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Latest News - May
Encouraging performances in 2nd Alder Valley boys league fixture!! A depleted Reading squad travelled to Woking to contest their second Alder Valley League fixture. Despite the
low numbers, there were still some fantastic performances all round. The squad finished with a total of 15 victories, 6 second
places and 8 third places. The U17 team, the most affected by the turnout, dominated the sprints. Liam Macdevitt was on great form again,
winning his B string 100m race in a time of 11.9s which was a new personal best. Liam also posted a new personal best in the
200m, winning in a time of 23.4s. Ben Pearson completes the sprint victories, winning his B string 200m race in a superb time
of 23.9. Ben also dominated the long jump field, equalling his personal best with a massive jump of 6.14m. In the javelin,
Robbie Galardo finished second with a throw of 44.01m. There were also third places for Liam Macdevitt in the 400m (53.6),
Edward Stockdale in the B string 1500m (5.04.3) and the 4x100m relay team (49.1). The U15 team finished with a superb 7 victories on the day. Paul Neale and Dan Trussler were on great form,
winning both the A and B string 80m hurdle races (13.0s and 13.2s respectively). Dan was also involved in another double winning
performance in the long jump, winning his A string event with a jump of 5.58m, with Harvey Jensen jumping a new personal best
of 4.92m in the B string event. There was a victory for Suraj Mayor in the B string 200m with a time of 25.4s. There was also
a victory for Luke Litlejohn, who continued his great form, in the javelin with a throw of 33.15m. Joe Miller posted the final
victory, with an impressive jump of 10.43 in the triple jump. Daniel Minns ran a great race to take second in the 1500m, in
hi first race for the team this season. Other great performances came from Benji Palmer, third in the B string 100m (12.5s),
Harvey Jensen with a third place in the A string 200m (25.9), Paul Neale came third in the B string javelin (25.84m). The
4x100m relay team overcame some changeover problems to finish third in a time of 50.5. The U13 team were out in force again, with a few new athletes taking their chance to impress. Ryan Savery was taking part in his first competition for the club and took his chance well. Ryan finished second in his 100m race with a time of 13.9s; he then took his form into his 200m race, winning with a superb time of 28.7. There was a victory for Nick Park in the B string high jump (1.20m), who also took third place in the B string long jump (3.55m). Dan Webb gained his best distance this season, winning the B string shot putt (5.26m), and Jacob Rajkumar rounded off the wins with a first place in the B string javelin (19.60m). There were second places for Josh Beale in the A string javelin (23.23m), and a double in the 800m with Alex McCallum in the A string (2.29.8) and Josh Green in the B (2.39.2).
Superb medal haul at U15/U17 Southern Championships!! Day 1 Report Reading Athletic Club enjoyed a very pleasing day 1 of the South of England Track and Field Championships for U15 and U17 athletes. Held down in Ashford Kent, the conditions were not ideal, as a relatively cold and damp day hindered times on the track, particulary the sprint races, however it did not stop Reading claiming 5 medals on day 1. U15 Amy Holder kicked off proceeding's early on in the morning, with perhaps one of the most unexpected of the 5 medals. Competing in the shot, she was struggling to make the 9m mark, however her competitive streak took over in round 6 and she threw a superb new best of 10.03m to overtake the leader and claim her first Southern title in the process. That was to start the trend for the day. Georgina Westwood contributed 2 of those medals, she began in the U15 long jump, where a very good leap of 5.30m saw her gain the silver medal. Just an hour later she was back in action, this time in the high jump, where she went one better and leapt a superb 1.68m to claim the gold medal to match the Indoor title she won back in January. Ryan Bonifas chipped in with the 3rd gold of the day, his superb leap of 1.95m saw him claim the U17 high jump title, to match the one he also won indoors in January. Lukesha Morris and Jess Pointing both comfortably advanced to the 100m finals. It was there the next medal came as Lukesha ran 12.77 to claim the silver medal, with Jess coming home in 5th. Elsewhere on the day others were in action and gave good accounts. Ashleigh Roberts and Mary Arnold both competed in the 300mh heats clocking 49.41 and 50.79 respectively. Rachel Pithers and Jess Palmer went over the U17 200m heats, Rach finishing 3rd with 26.94 with Jess 4th in the heat with 27.10, both narrowly missing out on a final spot. Daniel Brock finished 3rd in his heat of the 800m with a very good 2.03.96 clocking, where in the semi's he finished 5th. Amy Holder was back on the field taking 8th in the discus, whilst Ben Priddle finished 7th in his heat of the 1500m with a 4.32.83 clocking. Rounding off the day, Jack Hatton qualified for the U15 80mh final, finishing 4th in his heats in 12.25 before finishing 7th in the final, whilst Jonny Davies was 9th in his heat of the 1500m for U17's with 4.24.35. Day 2 Report Having had such a fantastic first day at the championships, it looked like being a tough act to follow, however, the athletes of Reading Ac went onto gain 4 further medals on day 2 with yet more excellent performances. Pippa Rogan, whose form this season has been of a very high standard, produced another high class performance, as she claimed the U17 ladies high jump title with a superb 1.68m clearance, making it 3 high jump golds for the club, undoubtedly leaving coaches, Steve Chapman and Terry Rajkumar, delighted. Becky Keating began the trend on day 2, as her personal best throw of 34.16m saw her claim the silver medal in the U15 hammer event. Amy Holder claimed her 2nd medal of the championships as in the U15 pole vault she leapt to a new club record best of 2.60m to secure the bronze, only missing out on silver on countback. Dannielle Opara collected the 4th medal for the club on day 2, as her effort of 11.04m saw her secure bronze in the U17 shot putt. Elsewhere on the day, April Taylor leapt 1.55m in the U17 high jump, whilst Danni Opara competed in the discus event. The superb medal haul at the championships was one of the best for a number of season's. The club is very proud of all who took part and passes their congratulations to all concerned for their superb results over the 2 days.
Rachel earns athlete of the match as U20's secure 2nd straight win! Reading
Athletic Club's U20 male and female combined side recorded their 2nd straight win in the Brent Division of the National Junior
League this past Sunday with home advantage at Reading.
There were many highlights, on what was one of the best days of the year so far, with temperatures reaching up to 25c.
Rachel Pithers took the headlines as she was awarded the female athlete of the match award for her personal best effort of
5.29m in the long jump, a grade 2 U20 standard.
Male Report
For the male side, their performance was a much improved one from round 1 and the team secured some very impressive victories
along the day. A hatrick of middle distance victories were secured as Reading athletes won the 800m, 1500m and the 3000m races.
Jack Williams' first outing this season saw him finish strong to win the 800m in 2.02.5. Jack Gregory did likewise in the
1500m, he showed his strength in the final 400m to cross the line 1st in 4.18.6. David Lewis ran a gun to tape effort in the
3000m, never troubled, he raced to a decent 9.20.0 clocking to claim victory. Other victories for Reading's men saw Bertie
Lewis clock 55.4 on his way to winning the 400mh.
Gary Steventon and Adam Hassan dominated the 400m event. Gary's first outing for the club of 2010 saw him storm the 1
lap race in 50.0. Adam Hassan's best race this season saw him win the b-string with 51.5. Reading's other victories came in
the javelin event where Tom Kingston and Ben Taplin scored a double victory. Tom won the a-string with a 48.38m throw whilst
Ben threw 47.53m for his victory.
Elsewhere there were some good efforts from Neil Hallett in the long and triple jump events, Michael Nevill enjoyed a
pleasing day in the 100m and 200m events. Whilst Scott Davies, Adam Plank, Justin Lakey, Aaron Wilson and Liam McDevitt
all added to the team score. Non-Scoring wise Liam enjoyed a good 200m and 400m run, Robbie Galardo competed in the 100m and
200m, as well as the javelin, whilst Tosin Ogundimu looked impressive over the 3 sprint races, particularly the 100m where
he clocked 11.2.
To round of the day, the 4x100 relay squad combined to take 3rd, whilst the 4x400 team romped to a very comfortable victory.
Female Report
The female U20 side were yet again in dominant mood, with 16 victories secured through the day, one of which was Rachel's
athlete of the match performance in the long jump, 5.29m coming in the 5th round. The event saw maximum points gained as Charlotte
Gorman was delighted to have set a new best as she leapt out to 4.82m for b-string victory. Charlotte was to gain pb number
2 later on as in the triple she leapt 9.20m for b-string victory, an event in which Beki Taylor took victory leaping to a
new best of 10.09m. To complete a 3rd jumps double victory, Pippa Rogan and April Taylor secured 1st positions a piece in
the high jump, Pippa 1stA with 1.63m and April 1stB with 1.60m.
The field events proved the same. Laura Pearce confirmed her spot at the top of the club ranking's, she set a new personal
best as she became the first to throw over 30m this season with a 30.71m effort in winning the javelin. U20 captain, Charlotte
Webb threw a season's best in winning the b-string with 27.70m, having earlier threw a new shot putt best with 9.31m for 1stB
and for good measures won the b-string hammer. Danni Opara was a clear winner in the shot putt event and also took 3rd in
the hammer A and discus B.
Lucy Hillen and Katie Hodgson both leapt 2.15m in the pole vault, earning them both 2nd.
Beki Taylor and Naomi Forshaw dominated the 400m, Beki raced to victory in a pb of 59.7, Naomi's first time over the
1 lap race, seeing her win the B in 65.0.
Cerys Aicken continues her huge strides in her improvement as in the 800m she sliced 4 seconds off her 800m best with
a fine 2.23.7 clocking, clocking 3rd in a very close race. Siobhan Addison won the b-string of the same event. Hayley Randell
produced a much better race and was unlucky to be pipped on the line, having made a confident break with 1 lap to go of the
1500m race, however her time of 5.14.0 will give her conofidence for up-coming races. Alyx Gregory ably back Hayley up and
showed a confident attitude as she won the b-string. Elsewhere Rachel Pithers added a 200m victory to her name with Rachel
Rajkumar clocking 28.1 for 2ndB.
The relay squads completed a double victory, the 4x100 team of Beki, Charlotte G, Rachel R and Rachel P won in 52.3,
whilst the 4x400 team of Naomi, Alyx, Sarah Bishop and Beki clocked 4.24.0 for victory.
On the non-scoring front, Alex Sykes clocked an impressive 2.34.5 in the 800m, Gemma Burrow competed in the javelin with
Amy Banning tackling the 800m, having earlier ran the 100m scoring.
This leaves Reading sitting pretty at the top of the table after 2 of the 4 league matches.
Southern Women's side entend lead at top with dominating display! Reading
Athletic Club's female side were in action in their 2nd southern womens league fixture in the premier division, yet again
they were in impressive dominant mood as a runaway victory saw them entend their lead at the top of the table.
The club welcomed 3 familiar faces back to the team for this season. Jana Riedel made a very welcome return to club action after 18 months. She opened up her account tackling the 400mh and was rewarded with 2ndA she then took he same position in the pole vault with a decent 2.80 clearance. She finished off with a 2ndB high jump and 2ndA javelin. Yolande Jacobs was another making her return since 2008, she completed a throws double victory with wins in the senior shot and discus. Lorraine Bobb made her first club outing of 2010 and will have been pleased with her 13.2 effort for 2ndB in the 100m That coupled with some excellent performances from the regulars made it a top day for the club. Senior captain Shelley Bowen was a class apart as she romped to 200m victory, Zara Bennett continues to impress and she looked good in winning the b string of the same event. The middle distance squad scored heavy in their events. Rachel Phillips and Nicky Cooke were very impressive in winning their strings of the 800m, both setting new bests. Julia Henderson and Sarah Wilkins romped to a double victory in the 1500m whilst Sue Francis and Emma Worthington both took the runners up spot in the 3k. Shirley-ann Dix finished 2ndA in the 400m with Hayley Pearce taking the b string honours, on the field Julie Wilson was in top form, 3 victories coming her way in the b strings of the hammer, shot and discus. Coral Stewart secured maximum hammer points in the hammer with a comfortable win. Lee Fellowes secured a b string 400mh win as well as 2ndA in the srint hurdles. Helen Buckley wrapped up a b string hurdle win as well as setting 2 seasons best in the long and high jump. Laura Pearce added her name to the winners column with a victory in the b string javelin, u17 sprinter Sarah Heyworth made her first outing of the season in the senior 100m A race and ran very well clocking 13.1 The U15 girls were equally as dominant as their senior counterparts. Jessica Pointing and Katie Hannawin proved untouchable in the 100m with times of 12.7 and 12.8 respectively. Lauren Herrington ran a perfect tactical race to win the 800m race, whilst Georgia Walton and Mollie Haines both dominated the proceedings with victories in the 1500m. Georgina Westwood added another victory with a comfortable sprint hurdle victory. Chelsea and Mollie Pritchard proved perfect in javelin event as both returned with victories in the respective, Mollie having earlier leapt a fantastic pb in the high jump of 1.45m. Chelsea later went onto record victory number 2 in the discus whilst Amy Holder claimed maximum points winning the B. Becky Keating added to the throws victories as she won the b-string shot. Elsewhere Freya Tubb added to the points score in the long and high jumps, with Ella Saunders setting a new best in the 800. The relays proved the final highlight of the day, the U15 team secured 2nd, the senior 4x100 romped to victory, as did the 4x400 team who won with almost 100m to spare.
Two club records fall at 2nd Veterans League Match!! Reading Athletic Club veterans competed in their second league
match at Abingdon on Monday evening. Conditions were perfect for good performances
on the track, and one of the highlights of the evening was a Club veterans’ record the ladies team in the 4 x 400m relay
(Debbie Taylor, Emma Worthington, Andrea Curson and Sue Francis). The performance
of 4:51.2 gave them 2nd place in the race. There were other good performances on the track as Taylor and
Worthington paired up for the 800m. Taylor tracked the leader all the way and
finished a creditable 2nd in a very pleasing time. Worthington, competing
in her first track event for the Club, showed she has a good turn of speed as she took 2nd in the B race. Mary Holt, making a welcome return to the team following a knee operation, took a
well-earned 3rd spot in the 2000m walk. Francis (2nd A
string) and Curson (1st B string) scored well in the 3000m, with Francis’ time of 10:58.2 being a Club record
for the FV40 category. Meanwhile, on the field, Julie Wilson took good 2nd
places in both the shot putt and the discus. Reading’s four men all performed well. Ray Stevens had a busy evening, competing in the 2000m walk, 200m and 800m all in close succession. Justin Plank contested four events, his best placings being a convincing win in the
triple jump and 2nd place in the javelin. John Cullingham, still competing
very well at the age of 77, scored in the 2000m walk and the 200m, while Bob Lewis took a good 2nd place in a fast
200m race. In the overall match results the ladies team finished 4th
and the men’s team finished 5th.
YAL team make it 2 wins on the bounce with victory at Bracknell!!! Reading Athletic Club's male and female National Young Athletes
team continued their charge to qualify for the Southern area final with their second straight victory as they competed at
Bracknell this past weekend. The team performance as a whole was a great deal stronger, which reflected on a much higher team
score than last time out.
Female Report
The female side enjoyed some 21 victories through the day, leading the way were the U17
women, who were in dominant mood. This age group at the club is becoming very competitive and 18 different U17 athletes
were in action Sunday. Victories came in the form of a sprint double from Rachel Pithers in the 100m and 200m. The middle
distance events saw the club clean up, Beki Taylor in the 800m, Cerys Aicken in the 1500m and Alyx Gregory in the 3000m all
producing confident performances, with new pb's for Cerys and Alyx. Beki was to later get her 2nd victory, coming this time
in the triple jump. April Taylor leapt 1.60m on her way to high jump victory, whilst Danni Opara was in dominant mood, 3 victories
to her name, coming in the shot, discus and hammer. Other noteable runner's up spots saw Jess Palmer run Rachel close in the
2 sprint races, Rachel Rajkumar's first time out in the 300m saw her clock a good time, Emma Taylor was one of the performers
of the day smashing her 800m pb by some 5 seconds for 2.25.7, U17 Captain,Ashleigh Roberts and Mary Arnold gained 2nd place
apiece in the 2 hurdle races, Pippa Rogan did likewise in the high jump, with Lucy Hillen's pb in the hammer saw her take
2nd. Both the 4x100 and 4x300 relay teams then proceeded toromp to comfortable victories.
The U15 girls also weighed in with 7 victories. Lukesha Morris run 2 very
dominant sprint races for victory in the 100m and 200m. Georgina Westwood yet again completed a long/high jump double, a pb
coming in the long jump - 5.33m elevating her to 3rd in the UK. Chelsea Pritchard was another to smash her pb, this time in
the discus, her 28.46m throw see's her rise to 10th in the UK. Amy Holder gained victory in the shot, whilst the 4x100 relay
team clocked an exceptionally fast 50.7 with a comfortable win. Jess Pointing gained 2 runner's up spots in the 100m and 200m,
Lauren Herrington and Ella Saunders gained runners up spots in the 800m and 1500m respectively.
The Under 13 girls only came away with 2 victories, but the team as a
whole competed very strongly and are starting to develop nicely. Nadya Wisham secured 2 of those victories, all within the
space of 10 minutes as she won the 75m sprint in a new best of 10.5 before leaping a new best of 4.21m in the long jump. She
also added a runner's up spot in the high jump 20 minutes later. Georgia Walton and Hannah Willis both gained 2nd places in
their respective 800m and 1200m races. Amy Herrington gained a 2nd place in the shot putt, as well as a 3rd in the high jump.
Rebecca Ryan ran a very good 75m for 3rd, whilst in the 70mh, both Katie Holt and Leela Richardson looked very impressive,
Katie smashing her best by almost a second whilst Leela, in her first race over the hurdles, looked very promising with a
13.9 clocking.
Male Report
Reading
AC’s young male athletes carried on their great early season form, with a second victory in the National Young Athletes
League at Bracknell. The
Under 17 team lead the way with a total of 6 wins and 8 second places. Liam MacDevitt finished strongly to win his 200m race (24.2s). Dan Brock followed up his success at the
county championships with another victory in the 400m (54s). There was success for Jonathan Davies, who ran a superb race
in the 1500m to secure victory in 4.16.7. He also teamed up with Jonathon Roberts in the 1500m steeplechase, where they both
ran great races to take first and second spots (5.01.9 and 5.16.5 respectively). Completing the individual honours was Ed
Stockdale who controlled the 3000m from start to finish (10.15.3). The performance
of the day went to the 4x400m relay team who won their race in some style. All four runners ran superb legs, with Liam MacDevitt
moving from second to first during the last leg.There were also great performances from Team Captain Ryan Bonifas who secured
two runners up spots in the high jump (1.90m) and the triple jump (11.90m). Robbie Galardo also completed a double, finishing
second in the 100m (11.9s) and the javelin (41.26). Alec Thomas finished second in the shot (12.23m). The 4x100m relay team
completed a great day for Reading relay teams, finishing a close second (47.5s). Mitchell Felix also deserves a mention with
a new personal best of 43.08m in the hammer. Still only in his first year throwing at this weight, Mitchell continues to improve
his distance. The
Under 15 team performed well throughout the day. There were new personal bests for Benji Palmer,
who in his first competitive event this season ran two personal bests in the 100m (12.6) and 200m (26.4). There were also
personal bests for Harvey Jensen in the 100m (12.3) and Harry Ritchie, who equalled his high jump best (1.45). Daniel Trussler,
also in his first competitive match this season, impressed with a victory in the long jump (5.55m), which was comfortably
further than the second placed athlete. Dan also finished second inn the 400m (57.3). The
Under 13 team were out in force at Bracknell, involving many athletes making their Young Athletes
League debuts. They posted a total of four victories. Alex McCallum once again proved the man to beat in the sprints, winning
the 100m (14.3) and 200m (28.3). Jacob Rajkumar produced a great jump of 1.31m to win the high jump, and there was also a
victory for the 4x100m relay team. Josh Beale and Matteo Matricardi came second and third in the shot (6.22m and 5.99m respectively).
Nick Park, on his debut, produced a great performance in the 75 m hurdles (17.6) and Sam Steventon ran a steady paced race
in the 1500m (5.08.7) finishing just ahead of another debutant Isaac Farnworth (5.09.7).
Senior Men make it a perfect 2 wins out of 2 with victory in Lewes!!! On Saturday Reading AC's men's team were victorious for a 2nd time in there 2010 season. They travelled to Lewes were they were to compete in what was going to be a tough match against some strong clubs from the first matches. The first event got underway with Reading's decathlete duo Brian Flatley and Mike Dyer taking on the Pole vault and vaulting away with 2 wins in both A and B Strings. At the same time the Hammer was being thrown in the Infield with Nathan Walters and Chris Toms both throwing solid performances to secure two 2nd Places. Next was the Long Jump where Mike Dyer secured another win. Making his Reading AC's Senior men's Debut was Neil Hallett jumping a personal best winning the B String. Continuing on from there solid performances Nathan Walters and Chris Toms took two More 2nd places in the Shot. Meanwhile in the High Jump Readings Duo of Decathletes took two further wins. Throwing the Javelin Mike Dyer and Chris toms continued to add to the success of the day with a 3rd place and Toms winning the B string. The track started up next with Mike Dyer and Chris Bell giving their all to come 3rd and 4th in the 400mh, Bell achieving a personal best. In the sprint events of the day the Reading sprint team delivered some good performances in some tough windy conditions, Phil Brickley and Luke Wale took on the 100m to come 1nd and 2nd with taking part in the non scoring 100m Sam Hickman and Neil Hallett had some good performances. The 200m was next and Phil Brickley missing out on a win by a judges decision in a dead heat having to settle for 2nd , Hickman not finding a comfortable race in the B String came Fifth. Continuing form came yet again from the Decathlete Duo of Dyer and Flatley in the 110m Hurdles taking two more victories. From these results confidence was high and at the end of day the 4x100m Relay was convincingly won. In the distance events Jamie Barton set off in the 800m but what turned out to be a tactical race by other competitors had to settle for 2nd Place. Making another debut to the men's team was Peter Crisp, Still learning the event had a solid performance to secure 3rd. The 5000m race was next steeping in to cover due to some absences in the Team, Richard Kinnersley took on the challenge running a personal best knocking 90secs of his previous time. Jacob Batchelor another debut runner managed to come 4th in the B string. Next on was the 400m with Jamie Barton still recovering from the 800m an hour earlier managed to rise to the challenge to come 3rd but to secure a personal best. Chris Bell ran the B string running strong off the last bend to secure 3rd place. In the 1500m Carl Bradbury and Richard Kinnersley both ran solid performances, Bradbury taking 2nd Place whilst Kinnersley feeling fatigued from the 5k 40mins earlier winning the B String. The day ended already in the knowledge that Reading knew they had won the match before the 4x400m Relay, the pressure was off as reading team consisting of Jamie Barton, Carl Bradbury, Peter Crisp and Chris Bell cruised round to secure 3rd place. With this Victory this moves Reading into 2nd place of Southern Men's Division 1 league.
Medals galore plus Championship Bests for Reading Ac athletes!! A vast number of Reading Athletic Club's athletes were out
in action this past Sunday as they contested the Berkshire track and field championships, held at Palmer Park Stadium. Yet
again the club was well amongst the medals across the board and they even saw some of their athletes secure Championship Best
Performances.
The club enjoyed some fine results through-out the day.
A good number of male athletes were amongst the medals and produced some eye catching performances. The Under 13 athletes contested in the quadrathlon, consisting of a 75m sprint, a 600m run, a long jump and a shot putt. Readings best performer across the competition was Alex McCallum, who continued his superb early season form by taking the runner up spot with a points total of 67. Alex posted the best score from Reading in the 75m, 600m and long jump. The other best performances came from George Marshall and Daniel Webb in the Shot putt who threw 5.11m and 5.05m respectively. In the Under 15 age group a total of 10 medals were won, including a gold medal for Ben Priddle who ran a superb 4 minute 34 second 1500m. Daniel Trussler secured three medals with silver in both the long and triple jumps with results of 5.52m and 10.80m, and a bronze in the 400m final. Reading completed a second and third place double in the high jump, with Paul Neale jumping 1.40m, just edging Harry Ritchie out, who leapt 1.40m. Other medals were won by Harvey Jensen, with a time of 25.2s in the 200m final for silver. Nathan Meredith secured bronze in the 800m, and Keenan Morris in the discus. Reading’s Under 17 athletes also collected 10 medals on the day. Daniel Brock on Jonathan Davies completed an impressive gold medal double on the track. Daniel ran a great 57-second lap to win the 400m final, and Jonathan ran a great tactical race to secure the 1500m title with a time of 4.16.4. Ryan Bonifas secured another title with a great jump of 1.90m in the high jump. In the throwing events, Reading’s athletes excelled. Alec Thomas shone in the shot putt, winning the gold with a throw of 12.05m. Mitchell Felix continues to impress in his first year at Under 17 level with silver in the hammer, with a distance of 40.36m. Robbie Galardo completed a superb treble of medals with silver in both the 100m and javelin finals, and there was also bronze in the shot. Ben Pearson came agonisingly close to a gold medal, but missed out by the closest of margins. His jump of 5.71m in the long jump was just 1cm off the winning jump. There were also 13 medals for Reading athletes in the junior and senior events. In the sprints, James Wyatt secured silver in the Under 20 100m, Phil Brickley doubled-up with silver in both the senior 100 and 200m, posting times of 11.2 and 22.6s respectively. Luke Wale also took bronze in the senior 100m. There was a double gold medal haul in the 1500m in both age groups. David Lewis won the Under 20 title with a time of 4.15.4, and Carl Bradbury in the senior race with a time of 3.59.3, a race that also saw Richard Kinnersley take the silver. Other medals saw Jamie Barton finish as runner-up in the Under 20 800m final; Adam Plank took the bronze in the Under 20 long jump, with his brother Justin finishing second in the high jump with a jump of 1.75m. There was victory for Ben Taplin in the Under 20 javelin, with a fine effort of 47.15. Guy Perryman completed the medal haul with a throw of 9.48m kin the senior men’s shot putt. The female side enjoyed no less than 4 Championship Best Performances
from 4 of their athletes. U15, Lukesha Morris was in top form, easing through her 100m heat, she clocked a superb 12.3 in
the final to equal the championship record and herself set a new personal best time. April Taylor was in top high jumping
form, not only did she set a pb, she too equalled the championship record, that was first set in 1982, as she leaped a superb
1.63m. Becky Keating continued her fast development as a hammer thrower as she threw an excellent 31.37m to set a new championship
record, whilst Amy Holder set new marks in the U15 pole vault with her 2.20m winning height. In addition to those new records,
a club record was also set as Sue Francis set new marks in the V40 1500m, when finishing 4th overall in the senior 1500m race.
Those were just a handfull of the gold medals won through the day. In the U15 age group, Jess Pointing
romped to 200m victory. Lauren Herrington and Mollie Haines completed a middle distance double, Lauren ran a tactically sound
800m race to secure gold, whilst Mollie ran a confident gun to tape race to claim her first county title. Chelsea Pritchard
claimed a gold in the U15 discus, with her 2nd best ever throw of 26.06m. At the U17 level, Ashleigh Roberts claimed the 300mh
title with a new best of 48.9. Charlotte Gorman leapt 4.57m on her way to the U17 long jump title. Lucy Hillen claimed gold
in the pole vault, with Danni Opara doing likewise in the discus. Mary-Jane Thompson claimed 2 gold medals at U20 level, coming
in the pole vault and triple jump events. Charlotte Webb secured shot gold, with Laura Pearce doing likewise in the javelin.
Hayley Pearce deservedly won the Senior 800m title, whilst Julie Wilson claimed 2 more golds of her
own with victories in the shot and discus. Elsewhere in the senior age group, Rachel Phillips, who was just 1 of 8 Reading
runners in the 1500m race, grabbed a silver medal. Multi Eventer, Helen Buckley, secured 3 silver medals through the day.
Other medals gained from the various age groups saw Julia Henderson (U20) and Beki Taylor (U17) in
their respective 800m races. Pippa Rogan took silver in the U17 high jump. Rachel Pithers claimed a bronze in the U17 100m,
whilst her pb of 26.0 secured her silver in the U17 200m, with Jess Palmer taking bronze. In the U15 age group, in addition
to Lukesha's gold medal in the 100m, Reading occupied the silver and bronze medal positions with Jess Pointing taking silver
and a superb pb from Katie Hannawin securing bronze. The pole vault was a similiar story, as in addition to Amy's gold medal
performance, Natalie Cawthorne and Sian Wakerley joined her on the medal podium with 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Also going on during the day, the U13 girls quadrathlon competition was taking place as the girls
competed over 4 events, 75m, 600m, Long Jump and Shot Putt. Nadya Wisham was the best of the 15 Reading girls that took part,
as she secured bronze with 95 points, her highlight, clocking one of the fastest 75m times with 10.8. Abby Reed impressed
in finishing 5th, she too matched Nadya's 75m time of 10.8 and also pb'd in the long jump and 600m. Amy Herrington was 6th,
with pb's in the 75m and 600m, as well a producing the leading shot putt throw. Other prominent performances came individually
from Rebecca Ryan in the 75m, Georgia Walton in 600m and Katie Holt in the long jump.
Additionally, 2 younger athletes also competed in the Oxfordshire Championships and between them
they came away with 4 gold medals and a championships record! Freya Tubb competed in the 3 jumping events for the U15 girls
and leapt a 9.71m effort to set a new championships record for the triple jump event. She secured her second gold with a new
pb in the long jump as she leapt out to 4.77m. Amy Herrington was also in top form, a new pb in the discus of 22.17m saw her
take a comfortable victory, whilst she was equally dominant as she struck gold in the shot, for good measures she also set
a new pb in making the U13 100m final, where she further reduced her best to clock 14.88
for 5th.
YAL team off to a perfect start with a comfortable team victory at Hillingdon! Reading's National Young Athletes League team got off to the perfect start this past Sunday as they ran out comfortable winners in their opening Southern Premier West Division Match. Under the new scoring format this season, in which athletes are awarded points on where they finish, rather than a and b strings, the club scored very heavily as a result of it. On a day when the weather was at times, very windy and very cold for most of it, there were some surprisingly good performances across the board, however one of the highlights of the day saw Georgina Westwood equal the club U15 high jump record with a superb 1.70m clearance as she comfortably won the high jump. For the female side, they enjoyed a really good day, they produced 19 victories and 22 runners up spots, highlighting their consistancy in the events. It was the U15 girls who led the way with 7 victories, led of course by that fantastic effort of Georgina in the high jump, having earlier won the long jump competition with a 5m jump. Other victories saw Lukesha Morris in top form in the 2 sprinting events. She ran 2 very good races over both the 100m and 200m and then anchored the 4x100 relay team to victory. Amy Holder and Chelsea Pritchard added victories for theirselves, Amy's came in the shot as she won with a comfortable 9.69m. Chelsea came out on top in the discus, as her effort of 25.25m saw her take victory, elsewhere in the age group there were runners up spots for Jess Pointing, Freya Tubb and Chelsea Pritchard, as well as pb's for Nicole Harkness and Lauren Herrington, both in the hurdles. The U13 girls saw many getting their first taste of YAL action, but they fared very well. Rebecca Ryan got her 2010 campaign off to a winning start as she raced to 11.2 to win the 75m race. Georgia Walton ran a gun to tape effort to easily win the 800m race, whilst training partner Hannah Willis did likewise as she cut a dominant figure in winning the 1200m event. Abby Reed was a comfortable winner of the long jump, whilst Nadya Wisham's huge pb in the shot saw her take victoryas well as anchoring the 4x100 team to victory. Runners up positions were gained in this age group by Abby Reed, Lois Meredith, Nadya Wisham, Daisy Wirth and Georgia Walton. The U17 women also weighed in with 6 victories. Beki Taylor produced 2 of those with personal best performances. Despite the cold and windy conditions, she finally broke the 2.20 barrier in the 800m as she ran a tactically sound race to win with 2.19.7. She later won the 300m with a decent 43.1 clocking. Danielle Opara added 2 more victories to the Reading tally, winning the hammer and shot putt events. Mary Arnold added another 300mh victory to her bow, just 0.1 off her pb. Whilst Pippa Rogan's 1.60m high jump effort saw her take victory. Runner's up spots in this age group came from Rachel Pithers, Mary Arnold, Ashleigh Roberts, Beki Taylor, April Taylor and Rachel Rajkumar
Reading AC’s young male athletes got off to a flying start to their league campaign, despite an under strength team, and terrible conditions. The male team really stepped up to the plate, with many athletes competing in extra events to help the team. Between them they weighed in with 7 victories, and 17 runners-up spots. The Under 13 team led the proceedings with 4 victories. Three of these came from the very impressive Alex McCallum, winning the 100m, 200m and the long jump with a new personal best of 4.20. Their other victory came from Matteo Matricardi who won his shotput event. There were runners up spots for Max Swift in the 200m and the 4x100 relay team. Other performances of note were from Daniel Webb throwing a personal best of 4.94, and Thomas Hesketh who ran a valiant effort in the 1500m. The Under 15 team chipped in with 1 victory, coming from Ben Priddle, who led from start to finish in the 1500m with an impressive time of 4.36.7. The U15 team also contributed with 6 second places. These came from Suraj Mayor in the 200m, Harvey Jensen in the 100m, Keenan Morris in both the discus and shotput, and both the 4x100 and 4x400m relay teams. And finally the Under 17 team, who scored 2 victories and an impressive 9 runners up spots. Ryan Bonifas secured the high jump with a jump of 1.80, a massive 35cm more than his nearest rival. There was also a victory for Alec Thomas in the shotput, who also scored a second place in the hammer with a new best of 29.64. There were seconds for Robbie Galardo in the shotput, Liam MacDevitt in the 200m, Dan Brock had a great day in both the 400 and 800m, Ben Pearson in the long jump. Matt Alderman stepped in at the last minute to gain runner up spot in the discus, and finally both relay teams ran great races to take second. There was also a personal best for Tristan Coles who hit the landmark time of 11.5 secs for the 100m. go
Senior Men off to perfect start with deserved victory at Ashford!!! The Senior men travelled all the way to Ashford to seal their first victory of the 2010 season on Saturday. Arriving to a mixture of weather conditions the team prepared themselves for the task at hand. Starting off the events was the Pole Vault where Mike Dyer started his day sealing a win with a vault of 3metres 80cm. At the same time the Throws got underway with Readings duo of Nathan Walters and Chris Toms having some promising throws early in the season. Next came the Jumps where again Mike Dyer with a height of 1.75metres got the win in the High Jump. Keeping Mike busy he then moved onto the Track where the 400metre Hurdles giving him yet another win in a time of 57 seconds, backing him up was Chris Bell showing pure team commitment over the whole day in many events he wouldn't usually compete in to secure a solid 2nd place in a time of 65.5secs. It was then the turn of the sprinters to compete in the ever popular 100m and 200m battling against strong headwinds , Junior man James Wyatt had a good race with some strong competition to finish 4th in 11.78secs and 23.78secs in the 200m s while Phil Brickley managed 2nd in 11.34secs and 22.83secs in the 200m. The 800m was next on the track with two excellent performances. Jamie Barton lead out the first race winning with a sprint finish in 1.58mins whilst Richard Kinnersley ran a tactical 800m picking off the competition in the second lap to secure another 1st in 2.02mins. The Long distance event of the day the 5000m was next with Simon Rance showing excellent determination to secure 2nd whilst returning Reading Athletic Club member Toby Laver showed that he can still race well on the track to also come 2nd in the B string. The 110m High Hurdles followed with Mike Dyer easily winning another event with Chris Bell in the B string to come 4th in an event out of comfort zone, with only minutes to recover Chris was lining up on the 400m start line to go on and get a personal best of 54.6secs in the B string whilst Adam Hassan came in 2nd in the A string in 52.7secs. Next came the 1500m, from doubling up in both middle distance events Richard Kinnersley ran a controlled race to secure 2nd in 4.10mins, with Toby Laver coming 3rd. In the Steeplechase showing excellent technique Dan Thorne lead from the start to secure a win with a personal best of 10.09mins. The relays Ended the day with Reading showing spirited team development to win both the 4x100m relay and 4x400m Relay with some excellent runs from Sam Hickman, Adam Hassan to help secure an overall victory for the day winning by 6 points ahead of the Metropolitan Police and Ashford. |
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