Despite the, at times, windy conditions, their were some exceptional performances gained across the board. Amy Holder was in top form, in the pole vault she set new marks to her existing club record with the 5th best jump in the UK at present with a impressive 2.80m clearance to win the event, in the middle of this she was darting off to the Discus, in which she claimed another victory with a 30.21m throw. To end her highly successfull day, she claimed victory number 3 with a 9.43m putt in the shot event, completing yet another fine day of competition for the club. Elsewhere in the U15 age group, English Schools 100m Champion, Lukesha Morris completed a fine sprint double and clocked some decent times despite the strong headwind. In the 100 she raced to 12.7, before later adding the 200m to her victory column with a 26.2 victory. Jess Pointing made sure Reading came out on top in the sprints, she finished 2nd to Lukesha in both races, in the 100m she raced to 12.8 and in the 200m, clocked a pleasing 26.6. Georgina Westwood chipped in with 2 victories for the team. She began with a 12.7 hurdle victory and later added the long jump, where a 5.04m leap was enough to secure 1st in that event. Katherine West claimed her first YAL victory with a very good 25.30m effort in the javelin event. The other victory in this age group came from the 4x100 squad of Lukesha, Jess, Freya Tubb and Katie Hannawin, they combined well to clock the fastest U15 relay time in the UK, with an exceptionally fast 50.4, however it was met with mixed emotions as it was just 0.1 seconds off the club record of 50.3, which could very well go before the season end. Other runner's up spots in this age group came from Lauren Herrington in the 800m, Mollie Pritchard with a fine 1.48m pb in the high jump, Chelsea Pritchard weighed in with 3 runner's up spots in the shot, discus and javelin, whilst Natalie Cawthorne's superb 2.40m pole vault pb gave her 2nd position, much to the delight of coach, George Austin.

The U17 ladies produced some good performances, Danni Opara leading the way with a double victory. In the hammer a massive pb of 29.55m saw her take a commanding victory, whilst later in the shot she threw a decent 10.75m for a more than comfortable victory. Beki Taylor and Cerys Aicken completed a middle distance double. Beki racing to a new 800m pb in 2.18.7 for victory, whilst Cerys confidently won the 1500m event later in the day. Beki later added a triple jump victory to her bow, with a 9.98m effort. Ashleigh Roberts ran a fine 300mh race to claim victory in 49.9. Pippa Rogan leapt up to 1.65m for another high jump victory, whilst the 4x100 squad of Jess Palmer, Rachel Pithers, Alice Wigmore and Beki Taylor won in 51.50. The highlight of the runner's up positions in this age group came from the 4x300 team, setting a new club record of 2.56.9, as Beki, Jess, Rachel and Cerys all combined well in what proved a close fought race. Elsewhere, Rachel Rajkumar ran well for 2nd in the 300m, Emma Taylor did likewise in the 1500m, having already ran the 800m earlier. Charlotte Gorman took a deserved 2nd in the 300mh race,  Pippa Rogan added 2nd in the long jump to her high jump victory, whilst Katie Hodgson leapt 2.10m for 2nd in the pole vault. April Taylor took a 2nd in the javelin, whilst Ellie Ballantine took 2nd in the hammer and discus events.

The U13 girls again found some good form. Georgia Walton claimed the first win of the day with a gun to tape effort in the 800m. Nadya Wisham later added to the win column, leaping out to 4.36m for long jump victory. Ella McNeill cleared 1.36m on her way to a high jump victory. 2nd places were gained from Hannah Willis, who again ran another 1200m personal best. Amy Herrington gained 2nd place in the shot, whilst Nadya was also involved in a close 75m race in which she finished 2nd with 10.7. The 4x100 team of Katie Holt, Rebecca Ryan, Nadya and Amy, then combined for 2nd position in 57.3

 

This Weekend saw the Mens team go into there penultimate match of the season without a defeat, Sadly there winning streak was cut short as the joint division 1 leaders went head to head in Ilford and a depleted Reading team coming off second best due to many absences of some of the key athletes. In the Field Mike Dyer and Matt Alderman (under 17) making his debut appearance for the seniors, Alderman who came into the pole vault at last minute, Vaulting equal to his personal best to secure 4^th whilst Dyer using his experience tactically entered the vault at a higher than than personally comfortable height to force some pressure on the eventual winner, dyer settling for 2^nd place. In the High Jump Dyer again was on the field and secured a seasons best of 190cm winning the A String, and also drafted in at last minute James Gibson, recently back from injury stepped up to come 2^nd in the B String jumping a seasons best of 175cm. In the Triple Jump junior Neil Hallett and Dyer gave some solid performances but were out jumped both securing 4^th place. In the Long Jump Ben Pearson U17 making his debut for seniors jumping excellently to secured 3^rd place in the B string Hallett once more taking on almost the same competition as the Triple secured 2^nd place. In the throws the duo of Dyer and Veteran Chris Toms took on all the throwing events, In the Shot both secured 4^th place. In the Javelin Dyer came 3^rd in the A string whilst Toms threw a seasons best of 43.79 securing 2^nd in the B String. In the throws cage the Hammer was launched by Toms to secure 3^rd whilst dyer in the B String secured 2^nd with a seasons best of 25.14. Both athletes who admit that Discus is not there preferd event took part at the end of the day to get throws in both securing 4^th place. On the track the the 400m hurdles started the events off seeing Chris Bell running a personal best time and in the B String Team Manager Richard Kinnersley having never run an event with hurdles before secured 2^nd Place in a personal best time of 64.6 seconds. In the 110m Hurdles Dyer taking on on of his favourite events managed to keep his unbeaten record winning the event whilst in the same race B String having once again never hurdled, Richard Kinnersley with team sprit throwing him over the hurdles just missed out on a win taking 2^nd place. In the Sprints the 100m saw the duo of Luke Wale and Sam Hickman running strong into a slight headwind to secure 2^nd and Hickman with 3^rd. In the 200m the Duo again facing tough competition, Wale taking a second 2^nd place whilst Hickman taking 4^th in the B string. In the 400m Chris Bell equal d his Personal best to come 3^rd whilst in the B String selected only 30mins prior U17 long jumper Ben Pearson having never run the distance ran superbly judging the race like an experienced athlete to get a personal best of 53.9secs to secure 2^nd place. In the Long Distance race taking on the 30c heat saw athletes Toby Laver and Jacob Batchelor both securing 2^nd places earning the team some valuable points. In the middle distance events not having the strongest athletes the 800m A and B strings running together drafted in U17 Dan Brock having never run in the seniors Brock ran confidently in the mix with the seniors but in the final stages both age and experience was shown up as the pack pulled away with Brock finishing 4^th. Peter Crisp in the past few weeks suffering from hamstring issues decided to race but was clear that the body wasn't ready also taking 4^th Place. In the 1500m, Manager Richard Kinnersley took on his specialist event running with the pack all the way to win in a sprint finish whilst also making his debut Junior David Lewis ran strong in the pack to secure 2^nd place in the B string. In the 3000m Steeple chase keeping his unbeaten record alive specialist Dan Thorne blew the competition winning by over 40secs ahead of 2^nd place, Recovered from the 5000m Toby Laver ran a solid leg to finish 2^nd in the B string. In the Relays the 4x100m team also kept there unbeaten record by winning convincingly, In the 4x400m struggling to field a energetic squad managed to summon the strength the get round securing 2^nd place.

The end of the day came and Due to absences Reading Settled for 2^nd place putting them 2^nd in the Division. The final match of the season is on the 31^st of July at Palmer Park where a full+ extra athletes will be available to get results for possible qualification into the British Athletics League qualification match on the 18^th September.

Held at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, 13 members of Reading Ac enjoyed varied success at the Championships.

 

The undoubted highlight of the championship for the club came on Saturday afternoon in the U15 girls 100m final, in which the club saw 2 of its members contest. Lukesha Morris and Jess Pointing both comfortably advanced from the heat and semi final stages. In the final, which was shown live on Sky Sports, Lukesha produced undoubtedly her best performance so far, despite not getting a fantastic start, she displayed her sprinting qualities to come through and convincingly claim the gold medal and with it give her the title of U15 English Schools 100m Champion. It was a fitting reward for the hard work she has put in in the past 10 months, having struggled with an injury at the tail end of last season, she kept focussed and has continued to work hard since then, culminating with a deserved gold medal in what was a personal best time of 12.26.

For Jess, she can be equally pleased, she finished the final in a very good 5th position, with a very good time of 12.62.

 

Other medals were gained by Reading members, 2 of which came on day 1. The first of which coming from one of the club's newer members.  U15, Katherine Alexander continues to show what a huge potential she has at the javelin event and she further demonstrated that as she secured her first major medal, taking bronze with a very decent distance of 36.13m. Ryan Bonifas competed in the very last event of day 1, but he made sure he closed the day on a high note for the club and the Berkshire team, as in the U17 High Jump, Ryan competed very well in a competitive competition, however he held his nerve to leap 1.96m for a much deserved bronze medal to continue his fine season he is having.

Elsewhere the Exeter Harriers duo of Jenny Robinson and Rebecca Chapman, who both compete higher claim for the club in the UK League, both gained a bronze medal each. Rebecca, having comfortably qualified from her heat, then gained her bronze in the U19 100m final with a 12.28 clocking. 30 minutes later, Jenny was on track in the 100mh final, in which she raced to 3rd position with a 14.37 clocking. 2nd claim member, Funto Fabunmi-Alade, also claimed a bronze medal for herself as she clocked 24.99 in the U17 200m final.

 

Elsewhere there were some fine performances from the remaining Reading Ac members during the 2 days, all of which the club is equally proud of. Pippa Rogan was involved in a tight U17 high jump competition, she finished with a height of 1.65m, the same height as the bronze medal position, infact the same height as 7 other atheltes, however countback played its part and Pippa had to settle for 6th, nonetheless a pleasing result in her debut in these championships.

Danielle Opara gained a 7th place in the U17 shot putt final with 10.70m.

Julia Henderson competed in the U19 1500m event and again proved another close but tough race, she did however clock a new personal best on her way to 8th in the final, her time being 4.38.1.

Georgina Westwood leapt 1.60m in the U15 girls high jump.

Jack Hatton breezed through his heats of the U15 boys 80mh, clocking 11.72 in the process, however in the semi's he failed to make the final, running 11.93 for 6th place. Another 2nd claim member, Bertie Lewis of Team Kennet, enjoyed a fine championships, comfortably qualifying from his 400mh heat Saturday morning, he finished a very respectable 4th in the final with a time of 54.53.

Senior ladies captain Shelley Bowen again led by example, she has competed at every UK league fixture since the club first gained entry in 2006 and is the leading points scorer for the club, she added to that tally furthermore with 2 very impressive sprint victories, despite the surprisingly windy conditions, she clocked 12.24 on her way to 100m victory, before later completing the sprint double with a 25.01 clocking to win the 200m.

Other victories saw Caroline Parmenter take her 2nd straight high jump victory in the UK League, as she equalled her pb with a 1.60m clearance. Jenny Robinson made the event a double victory, leaping 1.50m to win the b-string, before going onto take 2nd in the 100mh. Rebecca Chapman caught the eye during the day, particularly in the 100m b-string in which she matched Shelley's efforts, as she won the b-string with a fast 12.40 clocking.

Jana Riedel scored well through the day, she began with a 2ndA in the pole vault, clearing 2.80m, she later gained 5th in the 400mh, before taking 2ndB in the javelin event, for more vital points for the club. Zara Bennett conotinues her rapid improvement as she took 4thB in the 200m event. Shirley-Ann Dix and Hayley Randell both ran brave 400m races, whilst Julia Henderson and Nicky Cooke tackled the 800m, Julia, a little underweather, bravely took 5thA, whilst Nicky produced a solid effort for 4thB.

Rachel Phillips and Sue Francis combined for the 1500m, Rachel coming home in 5thA, with Sue taking 3rdB. Andrea Curson and Caroline Stevens did well in what proved a tough 3k race, Andi held on for 6thA, whilst Caroline finished with 5th in the b-string. Sarah Wilkins enjoyed a personal best by some margin as she took 4th in the 2000m steeplechase, whilst Lee Fellowes clocked her fastest time of the season with 5th in the b-string of the 400mh. Meryl Austin's return from injury continues well as she leapt a season's best in the triple jump. Yolande Henneley made up for her disapointment of 3 no throws in the discus, as she threw an improved shot of 9.84m. Julia Wilson enjoyed a fine season's best in the hammer throw of 32.95m, with Coral Stewart taking 2nd in the b-string. Charlotte Webb threw well for 6th in the a-string discus, whilst Helen Buckley threw 27.80m in the javelin a-string.

Two of the most exciting races of the day proved to be the 2 relays. The 4x100 quartet of Rebecca Chapman, Jenny Robinson, Zara Bennett and Shelley Bowen are proving quite exceptional, a near perfect race from all 4 legs, saw Shelley close down 10m on the runner in front of her to bring the team home in a fast 49.41, one of the fastest time's by a Reading team for a number of years.

20 minutes later and the 4x400 relay was up and inspired from her sprint relay leg, Shelley then proceeded to volunteer for the 4x400 to join Julia, Shirley and Rachel. Julia opened up with a storming leg, Shirley again did likewise with a blistering leg, Rachel kept the team in the hunt with her usual gutsy effort, whilst Shelley's last leg of 59.2 earnt the club 4th position to bring close to a fine day for the senior ladies.