5.22.
The fastest male time of the entire series came from Jonathan Davies - 5.12, which he clocked on
3 seperate occasions. The fastest female time came from Beki Taylor, her time of 5.41 coming in the November race.
Other notable results saw last year's winner, Ella McNeill finish a very respectable 21st place,
whilst the oldest competitor in the race, John Cullingham, finished in 30th place overall.
Also during the night, Presentations were made for the cross country season as both Tim Richardson
and Bob Allden gave out their awards.
Rachel Phillips and Georgia Walton were the 2 big winners. Rachel was awarded the most improved athlete
trophy, having completed a tremendous season, in which she firmly established herself as one of the top senior's at the club.
It was also no surpise to find she came out on top in the Senior Ladies category. Georgia was awarded the best newcomer to
cross country award. Georgia's first season with the club saw her firmly establish herself as the top U13, never missing a
race. Gaining some very fine results in both the Hampshire League's and also at Southern and National level, along the way,
she too was unsurprisingly a runnaway winner of the U13 trophy.
Other age group winners saw Cerys Aicken take the U15 girls trophy, whilst Naomi Forshaw took the
U17 title. Callum Gregory won the U13 boys trophy, whilst Jonathan Davies was a worthy U15 boys winner.
Reading youngsters amongst medals at Bracknell Open!! A large amount of Reading Athletic Club athletes were out in action this past Saturday at the Bracknell Young Athletes open meeting. For most, it was the first piece of action this season, with many in the younger age group, making their club debut on the track. In excess of 30 medals were won through-out the day. One of the highlights of the day was the sprinting exploits of Jess Palmer and Rachel Pithers, who both looked exceptionally sharp for such an early stage of the season. Both ran over the 200m early in the day, both easily qualifying for the final. In the final, both ran an exceptional race, as Jess just held off her club mate, as she clocked 26.37 for the silver medal, with Rachel setting a new best of 26.61 for the bronze medal. Both girls then were back out on the track in the 100m heats, drawn in the same heat, where they proved almost inseperable, both making the final. The final proved another close affair between the 2 girls, Jess went on to take the gold medal, smashing her personal best by a quarter of a second, with a fantastic 12.75 clocking. Rachel again was right on her tail and was just 0.2 off her best as she took the silver with a 12.82 clocking. These 2 look set for a great season and this was surely the first of many great races between them. Other medals in this age group, came from one of the first events of the day. The 80mh saw U17 captain Ashleigh Roberts, Charlotte Gorman and newcomer Mary Aronold all in action. All 3 girls competing in their first hurdles at this distance since moving up from U15. Ash competed well and claimed silver with 13.16, whilst debutant Mary claimed a deserved bronze in 13.22, Charlotte took 4th in 14.65, showing that between the 3 of them, the hurdles events for U17's this season looks very strong. Ash and Mary then went onto the 300m event, both using it as a good guide for when they both aim to compete over 300mh in the coming months. Both girls eased through the heats and made the final, in which it was Mary's turn to take silver with a 45.44 clocking, with Ash hot on her heels with a 45.88 clocking for bronze. On the field, Rachel Pithers was back in action with a long jump silver, Jessica Fletcher claimed bronze in the high jump, in her first year as U17, Whilslt Gemma Burrow also claimed bronze, in the javelin event. Freya Tubb was the highlight of the U15 age group, claiming 2 gold medals, all the more impressive when both events were contested one after the other. The long jump was first and Freya leapt out to a impressive 4.71, just 5cm off her personal best, to claim a convincing win. As soon as that finished she was over to the high jump, where she claimed gold medal number 2, setting a new personal best of 1.48m. Mollie Pritchard's first high jump competing for 6 months, saw her do very well and deservedly took the silver medal with 1.35m. Lukesha Morris was a class apart in the 100m event. She breezed through the heats with some ease, clocking 12.51 in the process, the final proved no different as she romped to a very impressive gold medal in her 2nd quickest ever time of 12.47. Katie Hannawin also made the final, looking very sharp in her heat. The final saw her quickest 100m time with a very decent 13.19 for the bronze medal. Elsewhere on the medal front, Amy Holder claimed silver in the shot putt, before she and Chelsea Pritchard medalled in the discus, with Chelsea setting a new best on her way to taking silver, with Amy settling for Bronze. Chelsea claimed medal number 2 in the javelin, the last event of the day, as she secured the bronze medal. The U13 girls looked very good and gave much hope for this season. Amy Herrington is firmly establishing
herself as the club's top U13 thrower, taking gold in the shot putt, before smashing her best in the discus with her second
gold of the day with a distance of 20.19m. Nadya Wisham is another in for a good season, her all round ability displayed as
she claimed bronze in the long jump with 4.00m, she then gained a silver in the shot putt with a new best, then looked very
good in making the 80m final, clocking 11.50 in the heat, before taking silver in the final with a fast 11.31. Elsewhere in
the 80m heats, Rebecca Ryan showed she could make an impact on the sprinting events this season, winning her heat in 11.75,
before running well in the final, whilst Abby Reed won her heat in 11.95 and finishing 3rd in the B final. Abby also impressed
in the 600m, along with Florence Wiggins and Kate McKim. Georgia Walton and Hannah Wilis ran sound 1000m races and look like
also having a strong season. Georgia having earlier sharpened her speed making the 150m final. In the youngest age group,
Jasmine McCallum and Katie Holder both were in action. Both ran good 60m and 150m races, with Jasmine making the 60m final
with an impressive 10.15.
Senior ladies take superb 9th at South of England Road Relays! Reading Athletic Club's Senior ladies travelled up to Milton Keynes University this past Sunday as they contested the South of England 6 stage Road Relay Championships. For the club it provided one of their best results at these championships for a number of years. Led off by Sue Francis, the club got a very promising start, Sue mixed with the leaders and clocked the fastest club time of the day of 21.43 to bring the club back in 14th after leg 1. Andrea Curson was next up on leg 2, she too produced a solid leg, only dropping 1 place, as she clocked 23.03 to come back in 15th. Rachel Phillips took off on leg 3 and set about gaining 2 places as she clocked 22 minutes dead, to bring the team up to 13th. Lucy Daniels ran leg 4 and she too only dropped 1 place, a 23.21 clocking seeing her come back in 14th. Debbie Taylor, on her return from injury, provided a cracking leg on leg 5, gaining 5 places with the 3rd quickest club time of the day, clocking 22.51 to hand over in 9th. Hayley Pearce has come into some good form of late and she maintained this as she clocked a decent 25.24 to bring the club home in a superb 9th position. Charlotte Phillips also competed on the first leg of an incomplete B-Team and she covered the course in 26.21.The ladies will now be well up for the National 6 stage later in April, where they will hope for a similiar showing.
More medals at Pre-season throws open! 8 Reading athletes travelled to Kingston, Surrey this past Sunday and competed in the Kingston throws open meeting. Medals were secured across the board. Guy Perryman claimed 2 medals for himself, coming in the shot putt and hammer events. Julie Wilson rounded up 4 medals, taking gold in the shot and javelin events, with silver's coming in the discus and hammer, 2 events in which she claimed season's bests. The younger age groups saw Chelsea Pritchard claim 2 golds and a silver, her gold's coming with a season's best in the javelin and a very fine shot effort that was just shy of 9m. The silver came with her 2nd season's best of the day, the discus throw. Becky Keating threw her 2nd personal hammer best in as many weeks as she threw 24.06m for the gold medal, Becky also also gained silver in the shot, with a new pb and her 3rd pb of the day with a bronze in the javelin. Mollie Pritchard gained a silver in the javelin and also took 4th in the shot putt event. In the U17 age group, Gemma Burrow set another javelin pb with 5th position. In the U20 age group, Charlotte Webb was a convincing winner of the discus event, she also took 4th in the shot putt and then joined Laura Pearce in the javelin, with Laura coming away with the gold and Charlotte settling for silver.
Youngsters dominate Green Park Challenge!! This past Sunday saw the running of the Reading Half Marathon, which also incorporates the Green Park Challenge. The club saw numerous Reading vests out in action, particularly the green park challenge, in which the club cleaned up. In the main race itself, Andy McDonald was the first Reading vest home, finishing 247th overall with a decent 1.24 clocking. Next was vert Anthony Tyler, he finished 424th with 1.27, whilst Louise Baardsley was the first female past the post, as she finished 459th overall with a 1.28 clocking, other Reading finishers saw Mark Gittings and John Gregory make the top 1000, with Adam Westbury and Andy West both making the top 2000 finishers. The Green Park Challenge saw Reading make a clean sweep of the medals. The male side saw Jack Gregory claim first, just ahead of Jonny Davies in 2nd and Ben Priddle 3rd. Daniel Brock, Callum Gregory and Alex Bow then took 4th, 5th and 6th for good measures. In the female category it was a similiar story. Beki Taylor was a runaway winner, with Mollie Haines claiming 2nd. Georgia Walton was 3rd past the post, with Josie Hogge, Hannah Willis and Emma Taylor also making up the top 6. Many others competed, of which can be seen in the results section.
20th March 2010 Youngsters sign off in style with pleasing results at English Schools!! A handfull of Reading Ac's cross country youngsters were out
representing Berkshire Schools this past Saturday as they travelled to Manchester to compete at a very wet and muddy Heaton
Park, in the English Schools Cross Country Championships. With the heavy rain leading into the week, the course became a mud
bath and made racing conditions true cross country. It bought close to what has been a long season for some of these athletes,
whose cross country season began in late September. The highlight of the weekend, from a Reading Ac view point, was that of
Ben Priddle in the U15 boys age group, who ran a terrific race. Having had a solid season, he finished off with a superb 14th
place, easily his best performance of the season Callum Gregory also competed for this age group and completed a decent race
for him. Jonathan Davies signed off with what was another fine performance. In the U17 men's race he competed well over the
wet and muddy course to record a position of 37th to lead Berkshire home. Julia Henderson easily led the Berkshire U19 girls
team home with a pleasing 50th position, Hayley Randell also contributed to the Berkshire team score as she took 197th for
3rd Berkshire. Beki Taylor was 3rd Berkshire in the U17 girls race, taking 67th in the process. Mollie Haines had a fantastic
U15 race as she led the Berkshire team home in a decent 103rd. Sian Wakerley also competed, but with a below par performance
in 324th. David Lewis and Jack Gregory were in action for the U19 boys race. Just 7 seconds seperated them as David finished
in 135th, with Jack just behind, taking 144th
Reading athletes amongst medals in Throws Open Meeting! 20 Reading Ac throwers were in action this past Sunday as Newbury held their throws open meeting at the Crookham track, in memory of Arthur Kilberry. Out of those 20 athletes some 22 medals were gained through-out the days events. In the older age groups, Julie Wilson collected 3 of those with 2 silvers and a bronze, the silver medals coming with fine efforts in the shot and discus events, whilst the bronze was picked up in the hammer. Guy Perryman won two medals, the shot saw him cut a dominant winner to take gold, before collecting silver in the hammer, an event in which Laurence Felix collected bronze. In the U20 section Tom Kingston and Ben Taplin made it a Reading 1-2 as they collected gold and silver respectively.Jake Felix made a return to action in the hammer, taking bronze. The U20 women saw 4 medals gained. Laura Pearce was a class apart, winning gold in the javelin, Charlotte Webb ably backed that up with a silver medal. U20 captain Webb, then went onto collect 2 more silvers, with a pb in the shot putt and a season's best effort in the discus throw. The younger age groups saw a debut in a club vest for Gemma Burrow, whose 22.53m effort in the javelin saw her take bronze. Mitchell Felix competed in the U17 men's hammer and took 5th. George Mattimore's first U15 competition saw him take 2nd in the Javelin event, whilst Keenan Morris competed well in his first discus event at U15 level as he took 4th. Amy Holder had a very productive day in the U15 girls age group, she collected 2 silvers, one in the shot, then the other coming with a new best in the discus event. Becky Keating added to the medal tally and she threw a new best of 23.47m in the hammer to earn bronze. Katherine West just missed out on a medal as she took 4th in the javelin. Amy Herrington laid down an early marker for a place in the team for 2010 with some fine results. Her shot probably her most pleasing as she threw a new best of 7.66m for the silver medal. She added silver medal number 2 in the javelin later with her 2nd pb of the day. Ben Wilson was very impressive in winning the U13 boys javelin event with a very good 34.76m Josh Beale and Daniel Webb also competed in the U13 boys age group and did very well in their events, Josh gaining a bronze medal in the javelin.
Fine performances from Reading athletes in National Inter Counties! 19 Reading athletes were out in action this past Saturday representing Berkshire as they competed at the National Inter Counties Championships. Traditionally held in Nottingham, 2010 saw it move to Cofton Park, Birmingham, held on the same course as the National Championships a few years ago. Each county has their best athletes competing, which makes for some very good competitive racing, however, the starting pens play a huge part, if your one of the first few out of your starting pen, it gives you a huge advantage, however if your 7th or 8th back in the pen, it can prove a huge disadvantage, such are the numbers in the race. From a Reading view point, Jonathan Davies produced the best performance of the day as his good season continued. Leading the Berkshire team home in the Under 15 boys event, he crossed the line in a very good 18th position. Also in this age group, Dan Breeds made a return to form and narrowly missed out on a top 100 place as he came home 101st. Ben Priddle pushed him hard and was just 3 seconds behind in 107th. Julia Henderson was the top female performer, having probably her best race of the winter season. In the U17 ladies race she finished a very good 30th, all the more impressive when you consider she was 4th in the starting pen, showing just how well she started and maintained her race. Naomi Forshaw had it stacked against her, starting 8th in the pen, was always going to be an uphill battle, to her credit, she was 5th Berkshire athlete home in 177th. Josie Hogge was the other Reading athlete, she finished 222nd. Callum Gregory took a superb 31st in the U13 boys race, with one of his better performancs of the season, easily leading the Berkshire team home. Alex Harris-White was also in action and finished up in 256th. David Lewis led the Reading contingent for the U17 men, he finished outsid the top 100 with a placing of 104th. Jonny Roberts was next as he finished 192nd. Ed Stockdale just made the top 250 with 247th, whilst Jake McCallion completed the race in 24.48. 3 Senior ladies were in action and it was Rachel Phillips who led them home in 205th position. Andrea Curson was not far behind as she crossed the line in 222nd, with Lucy Daniels just behind in 243rd. In the U20 race, Jack Gregory was in action and he took 119th place. Carl Bradbury was also in action in a very good senior men's race and he finished in 161st in a time of 40.29 7th March 2010 Reading athletes in good form for track season in final indoor open at Eton! A handfull of Reading
Ac athletes competed in the final indoor open competition this past Sunday at Eton as they looked to prepare for the track
and field season, which is just under a month away. |
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