2006 NEWS

Six compete for Hampshire in South’s XC Championships

Hampshire selected six of Andover ACs young athletes to compete for them in the South of England Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships held at Parliament Hill, London. The event, which included teams from the 10 counties of: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex.

Three of the six gained their first Hampshire vests: Tom Bennett a tremendous up and coming U13 boy. Chris Adams, one to watch in the U15 boys category, and Gabby Carter in the under 17 women’s race. Also selected were brothers Phill and Chris Berntsen (U17 men’s and U15 boys) and Christie Woodford U15 girls.

The Parliament Hill course, on Hampstead Heath, is one of the most demanding of the cross country season due to the extremely hilly terrain. However, all of the competitors rose to the occasion and battled hard on behalf of their county in this prestigious event.

Performance of the day went to seasoned performer Phill Berntsen in the U17 men’s race, which was over the short distance of just 5k. Phill put in a steady performance over the first part of the race, but had allowed the leading pack of five to get a 30 yard lead over him. Phill worked hard over the second part of the race to close the pack down, but as he did the front two forged ahead and he was then unable to close the gap. Phill eventually took 3rd place in a time of 16:37, just 18 seconds behind the winner, picking up the South of England Inter-Counties bronze medal.

Chris Berntsen and Chris Adams (both bottom age) were in the first race of the day - the U15 boy’s race. Both boys started a little gingerly but battled hard during the race, Berntsen eventually taking 25th in a time of 16:21 for the 4.2k course, with Adams in 65th in 17:58. Tom Bennett was next up in the U13 boys 3k race. Due to his young age and, as yet, lack of experience at this level of racing was a little nervous before the race. However, once he got going Tom showed what a talent he is for the future, having a tremendous race to finish 29th in a time of 11:12.

The focus then switched to one of the girls races: U15 girl Christie Woodford, despite falling and twisting her ankle on the first lap of the gruelling 4.2k course, continued to show great spirit to finish in 69th in a time of 21:19.

The final Andover competitor of the day was Gabby Carter. Unusually, the U17 women competed over the same distance as the U17 men. This was the longest distance Gabby has competed over, and this combined with the hilly course made for a bit of apprehension. However, like her club mates before her, Gabby launched herself at the task in hand to come 48th in a time of 23:41.

Wessex League – Newbury

The first Wessex League cross country match took place in Newbury, on a boggy course in torrential rain. The Under 11s started proceedings and the battle with the conditions which saw one of the clubs newest members Soloman Lane competing in his first race. A very proud Dad witnessed his son show a true competitive spirit coming home in a well deserved 5th place.

The Under 13 boys comprising of Dan Jones, Roland Barter and Francis Proctor gained 4th team overall which was an excellent result as all three are currently bottom of their age group, their coach was delighted with their efforts and their future prospects.

Another tremendous achievement came from the ever impressive Dougie Brisco. He was placed 14th overall, 2nd over 50 competitor, leading home the mens team to 7th position overall.

Full results: Under 11s Soloman Lane 5th, N Adams 18th, Josh Phillips 24th, Ellie Woodford 31st, L Marlow 33rd: Under 13 Girls Ellora Milsom 26th: Under 13 Boys Dan Jones 10th, Roland Barter 12th, Francis Proctor 17th: Under 15 Girls Christie Woodford 19th Natasha Rogers 35th: Under 15 Boys Chris Bull 29th: Women Heather Boyd 34th, Jacky Jones 35th: Men Dougie Brisco 14th, Dave Cleghorn 45th, Rob Phillips 48th, Matt Lane 51st.

Phill and Sarah to represent SE of England in British College Cross Country Championships

Andover AC athletes Phill Berntsen and Sarah Holliday both competed for Peter Symonds College at the South East of England Colleges Cross Country Championships held at Brockenhurst College. Significantly, the top six U20 men and women and the top college team gain selection for the National finals, which are to be held at the prestigious Loughborough University at the end of March.

As expected, Phill went straight in to the lead in the mens 7.5k race. However, due to the lack of marshals at the 1k point, Phill and the second placed runner took a wrong turn meaning they found themselves behind the now leading pack of athletes. In spite of the set back, Phill quickly regained the lead to come in the easy winner in a time of 23:39.

Next up was Sarah Holliday in what was arguably a much higher calibre womens race. Sarah showed just how much she has improved over the last year to take 5th place in the U20 4K race in a time of 16:37.

These performances gained both Sarah and Phill selection for the South East Regional team.

Portsmouth - Victory 5

Six Andover AC road runners competed with some great success in one of the top 5 mile road races in the country- the Victory 5. Starting and ending at the Mountbatten athletics track in Portsmouth, the Victory 5 is popular because of its flat, traffic free route it is therefore normally a very fast course. This year saw hundreds of entrants start the race on the day with 778 runners com pleting the course. However, very strong winds hampered this years event, seeing the traditionally fast times reduced by around a minute.

Top marks went to Emma Dunham who came 4th in the womens over 35 category in a time of 34 mins 51 secs. Emma had a terrific run coming 238th overall and was the first Andover athlete to finish. Paul Bainbridge took 11th place in the male over 55 category. Paul completed the course in 36:53 (301st overall). Heather Boyd claimed 12th place in the womens 55 category in a time of 52:17 (722nd overall) and Shelia Ridge 13th in the womens 50 category (606th overall). Andover had two ladies in the senior womens category . Claire Webb came 49th (601st overall) in a time of 43:50. And, in her first ever race, Joanna Samways came 55th (601st overall) in 45:50. Andover AC is kindly sponsored by CK Building Contractors.

Hampshire Cross Country League - 3rd in series

Overton was the venue for the 3rd Hampshire Cross Country League race. Tough hills and muddy conditions make this one of the hardest courses of the series - five races in all.  Andover AC, who is sponsored by CK Building Contractors, had one of its largest turnouts so far, with 20 athletes competing.

Performance of the day went to Tom Bennett in the U13 boys 3.4k race.  Tom kept in contention with the leaders to claim a magnificent 6th position in a time of 10:58, just 18 seconds behind the winner. Tom was joined by Daniel Grinham who had a much better run this time out to take 22nd place, Daniel Jones 32nd and newcomer James Pitt who having come directly from a football match in the morning came 36th in his first race for the club. The team now holds 5th place overall in the league and Tom holds 5th place in the individual standings, with just two more races to go.

Andover had three boys in the U15s 4k race - all of them bottom age. Chris Berntsen came 11th in a time of 12:57. He was followed home by Chris Adams in 33rd place (13:55) and Bradley Alland 18:06 (60th). The U15s team hold 8th place in the overall standings.

Phill Berntsen put in another solid performance in the U17 mens race to take 1st place with ease, in a very quick time of 18:46 for the 6.2k course, some 26 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Phill now holds 1st place in the overall standings. Phill was joined in the race by Andrew Fletcher (bottom age) who once again put in a sterling performance to finish in 23rd place in a time of 26:06.

The senior men saw seven runners in the 9k race. First back for Andover was Kearon Hooley who is starting to see a return to form following treatment for a longstanding back injury. Kearon came 16th U20 (59th overall) in a time of 32:02. Following closely behind in 61st place was veteran Dougie Brisco. Dougie showed a terrific turn of speed over the final 100m to complete the course in 32:14. He was also the first male 50+ home. Kearon and Dougie were joined by: Dave (Prancer) Awde (112th), James (Coach) Coney (134th), David Cleghorn (149th) James Folkes 25th U20 (153rd overall) and Matt Lane (162nd). This performance means that Andover move up one place in League Division Two to seventh place overall.

Four of the fairer sex joined in the fun. Ellora Milsom and Millie Dobinson took up the challenge in the U13 girls 2.3k race. Ellora started conservatively, but courageously battled through the second half of the race to take 21st place in a time of 8:07. Millie also ran well to come 36th in a time of 8:57. Gaby Carter was Andover's only competitor in the U17 womens 4k race. Gaby had a very good performance. Right from the gun Gaby showed promise and continued to keep a fast pace to take 16th position, her best position so far, in a time of 16:40. Last but not least, Sarah Holliday competed in the U20 and Senior womens 6.2k race. Sarah continues to improve, coming 11th U20 (32nd overall) in 24:46.

More pictures can be found on the Pictures gallery

Two of CK Building Contractors sponsored young Andover AC athletes travelled all the way to Liverpool over the weekend to compete in the 2nd of the UK Cross Challenge series. Importantly, this time the competition also incorporated the European Cross Country Trials meaning that the top 4 in the U20s and above age groups gained automatic Great Britain and Northern Ireland selection for the European Cross Country Championships, which are to be held in San Giorgio su Legnano near Milan, Italy on December 10th. The course, which was run in the grounds of Sefton Park in Liverpool, although relatively flat with only gradual hills had energy-sapping mud covering much of it after a week of torrential rain.

Although still an U17 competitor, Phill Berntsen took the opportunity to compete against the very best U20s Great Britain has to offer by stepping up an age group to the U20 Mens race ran over 6.5k. The very fast start, which he initially kept up with, took an early toll on Phill in the first few minutes of the race and by the 1k point he found himself towards the back of the field. Phill then set about clawing his way through the dense field of runners and mud, battling hard to eventually take a very creditable 41st place in a time of 23.36. There was just one U17 competitor ahead of Phill and only 105 of the 136 runners who started the race complete the torrid course.

Sarah Holiday joined Phill on the long journey to Liverpool to compete in the U20 Womens race, which was also a European qualifier. Sarah, who has only just moved up to this age group started steadily. She gradually worked her way through some of the runners to take 51st place, including a tremendous sprint finish at the end to take a clump of 4 runners, to finish in a time of 21.53 in a race where just 67 managed to complete the course.

Two of Andover ACs athletes have been rewarded for their high levels of sustained performance over the last year which includes both county and international representations. Sprinter James Folks and distance runner Phill Berntsen have been selected to be part of the England Athletics South East Regional Sprint and Endurance Squads. Selection involves squad training days which will be held at St Marys University, Twickenham at various dates from now until April 2007. James and Phill's coach James Coney said, 'It is excellent that James and Phill's achievements have been acknowledged and that they have both been recognised as some of the up and coming talent of the South East of England'.

The Hampshire 10 Mile Championships, which are part of the Hampshire Road Race League races (10 races in total) were held at Lordshill in Southampton this year. The course was hillier than previous locations but this did not prevent local Andover AC road runner John Golding from successfully defending his title. John was, once again, the fastest over 70 male in the field, covering the 10 mile course in 79 mins 22 seconds. Amazingly he was also the second fastest over 60 male to boot.

John followed this up a few weeks later by winning (first 70+) the Gosport Half Marathon in a time of 1 hour 44:57. The Gosport Half Marathon was the 3rd race in the Hampshire League series. Also running the half marathon with John was David Cleghorn. David completed the course in 1 hour 34:50 and was 44th Male 40+.

Derek Jarvis travelled all the way to Twickenham in Middlesex to compete in the Cabbage Patch 10 mile road race. The Cabbage Patch 10 mile race is one of the flattest and best 10 milers in the country (Richard Nerurkar set an all time British record of 46 mins 2 secs in 1993). Starting and finishing in Twickenham the course follows a loop, crossing the river in Kingston and Richmond and as always race HQ is the Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham. Derek ran very well completing the course in 1 hour 14:44 to come 380th out of a massive field of 1396 runners.

Two Andover AC competitors took part in the Newbury - Overton 5 mile cross country held at Snelsmore Common. Robin Kingston came 21st in a time of 35:32 and Andrew Fletcher, who is still only 16, came 24th in a time of 36:09. Andover AC is very kindly sponsored by CK Building Contractors.

Under 13 boys steal the show

Twenty CK Buildings sponsored Andover AC athletes went to Goodwood at the weekend to compete in the second Hampshire League Cross Country of the season.

The under 13 boys team set the standard early in the day with a terrific team performance. The five competitors of Tom Bennett, Daniel Jones, Roland Barter, Daniel Grinham and Francis Procter were all outstanding over the 3k course. From the start Tom Bennett forced his way to the leading pack showing a great turn of pace. As the race progressed Tom looked stronger and stronger and by the half way point was in 3rd place. The South Downs course is demanding with some very long hills. Towards the end of the race Tom just lacked the final stamina to maintain the tremendous pace he had set him self, eventually coming a very credible 6th place in a time of 11:19 - just 18 seconds behind the winner. The others followed Tom's example with Daniel Jones also having the race of his life to come 27th in a time of 12:27. Roland was just behind in 29th spot in 12:36, Daniel Grinham 34th in 13:05 and Francis Proctor 39th in 13:28. The boys performance gave them 7th position overall (just 4 points from 5th place) and ranks them 5th team position in the League.

The U15 boys were next up - Chris Berntsen, Chris Adams, Ricky Taylor and Bradley Alland. All of these boys are bottom age but set about the challenge with gusto. Chris Berntsen was first Andover lad home over the 4k race in a time of 14:12 to take 11th position. Chris Adams continued his progression to take 35th place in a time of 15:11. Chris was followed by Ricky in 62nd (17:31) and Bradley in 63rd (18:45). The team took 8th position overall and now hold 7th position in the League.

Andover's only two female competitors ran in the U20 and Senior Womens 4.8k race. Sarah Holliday continues to improve. Sarah came 12th U20 women and 37th position overall in a time of 24:09. Emma Dunham achieved 52nd overall and was 19th Vet back in a time of 25:11.

Only two Andover competitors, Phill Berntsen and Andrew Fletcher, were in the U17 mens 5.6k race - a race that certainly achieved the top sportsman award. Phill and his main rival Mark Challen (Portsmouth AC) took to the lead from the start with the lead inter-changing early on. However, Mark pushed hard and took a 30m lead over race favourite Phill. Coming out of the woods and with 1k to go Mark unfortunately took a wrong turn. Much to the amazement of the crowd Phill stopped and joined in with the calls to bring Mark back on track then stood and waited until Mark had regained his 30m lead. With 500m to go and Phill and Mark side by side - Phill and Mark spoke and Phill decided to offer Mark the race because he had inadvertently run further than him. The two cruised in 30 seconds ahead of the field. Both Phill and Mark now hold equal top spot over the two races with three still to run. Andrew also continues to improve coming 32nd in 20:32.

The biggest field of the day as always was the U20 mens and seniors race - with seven Andover men competing over 9.6k. First home was Kearon Hooley in time of 32:25, 15th U20 back and 66th position overall. Kearon was joined by: Dougie Brisco who ran a tremendous race to come 1st Vet 50+ in a time of 32:36 (72nd overall), Dave Awde 35:01 (120th), James Whiteman 37:43. James was 24th U20 and 176 overall. Matt Lane 38:49 (189th), Derek Jarvis 39:06, 25th Vet 50+ and 191 overall, and finally, Les Adams in his first race for many years, 47:45 (231st).

Reflecting on the day's events we are reminded of why athletics is such a great family sport to be involved with. Throughout a very enjoyable, if cold, family day, there were not only examples of great sportsmanship. But importantly; support, praise and applause for all achievements from all of the supporters - regardless of whom they were there for individually, encouraging all to achieve their personal goals. And, rather topically, absolutely no abuse of competitors, supporters or officials.

UK Cross Challenge off to a fine start

Two of Andover AC athletes, who are sponsored by CK Building Contractors, made the trip to Birmingham to the first of the five UK Cross Challenge Series, which for the older age groups includes qualification for European and World championship events. There are five events in total held over the next few months in Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Belfast and Nottingham.

Sarah Holliday competed in the high quality U20 Womens race which was over a fairly short but hilly 4,000m course around the grounds of Senneleys Park. Sarah ran one of the best races of her career. Having had a steady start she maintained her pace throughout the race. Over the final 1k, Sarah reaped the rewards of a hard track season and relentless speed-work training to take several competitors with a fast finish to take 37th position in her first season in this age group in a time of 15.41. Speaking after the race, Sarah said: “Although I was pleased with my race, I wish I had gone off a little faster at the start, because I felt that I could have held my form as I was not being over taken”.

Phill Berntsen, who is still 16, bravely decided to step up an age group to the U20 mens race as he wanted to try his hand at a much longer distance. Phill competed in the largest field of the day with over 730 competitors in the Senior Mens and U20 10,000m race, which included many England and GB internationals. The mens race is famous for its tough terrain, not least the muddy river crossing which they had to go through twice. Experience told Phill that he had to get a good start. In spite of his young age, Phill took flight up the 200m hill start, amazingly turning the corner in first place! However, his lead was unsurprisingly short lived, but the sound start held him in good stead throughout the race, eventually coming in 9th position out of the 42 U20 competitors in a time of 34.13 and 62nd overall position out of the 730 who finished the race. Commenting after the race, Phill said that he was initially disappointed with his performance, however when he saw his time he was more than happy, especially as the winning time for the 5k U17 mens race was slower than half his time for the 10k.

Andover AC road Runners in action at the

GREAT SOUTH RUN

Despite the atrocious weather an impressive 11,633 runners finished the UK’s leading 10-mile running event – the 16th BUPA Great South Run!

The elite athletes set off from Clarence Esplanade and were soon followed by the celebrities, club runners, and thousands of charity runners – all of whom made their way past the many landmarks along the route, including the Historic Dockyard at Victory Gate and the South Parade Pier on the seafront.

Andover AC had 6 road runners competing in this massive event: Paul Bainbridge, was the first Andover runner back in a very good time of time of 1:15:37 in 1166th. Ian Griffin followed in 1:23:40 (2905), Ian Oldacre 1:28:41 (4293), just 10 seconds behind Ian was David Walmesley 1:28:51 (4343), Anneke Walmsley 1:35:53 (6385) and Shelia Ridge 1:36:24 (6548).

Competing in the Abingdon marathon were Dougie Brisco and John Moon. Dougie has a great run to come 25th overall out of 682 finishers in a time of 2:52:09. Dougie was also 3rd male 50+ home. John Moon also ran well to finish in a time of 3:58:01. John was 9th in his age group (Male 60 – 69) and finished 461st overall.

A running commentary!

Andover AC road runner, Matt Lane gives you his view on the highs and lows of running a 10k – as it happened!

‘Beddington Park 10K - had a 2k warm up, then hung around for what seemed ages, no one knew the route or even how many laps there were till 2 mins before the start - all a case of follow the bike.....

Started near the front as it was only a small field, wanted to go off easy, but it never happened and I rushed through the first K in 3:49. No major dramas, was sitting in 9th place as we came back into the park, and soon made it up to 8th. Hit 2k in 4:05, that felt better, but knew it would be hard to maintain this pace, especially with some of the tight twists and turns in the park. One guy came flying past me at 2.5k (he was the eventual winner) so I dropped back to 9th, but soon gained a place again towards the end of the 3rd K (4:09), which included a nasty boggy bit for about 150m.

Hit 4th K in 4:05 and 5th 4:14 without losing any more places, but as I approached the end of the 2nd lap and past the 6k mark (4:00), I am passed again to drop me into 9th, no hope of closing more down as no one else in sight, I also have a large gap behind me. So as I move into the last lap the legs and all available holes are at maximum intake and output and I’m knackered...

All I want to do is hold on to this place and get to the finish line. I drop to a 4:14, then a 4:19 for Ks 7 and 8 and am feeling the hurt now. Some how pick it up for a 4:08 9th K then I think the last K was short as it registered only 3:36!

So finish in 9th place (but it was a small field).

So my 1st 10K for 10 months results in a 40:44 (I think that the last K was a bit short, but even so am happy with the outcome), a minute outside my personal best, but I knew that wasn’t on today.’

Sports Hall round-up

Sixteen Andover AC youngsters competed at Eastleigh in the first sports hall event of the year. The sport hall event is aimed at encouraging boys and girls up to the age of 14 to try out various running, jumping and throwing disciplines in a safe indoor environment and to keep them involved through the winter months. The events: Laps (1, 2, 4 and 6), Jumps (Long, Triple and Vertical), Throws (Shot Putt, Javelin, Target), Speed Bumps and Relays (4x2 Lap and 8 Lap Parlauf), involve teams, usually of two athletes competing together, with their combined results giving them team positions for each event which in turn contributes to an overall club position for each age group in the competition.

Competing for the boys: U11s Liam Kavanagh, Josh Phillips. U13s Gary Jones, Daniel Settle, James Pitt, Daniel Jones. And for the girls: U11s J Allison, L Marlow, Gemma Settle. U13s Claire Seymour, Hayley Appleby, Ellie Woodford, Shelby Beaker, Ellora Milsom. U15s Natasha Rogers and Danni Horner.

Performances of the day were:

Gary Jones and Daniel Settle took top spot in the Shot Putt. Gary continued to demonstrate his dominance with a tremendous throw of 8.33m, some 1.5m ahead of his nearest rival. Daniel threw 5.41m giving them a combined distance of 13.74m to take 1st place.

Shelby Beaker and Ellora Milsom ran the 6 Lap time trial in 95.4 and 92.6 respectively to take 2nd position with a total time of 187.6. Also achieving 2nd place in the U13 boys 6 Lap time trial; James Pitt 93.7 and Daniel Jones 94.6 giving them a total time of 188.3. Taking 3rd position in the U13 girls triple jump, Claire Seymour 5.78m and Ellie Woodford 5.25m meaning a total distance of 11.03m. And in the Speed Bounce, Millie Dobinson with 71 jumps in 30 seconds and keeping the performance consistent, Ellora Milsom with 72 jumps, giving them a combined total 143 jumps to give them joint 3rd position. Andover AC is kindly sponsored by CK Building Contractors.

Round up of recent news

Young Andover AC athlete, Phill Berntsen joined over 400 athletes in Fleet to compete in his first 10k road race. Phill, who was only eligible to compete this year due to age restrictions on the distance (16+), was pitched against both junior (U20s) and seniors. From the start Phill stayed with the leading pack of seven athletes, which by the half way point had dwindled to three. Phill then pushed on varying the pace, resulting in them dropping the 3rd placed man, leaving Phill and race favourite George Mc Court (Aldershot & Farnham AC) to fight it out over the second half of the race for first place. The next 4k saw them go stride for stride until the final 1k when McCourt was unable to respond to Phill's kick for home up the final long hill. Despite his young age and lack of experience at the distance, remarkably Phill finished the race in first place, 25 seconds ahead of the field, recording the fastest 10k time for an U17 man in the UK this year of 33 mins 21 secs.

Six athletes from Andover A.C. recently competed in the Clarendon Way races. Gavin Whatley, David Cleghorn, Emma Dunham and John Moon formed a marathon relay team which entailed 26 miles, mainly on tracks, between Winchester and Salisbury. Recent rain and a strong wind affected times, but all said they would compete in this event again. The team finished in 3 hours 31 mins to come 12th out of 75, albeit 38 minutes behind Salisbury. Thanks go to Caroline Walsh and Mike Dunham for driving the runners between transition points.

Two more road runners competed in a half marathon between Broughton and Salisbury. Kelvin Mason finished in 2:01 and John Goulding continued his winning streak by winning the Male Over 65 category in a time of 2:04. Andover AC is kindly sponsored by local builder CK Building Contractors.

Road Runners Annual Away Weekend

Saturday September 23^rd saw the Athletic Club’s Road Runners annual Away Weekend. This year athletes traveled to Ventnor on the Isle of Wight for the Ryde Harriers Fell Race known as the Horseshoe 7.

The race started at the Winter Gardens on the sea front and immediately climbed severely up through the town with many athletes walking due to the steepness of the climb!

The runners made their way up over Wroxall Down and St. Martins Down before the only flat section of the race. Their ascent was 1500 feet which was exhausting enough but the long run down was even harder due to the breaking needed! Styles, mud, bushes and steep steps with welcomed hand rails all added to the fun!

The difficulty of the course was apparent in the finishing times with:

Dave Cleghorn 47^th in 72min 49sec, Emma Dunham 54^th in 74min 30sec (6^th lady home), Ian Willis 57^th in 75min09secs, Robin Kingston 60^th in 75min 29sec, John Moon 63^rd in 76min 56sec, (3^rd M60), Paul Bainbridge 72^nd in 79min 20sec and Sheila Ridge 96^th in 100min 13sec (4^th F50). All agreed it was a challenge not to be missed but they would not wish to do it again except club chairman Ian Oldacre who through illness could only stand and watch promising to do it next year.

Woking Open Report

Andover AC, who is kindly sponsored by CK Buildings, attended their last track meeting of the season, which was at Woking, intent on continuous improvement before they make the seasonal transition from the track & field to cross country.

Stars of the day were undoubtedly the very young.

Matthew Chant set a new club record for the U11 80m sprint. Matthew ran extremely well in the heats and then smashed the club record with a time of 11.87. Also competing in the 80m were Carl Bodsworth, Liam Kavanaugh and Jack Deery. All four boys went on to compete in the Long Jump. Mathew jumped 3.39m and Jack increased his best by 39cm to record 3.09m and followed this up with 2 min 24.5 in the 600m.

Ellie Woodford(U11s) got not one, but two Personal Bests (PBs) on the day. Ellie jumped 3.28m in the long jump, 5cm further than her previous best and then followed this up with 13.47 sec in the 80m sprint a PB by a full 2 seconds. Genna Settle also competed in both events recording 2.14m and 15.65 sec along with Taryn Butland in the 80m only. Taryn recorded 13.99 sec.

Ten athletes competed in the U13 age group. For the girls: Ellora Milsom and Millie Dobinson who recorded 2 min 52.2 and 3 min 18.9 respectively for the 800m. And eight boys competed in lots of events during the day, the highlights of which were; Daniel Settle who threw 19.52m in the Javelin. This represented a massive 50cm improvement on his PB to take 7th place overall. Also competing in the Javelin were Roland Barter and Gary Jones who threw 22.75m and 22.19m to take 5th and 6th place respectively. In the 800m Dan Grinham ran 2 min 30.78 to take 4th position. Others competing were; Tom Bennett; Daniel Jones, Francis Proctor, and Sam Deery.

Competing in the older age groups were the now familiar names of: Christie Woodford (U15) 2 min 36 in the 800m. U17s, Louise Corcoran, who ran in the 100m and 300m. Louise recorded 13.17 sec in the final of the 100m and 44.83 sec in the 400m final, and Phill Berntsen who dropped down to the 800m to improve his speed. Phill knocked nearly 4 seconds off his time to record 2 mins 03.74 to earn him a bronze medal. Competing in the U20s, Emma Brown, who is in the process of making the transition to combined events competition, concentrated on the sprints this time out. She recorded 29.85 sec in the 200m to take 2nd place and also competed in the 400m. Sarah Holliday, who also dropped down in distance to improve her speed, just missing out on a PB in the 800m to take bronze in a time of 2 min 27.31. And last but not least, James Folkes, who ran in the 100m and 200m recording 11.44 and 22.78 respectively.

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