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Latest News - September 27th September 2009 Winter season kicks off with good performances at Southern Road Relays! The 2009/2010 winter season kicked off
this past weekend as the South of England road relay championships was held at its traditional venue of Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot.
The Female side and young male athletes contested the championships on the Saturday whilst the Senior and Vet Men were in
action on the Sunday. The
young male athletes performed well, giving much hope for the season ahead. In the U15 boys age group, they took a very good
11th position, thanks largely to a superb run from Jonathan Davies who clocked the 2nd fastest overall time of the day with
a 9.35, to hand over to Alex Bow in 2nd position. Alex ran well brining the team back in 15th, Daniels Breeds ran a good 3rd
leg and brough the team back up to 10th, before last leg runner, Ben Priddle also gave a solid leg producing the club's
2nd fastest time to bring the team home in 11th. The U13 boys saw first leg star, Callum Gregory run a superb 1st leg and
he came back first to get the team off to a fine start, Alex Harris-White did exceptionally well to maintain his form and
kept his team in 4th. Joe Elliott's debut in the club saw him also run well as he came back in 18th, but agonisingly the
failure of one athlete to no show meant the team was incomplete. The U17 men fared ok, David Lewis set them off and came
back in 39th, Jonny Roberts maintained that position with a good effort. Sam Dyson improved a further 2 places whilst last
leg runner Jake McCallion brought the team home in 32nd. For the female side it was undoubtedly the senior women who
took the limelight with some exceptional running. Their A-Team finishing a very good 15th from 45 teams. Ariane Pritchard
got them off to a flyer as she clocked her best time over the course with 14.22 to hand over in 27th. Sue Francis was next
and set out to pick off some places and did so as she come back in 23rd. Shirley-Ann Dix was another to clock her fastest
time over the course with a good 15.10 clocking to pick up a further 3 places. Rachel Phillips smashed her previous best over
the course also as she clocked a very good 15.09 to bring the club home in a very pleasing 15th position. Their B-Team also
fared well. Lucy Daniels led them off with fine effort, yet again another to clock her best time, with a 15.29 positing. Nicky
Cooke knocked almost a minute and a half off her time with a 15.41 clocking. Caroline Stevens gained 4 places for the team
as she clocked 16.13, whilst Andrea Curson produced a fine last leg with her fastest time to gain 2 more places and bring
the team home in 15th. The U17 women has the best team result of of the younger female age groups. They also had
the luxury of fielding 4 complete teams, twice as many as any of the other club's that took part in that age group. Julia
Henderson clocked a pb over the course as she ran 11.15 to come back in 16th. Naomi Forshaw showed she is back on top form
with her fastest time also with 11.46 to gain 1 place. Josie Hogge brought the team home in 16th, with her fastest clocking.
Their B-Team of Siobhan Addison, Hayley Randell and Alyx Gregory also made the top 30 with a 26th placing. The
U15 girls team competed well, again with 4 full complete teams. The A-team finished a creditable 17th. Beki Taylor kicked
them off with a decent run, despite having been ill leading up to the race, she was 5 seconds off her best with 11.30. Sian
Wakerley ran leg 2 and clocked the 2nd fastest club time with a decent 12.04, whilst Cerys Aicken also gave a good effort
to gain 1 place to secure 17th, clocking 12.08. The B-Team of Mollie Haines, Natasha Harris-White and debutant Ellie Kemp
also gave a good account and finished up in 34th place. The U13 girls fared well, despite many making their first
appearance at these relays. Lauren Herrington displayed the right attitude by going out and racing her leg and although she
suffered in the latter part, she can be pleased as it is that type of racing attitude that will bring success, she clocked
9.17 coming back in 27th place. Ella McNeill was the fastest U13 for the club on the day, she gained some 5 places with a
9.11 clocking to hand over to Flo Wilson in 22nd. Flo ran well and also showed signs of good aggressive running to come back
in 21st position. Their B-Team and C-Teams were inseperable, with the C-team leading their b-team at one stage. Abigail Froud
led the C-Team off and in the process actually clocked the 3rd fastest club time of 9.28, Katherine West and Shannon Kennedy
also added with decent efforts to give them 38th, whilst the B-Team clawed their way back, after Alice Milsom led them off,
Lois Meredith picked back 2 places, whilst Georgia Walton, one of the younger girls of the group, gained an impressive 9 places
to give the b-team a 34th placed finish. Sunday saw the Senior men in action and they opened their season up fairly well. For the men it is a team of 6 and it was Simon Rance who got them underway with a sterling effort, Simon ran the fastest club time of the day with a 19.19 clocking to come back in 25th. Carl Bradbury tackled leg 2 and he posted the 2nd quickest club time of 20.11, only dropping 1 place to 26th. Dan Thorne then proceeded to gain 2 places as he gave a fine effort to clock 20.31. Mark Curson ran leg 4 and clocked 21.30, coming back in 37th. Max Prien ran the pen-ultimate leg and clocked 22.02 whilst last leg runner, Darren Stevens clocked 22.27 to bring the team home in 44th. They also fielded an incomplete b-team, Jack Gregory led them off and clocked the fastest time on his team with a 21.51 clocking. John Burnett ran leg 2 despite not being back to full fitness, Jacob Batchelor ran well on leg 3, Veteran, John Gregory will have been pleased with his effort on leg 4, whilst Phil Wren, ordinarily a 400m specialist, ran a decent 22.59 on leg 5. 20th September 2009 Girls sign of with runner's up spot in Alder Valley Trophy! After a very long 2009 track and field
season the young female athletes of Reading Athletic Club ended on a high with yet more personal bests and club records being
set and equalled at the Alder Valley Girls Trophy Final at Hillingdon last Sunday. Despite it being well into the 7th month of competition for some athletes and with the winter season starting the following weekend, there was still time for man fine performances. None more so than Danielle Opara who had been chasing the U15 shot putt club record all season long. She has got near it on several occasion's and in her final match as an U15, she left it until her final competition to finally add her name to the record books with a superb throw of 11.52m to break the 11 year old record. It capped a superb day for Danni as she completed a hat-trick of wins, having earlier dominated the hammer competition as well as signing off with a discus victory. Training partner Ellie Ballantine made sure of maximum points in the same 3 throwing events, despite 2 broken fingers as she too took victories in the b-string shot, discus and hammer. Both girls move up to U17 next season where they will prove a very valuable addition. Another to impress at the late stage of the season was Lukesha Morris, she cut a very dominant figure in the 2 sprints, romping to comfortable victories in both the 100m and 200m, with her 100m victory coming courtesy of a new pb of 12.4, showing that is now back to her best form and give her confidence for a good winter's training and look forward to 2010. Jess Pointing ably backed Lukesha up with b-string victories in the 100m and 200m and with both girls remaining in the U15 age group, Reading's sprinting at this level looks very strong indeed. Elsewhere, Ashleigh Roberts stormed to a hurdles victory. Georgie Westwood leapt an impressive 1.60m for high jump victory. Emma Davies secured a javelin victory, whilst Amy Holder equalled her pole vault club record of 2.50m. In the younger age group. Freya Tubb produced the best U13 club performance with a winning 1.46m effort in the high jump and she followed that by winning the long jump with 4.56m. Lauren Herrington maintained her top spot in the club 600m ranking's with a new best time of 1.47.0 for victory and lifted herself into 10th in the UK ranking's for the same event, Lauren had earlier secured a b-string high jump victory with 1.25m. Abigail Froud secured maximum points in the b-string of the 600m with 1.52.7. Chelsea Pritchard continued her good shot putt form with a 8.67m effort for 2nd before going onto win the discus competiton and signing off with a b-string javelin win, Katherine West secured victory in the a-string javelin with a 22.33m winning effort. Sam Brailli secured victory in the b-string discus, whilst Nicole Harkness leapt out to 4.04m to secure 1stB in the long jump, having also set a new best of 12.0 in taking 2nd in the 70mh a-string race. In the U17 womens age group. Julia Henderson's final competition in this age group saw her take victory in the 800m. Naomi Forshaw did likewise in the b-string event with a season's best of 2.30.4. Pippa Rogan cleared 1.60m on her way to high jump victory, with April Taylor winning the b-string with a 1.55m effort. Pippa later took 2ndA in the long jump, with Naomi Forshaw adding another victory by winning the b-string. U17 captain, Charlotte Webb was another in her final U17 competition as she threw a very good 32.72m to win the discus, she also threw new personal bests in both the shot and hammer to bring close to a fine season for her. Training Partner, Emily Smith also set a new hammer best during the day and also secured 1stB in the shot putt event and she too is another athlete moving into the U20 age group for 2010. Lucy Hillen vaulted well and scored well in the javelin. 19th September 2009 Reading men produce brave account in BAL qualifier!! On Saturday 19th September Reading AC senior men’s
team made the short journey to Abingdon to compete in the British Athletics League play off match. To qualify for this match
in itself was a fantastic achievement and just reward for the athletes who had worked so hard all season. However one last
effort was required as only the top 2 teams, out of 8, on the day would gain National League status. The match consisted of
the top 8 non-national league teams from the UK and Reading’s opposition were City of Glasgow, Edinburgh AC, City of
Norwich, Mansfield, Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets, Nene Valley and Hercules Wimbledon.Team captain Mike Dyer led the way, competing
in the first 3 events of the day. He was joined in the pole vault by Ricky Littlewood. This has been a strong event all season
for the club and the two athletes didn’t disappoint once again, with Dyer taking a brilliant 2nd place in
the A string and Littlewood securing a hard fought 4th place in the B string. Dyer also kicked off the track events
for Reading by taking 6th place in the A string 400m hurdles. In the B string Aaron Wilson bravely stepped into
the fold for his first attempt at the event to score crucial points for the team. Dyer then completed his busy start by taking
5th place in the A string discus. He was joined in this by Guy Perryman, who competed as fiercely as ever to come
3rd in the B string. Perryman then went on to come 5th in the A string hammer and 4th in
the A string shot with a season’s best of 12.09m. Nathan Walters joined him in the B string of these two, placing a
superb 2nd in the hammer and a solid 5th in the shot putt.Dyer competed in 4 more events during the day,
with the highlight being the 110m hurdles A string where he secured the team’s only victory of the day with a very well
judged race, remaining calm when under pressure after other’s had got a better start. In the javelin he took a good
4th place, as did Chris Toms in the B string who continued his consistent form. In the high jump, Dyer was joined
by talented English School’s silver medallist Ryan Bonifas and they secured 4th and 3rd places
respectively to score good points for the team. Dyer completed his activities in the final event of the day, the 4x400m relay.The sprinters came up against
some high quality opposition but they didn’t let this faze them and produced some of their best performances of the
season. Luke Wale had a busy afternoon. He was unlucky to be run out of a tight finish in the A string 100m to finish 7th
but came back very strongly in the 200m A string to come 4th in a fast 22.46secs. In the B string 100m Phil Brickley
put an injury plagued season behind him to produce an excellent race and finish 2nd. In the 200m B string Rian
Corbin ran a season’s best to take 3rd place. Gary Steventon returned to the team in the 400m A string with
a 7th place finish. Another athlete to come back from injury was Michael Nevill, who returned in some style to
take 2nd in the B string 400m and matched his pb in the process. The 4x100m relay team has been another success
story this season and they continued their good form, with the quartet of Wale, Corbin, Craig Walters and Brickley coming
an impressive 2nd behind a meet record breaking Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets team.The depleted middle distance and endurance
squad battled bravely against quality opposition. Fabian Downs was the pick of the bunch with an impressive 4th
place in the A string steeplechase before completing a gutsy run in the 1500m to take 5th place in the A string.
Dan Thorne ran a determined race in the B string steeplechase and was rewarded with a pb and a 5th place finish.
With the shortage of runners another athlete to double up was Max Prien who was 7th in the A string 800m and 5th
in the B string 1500m. He was joined in the 800m by Mark Curson who finished 5th in the B string. John Burnett
only returned to training a couple of weeks ago but showed great commitment to the team by competing in the 5k and also did
the B string 110m hurdles.In the triple jump, James Osun-Samni underlined his quality with an impressive 2nd place in the
A string with a jump of 13.79m. He actually led the competition for a long period but was just pipped at the end by the Edinburgh
athlete. In the long jump, an injury to Mark Dormer sustained early in the competition meant he wasn’t able to produce
his best, but he still battled on bravely and took 7th place in the A string. Adam Hasan showed great willingness
to compete for the team and scored valuable points in the B string with 5th in the triple jump and 8th
in the long jump.In the final event of the day, the 4x400m relay, the team of Hasan, Steventon, Wilson and Dyer took
5th place to help the team secure 4th place overall on the day. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough
to achieve promotion, with Mansfield and Glasgow taking this honour. However the men should take heart from their highest
placing ever at the play off match and be proud of a successful season. The team is determined to come back even stronger
next year and take the next step up to National League status. 5th September 2009 History made as YAL team are victorious in Auxiliary final! There have been many, many highlights
in the long and illustrious history of Reading Athletic Club, but on Saturday the 5th of September 2009, a new chapter in
the club's history was wrote as the Stewarts of Mortimer Coaches sponsored, Reading Athletic Club's Female
and Male young athletes competed in their first National final of the National Young Athletes League. Having had a good season
in the Southern Premier Division, the team finished the league in 4th and with it secured a spot in the Auxiliary final
in Birmingham. There they faced Northen Qualifiers, Liverpool Ac and Blackpool Ac, Midland Qualifiers, Stoke Ac and
Notts Ac, fellow Southern qualifiers, City of Norwich as well as Irish Champions, City of Derry and Scottish runners up, Giffnock
North. The whole team produced a performance
to rival that of anything else that has happened in the club's 128 year history. They showed that Reading Athletic Club
are truly back on the big stage with a convincing 116.5 point winning margin. The club were confident if all went well a win could be on the cards, but to do it with such style
and dominance, made the victory all the more sweeter. Perhaps also a fitting reward in the memory of life member, Jim Oates,
who sadly died recently as it was Jim who was the team manager when the boys teams last made the National finals back in the
80's when the league was seperated by male and female teams. Female Report The
female side florished however and there hard work all season long was justifiably rewarded with this victory. Perhaps the
most impressive age group performance wise came from a very talented U17 age group. They secured 11 gold medals in their age
group. U17 captain Charlotte Webb and her training partner gave the club the best possible start with both girls securing
gold medals in their respective shot strings. Webb threw 9.04m, whilst Smith threw 8.20m for b-string honours. Smith wasn't
done there however as she later took victory in the discus b-string. Webb later added a silver in the javelin event. Pippa
Rogan completed a fine day for her. Her day began when she won the b-string high jump with a 1.55m clearance, then later added
her second gold medal of the day with a 4.46m long jump b-string. April Taylor also cleared 1.55m in the high jump as she
took the silver with 2nd a-string, she later added herself a gold however with 1stB in the javelin. Lucy Hillen secured gold
in the b-string hammer throw and then added a silver in the pole vault event. Julia Henderson ran a tactically sound 800m
race and rightly claimed gold. Rachel Pithers also secured herself a gold medal as she leapt out to 4.75m in the long jump
Sarah Heyworth added a silver in the 100m b-string, Caitlin Baty collected silver in the 800m B and then later earnt bronze
in the 300m b-string. The 3000m was a fine race for Reading. Josie Hogge ran the race of her life to smash her pb for the
silver medal, Naomi Forshaw closely followed as she collected gold in the b-string. Others to contribute saw Phoebe Gordon
score vital hurdles points. Hayley Randell and Alyx Gregory also scored vital points in the 1500m. The U15 girls also did their fair share of contributing to the medal count
and it was Danielle Opara who led the way 2 superb victories. Starting in the shot, she was a clear 1.5m clear of her nearest
rival as she threw 11.02m for the gold medal. Later in the discus, however was to come her crowning moment, smashing her best
with a massive throw of 30.64m for her second gold of the day. Team mate Ellie Ballantine made the discus event a double joy
as she earnt herself a gold by winning the b-string, to add to the silver she secured earlier in the shot. Beki Taylor was
another gold medal winner as she gave a dominant display in the 800m. A gritty performance was followed by victory with a
new personal best of 2.20.82. Jessica Pointing was another to add towards the gold medal count with an impressive display
in winning the 100m b-string. Lukesha Morris made a big return to form after a short lay-off with injury. In the 200m, Morris
held her form well in the final 30m to secure silver and she repeated that effort in the 100m to secure her second gold medal
of the day. Jess Palmer helped herself to a bronze medal with a fine run in the 200m b-string. Georgina Westwood cleared 1.61m
on her way to winning silver in the high jump, Emma Davies was another to medal, she gained a bronze in the b javelin. Jamie
Polston (800m), Emma Taylor and Sian Wakerley (both 1500m) all also did their bit. As did Rachel Rajkumar, in the high jump
and javelin events. Charlotte Gorman and Amy Holder also contributed to the teams fine effort. The U13 age group can also be pleased with their efforts. Abigail Froud was the sole winner of a
gold medal in that age group as she ran a perfectly tactical 800m race to win the b-string. Lauren Herrington shaved yet more
off her pb in the 800m A race to take the silver medal, to match the one she gained earlier in the shot putt. Chelsea Pritchard
also medalled in the shot as she took the bronze medal with a 7.55m effort. Katie Hannawin made a big return to form in her
sprinting and showed her ability as her best result saw her take silver in the 75m race. Freya Tubb collected herself a trio
of medals, starting with a silver in the 150m b-string, that was soon followed by bronzes in the long jump and 75m sprint.
Nicole Harkness and Imogen Coupe both secured deserved bronze medals in their respective strings of the 70mhurdles, with Harkness
also securing silver in the b-string long jump. Alice Milsom and Ella McNeill also scored vital points in the 1200m and Mollie
Pritchard was very unlucky at having to retire from the high jump early on having injured her leg and we wish her a speedy
recovery. The days were rounded off with the relays,
the U17 4x100 did well for 4th, the U15 girls provided a great effort to take the gold medals, whilst the U13 sprint team
secured the silvers, with the final event of the day seeing the U17 4x300m relay team finishing 4th. All that was needed now was the final match score to indeed confirm that Reading
had proved worthy winners of the fixture and added another piece of history to Reading Athletic Club Male Report Reading's boys were really fired up for this match, which, for the majority of the squad, was the
pinnacle of their athletics careers so far. In the Under 13 age group, Benjamin Palmer was very strong in both the 100m and 200m A-string races, placing 3rd and 1st. He followed that up with a B-string win in the Shot Putt and was the anchor-leg for the winning relay team, along with Harry Ritchie, Keenan Morris and Joe Miller. Joe has been in great form all season and that continued into the final. As well as winning the relay, he also came first in the B-string long jump, ran a fine 800m race and set a new PB in the 75m hurdles. A very good season for a very talented (and determined) young athlete. Harry Ritchie set two new PBs on the day, firstly in the Long Jump with 4 metres and 49 cm and then in the High Jump with 1 metre 35cm. He followed that up with a win in the B-string 100m before capping off the day with the relay win. Keenan has been very consistent in the relay squad all season and showed how multi-talented he is by stepping in at the last minute to score valuable team points in the High Jump. New-comer Harvey Jensen surprised the stadium audience when he tore up the track to win the U13 200m B-string by a mile, in a very fast new PB time of 27.70 seconds. Harry Marshall threw 7.98m in the Shot Putt for 4th place and ran 2 minutes 36.01 seconds for 2nd place in the 800m B-string, closing out a fantastic season for this talented young athlete. Callum Gregory has been close to breaking the 5 minute barrier in the 1500m all season. He achieved that last weekend and then bettered his time at Birmingham with 4 minutes, 59.67 seconds to take 4th place. Team-mate Alex Harris-White won a gold medal and scored maximum team points by winning the B-string 1500m. The Under 15 squad are, arguably, the strongest Under 15 squad in the entire country and they showed that at Birmingham Alexander. Michael Baatz came 1st in the 100m and 200m A-string races and was matched by Foluke Blackett, who took 1st B-string in the same two races. They then teamed up in the Long Jump, where Michael jumped 5 metres 37cm for 4th A-string and Foluke cleared 5 metres 24cm for 2nd B-string. Foluke is one of only five athletes that has competed in all 6 Young Athlete League matches this season and can proudly claim the title of 'Most Valued Player' with his awesome tally of 90 points for the club. An outstanding performance from an outstanding athlete. Daniel Brock proved that good middle distance runners can also sprint by taking 6th in the 400m and 7th in the 800m. Liam MacDevitt has played a key role in Reading's success this year. Many athletes run a mile to avoid the agony of the 400m, but not Liam. He ran a strong race to take 4th B-string in 56.66 seconds. Like Foluke, Alex Bow has also been on the track for all 6 matches this year. He ran a fine 800m B-string and took 3rd place in 2 minutes 15.56 seconds. Jonathan Davies was one of three 1500m runners to set new PBs on the day. He wiped a massive 11 seconds off his best time to finish in 4 minutes, 27.72 seconds. Jonathan received one of the loudest cheers of the day from the stadium as he sprinted the final straight to take 2nd place in the A-string race. Dan Breeds also broke his PB when he took 3rd place in the B-string race with 4 minutes, 45.09 seconds. Wilf Johnson came close to beating his PB in the 80m Hurdles when he came 5th in 12.86 seconds. He then went on to win a bronze medal in the javelin, with 34.18 metres. Dan Trussler also came close to his hurdles PB, winning B-string bronze in 13.44 seconds. Dan then took gold in the B-string Discus, with 25.71 metres. Andreas Hyde once again showed how multi-talented he is, taking first place and a gold medal in the Shot Putt, bronze in the Discus and bronze in the High Jump. Dan Smith has made great progress this season. His first place in the B-string High Jump and 3rd place in the B-string Javelin showed just how far he has come as an Under 15 athlete. Matt Alderman is another athlete who has successfully competed in all 6 matches this year and is one of the most versatile athletes in the squad. There is certainly no argument that he is the most laid back! This lad can and will do anything and everything for the team - the ultimate team player. Other clubs would pay good money to have Matt on their books. Unfortunately for Matt, athletes can only compete in three events, so this time round it was the Pole Vault, Hammer and Shot Putt. A 4th, 1st and 1st were the reward for his efforts and another 21 team points were in the bag. Mitchell Felix picked a fine day to beat his Hammer PB (twice) with a very strong second place in 44 metres and 29cm. The 4x400 relay team ran a great race to finish in 4th place. Ben Priddle, Alex Bow, Dan Brock and Liam MacDevitt ran a very gutsy race to finish in 4 minutes, 3.01 seconds. The Under 17 Men's squad is very strong. Most of them will still be Under 17's next year, which bodes well for 2010. Neil Hallett had a great day, taking 5th in the A-string 100m, 3rd in the 200m and 3rd in the Long Jump. He more than earned the right to collect the winners trophy on behalf of Reading AC, along with the Ladies Captain, Charlotte Webb. Robbie Galardo is another of those athletes that can and will do just about every event on offer. He stormed his way to bronze in the B-string 100m, took gold in the B-string Javelin and 4th in the Discus. Great results from an athlete that has another year in the under 17 squad to look forward to. Marcos Riley is another 'young gun' in his first year of Under 17s. Marcos is strong in all the sprints, as he demonstrated on the day, with a 4th in the B-string 200m, 3rd in the A-string 400m, 5th in the 4x100 relay and 4th in the 4x400m relay. 2010 will be a great year for this athlete. William Nevill ran really well in the 400m B-string, taking 5th place and he also helped the 4x400 team secure 4th place. Along with Marcos and William, Sam Dyson also ran extremely well in the 4x400 relay team. Sam also ran a strong 800m race and then filled in for the Shot Putt, proving that middle distance runners are amongst the strongest athletes around. Dan Phillips teamed up with Sam in the 800m and ran a very good time to take 5th in the B-string. Jake McCallion was the third 1500m runner to smash his PB on the day. He took an incredible 16 seconds off his PB to secure 6th place in the A-string race with a new best time of 4 minutes and 54.28 seconds. Jonathan Roberts had the unenviable task of tackling both the 3000m and 1500m on the same day. Jonathan showed just how strong he is by taking 4th in the 3k and 5th in the 1500m. Jonathan's determination and perseverance has really impressed his team manager this season. David 'Superman' Lewis has a reputation for pushing himself to limit, such is his hunger for racing and his determination to maximise team points. He earned himself huge amounts of respect and admiration from his team mates earlier in the season with his outstanding efforts in the middle distance and he didn't disappoint in the finals when he secured a bronze medal in the 3k and 5th place in the 1500m Steeple Chase. Perhaps the key to Reading's success is the number of talented multi-eventers amongst the ranks. Scott Davies is another athlete who can and will do any event. Like Matt Alderman, Scott Davies excels at events that others steer well clear of. Scott's 4th place in the Pole Vault, 4th in the 100m Hurdles, 4th in the 400m Hurdles and 6th in the 4x400 relay team all go to show that Scott is one of the key components of this winning team. Lawrence Jobson is another athlete that has competed in all 6 matches this season. He was well rewarded for his commitment to the club with a gold medal in the B-string Pole Vault, a PB (28.68m) in the Discus and 4th place in the B-string Hammer. Reading AC are very fortunate to have the Plank twins - Adam and Tom - in the squad. Adam has been one of the highest point scoring athletes for the club this year. He has a brilliant attitude and consistently thinks about what is best for the team. So, it was no surprise when he tackled the Triple Jump for the first time (11.46m for silver medal and PB), the 100m Hurdles (16.58 seconds for silver medal and PB) and the Long Jump (5.87m for Gold medal B-string). His results and his attitude are both very admirable. His brother Tom isn't in the game of letting his twin take all the limelight. Tom has also been a very strong and consistent points scorer this season in the High Jump. Tom jumped a new PB height of 1.73m last week to help the club win the Alder Valley League trophy and was expecting something similar this week. He didn't disappoint, winning the gold medal for B-string. These young men are a credit to their parents. James Millar teamed up with Adam in the Triple Jump to take 6th place in the A-string with 11.49 metres. James has competed in all but one of the league matches this year. Will Page chose a rather large stage to make his debut for Reading AC. Others may have wilted under the pressure, but not Will. He cleared 1.75m in the A-string High Jump to take silver medal for Reading. What a debut! If this final was a tug-of-war, Alec Thomas would be the first person you would choose to be on your team. Alec has been on the field (and track) for all 6 league matches this season. He smashed his Shot Putt PB recently by putting 11.60m and he wasn't too far off that at Birmingham, with 11.11m to secure 5th place in the A-string. He followed that up with 28.16m in the Hammer A-string for 5th place. At a recent league match, Alec helped the team score vital points by running the 800m. After the first lap - and to the amusement and disbelief of everyone - Alec was 'told off' by an official for running too slowly. That official clearly wasn't tuned in to the Reading AC mission! Alec ran a PB that day and is still - and quite rightly - proud of the fact. Ben Taplin not only won a gold medal when he threw a personal best 49.59 metres in the Javelin, he also won the award for 'Under 17 Men's Field Athlete of the Match'. A fantastic performance. The Under 17 relays were the finale events of the day. The 4x100 relay team of Robbie Galardo, Marcos Riley, Tristan Coles and Neil Hallett ran a strong race to secure 5th place. The 4x400 team of Scott Davies, Sam Dyson, William Nevill and Marcos Riley completed a fantastic and very successful day of athletics for the club.
Southern League team give spirited performance in Cornwall to finish 2nd! Reading Ac ended their Women's Southern League campaign this past Saturday as they travelled to Par Cornwall. Their ambitions of trying to secure the league title were hampered by virtue of the fact, the entire U15 first team and many U17's who would have made the senior team, were in action in Birmingham at the YAL final. However, such is the depth at the club, they were able to field another U15 side for this fixture, many of which were only making their 2nd or third apperance for the club. To their credit, they showed they were willing to help out the team in a number of events, doing well in the process, that coupled with an ever committed Senior team, meant that Reading still managed a 2nd place finish to take the runner's up spot in the league for the 2nd year running. For the Senior's Shelley Bowen was again a shining example and showed on the day as she has all season, what an asset she is. She ran 2 blistering gun to tape sprint races. The 100m she romped to victory in 12.6 and in the 200m finished 15m ahead of her nearest rival with 25.6. The field side scored heavily, Coral Stewart and Julie Wilson opened the day with the hammer with a double victory. Both then moved to the discus, which saw Wilson win the event and Stewart taking 2ndB. Wilson then competed in the Shot and was joined by Laura Knight, making a much welcome return to the team after having a year out of the team to have her first child. Knight made a winning return, as having seen Wilson win the a-string shot, Knight threw 8.83m for 1stB. She wasn't done there as she moved to her favoured event, the javelin and secured another victory, winning the competition with 33.65m, Laura Pearce gained 2ndB. Other winners during the day saw Lorraine Bobb claim a b-string double, coming in the 100m and triple jump. Lee Fellowes and Lucy Daniels claimed a double victory in the 100mh, whilst Nicky Cooke secured her first victory in club colours by winning the b-string 3000m. Senior Captain Meryl Austin again competed well, leaping well in the long and triple and also tried her hand at the pole vault for the first time for 4thB. Shirley-Ann Dix and Hayleigh Wood competed in the 800m as well as covering other events, whilst Hayley Pearce and Charlotte Phillips competed in the non-scoring equivalant. Sue Francis ran a spirited 3000m effort also for the a-string. The U15 girls did very well and acting team manager Meryl Austin was delighted with their attitude and effort. Natasha Harris-White was the sole winner, winning the b-string 800m. Cerys Aicken ran a solid race in the a-string of the same event. Mollie Haines and Becky Mrowiec both gained 2nd in their respective strings of the 1500m. Danielle Adams and Jessica Fletcher, relative newcomers to competition, both more than held their own in the 2 sprint races and both took 3rd in their respective strings of the 100m and 200m. Ellie West had a pleasing long jump effort, whilst Jess Stevens made her club debut in non-scoring 800m as well as helping out in the discus. The relays rounded the day off, the U15's taking 4th, with the Senior's romping to victory. The 4x400 quartet ran very well, a particularly good last leg by Dix earnt them 2nd.
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