Latest News
Young Athletes are Champions!
AVAC's young athletes can look forward to Premier Division action in 2009 thanks to this seasons team winning Division 1 East of the National Young Athletes League.
Topping the table with 5 wins out of 5 matches the clubs U13's, U15's and U17's won a close match on Sunday 20th July at Leicester to seal promotion to the top flight next year. Requiring only a top 2 finish on Sunday against close rivals Coventry Godiva to be sure of promotion, the team gave everything as usual to win by 1 point on the day.
Now we can relax a little and thank those who made this possible. To all the athletes who turned out, many whom were available for every match and willingly do events in addition to their favoured ones; to our team managers Julie, Jim, Judy and Grant who work so hard behind the scenes to get strong teams and get everyone in the right place at the right time; to our officials, who are essential to the smooth running of matches, work in all weathers and earn team vital points as well, and not forgetting our hardworking coaches preparing our athletes week in week out.
A truly team effort. Well done to all.
Country Call-Ups
Following her silver medal at English Schools, Claudia Rogers was selected to compete for England at the Schools International match at Bedford on 21st July.
Against teams from Wales, Scotland and Ireland, Claudia ran in her favoured event, the 300m Hurdles where she finished in 3rd place. England eventually won the match by over 150 points from Ireland in 2nd, Wales 3rd and Scotland 4th.
Meanwhile David Feeney has received a Great Britain U23 selection for an international combined events match against France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Sadly, he is not able to take up the offer due to a knee injury which looks to put him out of action for the rest of the season.
Well done Claudia and commiserations David!
Heart of England League Improvement
AVAC moved up one place in Division 1 of the Heart of England League
following a successful trip to Tamworth on 6th July.
The Club is now is 2nd place overall, with Solihull having moved into top spot, and Rugby & Northampton unusually falling two places to 3rd.
Overall finishing places per age group on the day were as follows:
U11B 2nd
U13B 7th
U15B 1st
U17M 1st
Men Total 2nd
U11G 2nd
U13G 6th
U15G 2nd
U17+Women 2nd
Women Total 3rd
You can download the results by age group here.
Overall after 2 matches 1st Solihull, 2nd AVAC, 3rd R&N, 4th
Worcester, 5th Tamworth, 6th Halesowen, 7th Nuneaton. Results here.
(Please note that U11 guest races have not had names recorded).
The last match in the League is on 7th September at Rugby.
AVAC Regain Mini League Lead
Around 55 young AVAC athletes competed at Moorways on 12th July in the third match in the Derbyshire Track and Field Mini League series.
The Club won on the day in convincing fashion by over 100 points from Derby AC in 2nd, giving us a narrow but significant lead going into the final match in August where the trophy winners will be decided. Athletes were also keen to do well, to impress the selectors when it comes to deciding the U13 / U15 Derbyshire team for the annual Inter-Counties match on September 13th at Hull. The County team will only be selected from Mini League and County Championships performances.
U11's Megan Bruce and Jethro McGraw again dominated the two individual events which their age group is allowed to contest, Megan winning both the 80m and 150m, and Jethro the 150m and 600m. Phillipa Wright ably backed up maximum points for AVAC in the sprint events by finishing 2nd in both events to Megan. George Rains took 2nd in the 150m and Joe Reeve was also 2nd in the long jump. Niamh Emerson kept her unbroken record in the 600m winning by a clear margin again.
At U13, there were 2nd places for Emily Heappey (100m) Maddy Cusack (200m) Dominic Hare (75mH), Molly Mee (800m), Imogen Cresswell (shot) and Jerome Richards (800m and shot).
In the U15 age group there were double wins for Emily Butlin (high jump and 75mH) and Ryan Newton (100m and 200m). Club newcomer Alex Harker made an impressive debut winning the boys 800m whilst Jessica Turner did likewise in the girls event. Picking up useful team points were Michael Bosworth who came 1st in the 80mH and 2nd in shot and long jump, and Kelly-Jay Payling who won the shot and came 3rd in discus.
Full results are on www.dcaa.org.uk
and the final match is on 9th August.
Top Marks for Claudia
AVAC athlete Claudia Rogers was one of several Derbyshire athletes who medalled at the English Schools Track and Field Championships at the weekend.
She took silver in the Intermediate Girls 300m Hurdles to become the club's third ever English Schools medallist. In the superbly organised Sainsbury's-sponsored event at Gateshead, she progressed from heats to semi's where she recorded a pb of 44.45 to go 5th on the UK rankings so far this year. The second-place finish earns her a place in the England team at the Schools International at Bedford on 19th July.
Clubmate Emma Komocki also progressed through the 300mH event to at last, have some luck at English Schools. She ran a strong race to take 5th place in the final.
Tom Bridge, in his first Finals, finished 8th in the Junior Boys
shot, as one of the youngest competitors.
Elsewhere, other AVAC athletes, Alexandra Turner, Tamara Armoush,
Michael Feeney, Sam Stone and Zac Hooper found the going tough and
failed to progress further than their heats.
Treasurer Required
A volunteer vacancy has arisen on the AVAC Committee for a Club Treasurer. The Committee is looking for a keen, reliable and trustworthy individual with a head for figures and budgets (not necessarily with accountancy experience or qualifications).
Roles include receiving and banking regular sums of money from training fees and memberships, maintaining club accounts, preparing year end accounts for auditing, and preparing the budget for the forthcoming year. We also expect the Treasurer to take a proactive part in club activities as a member of the Management Committee and must be available for monthly Meetings (on Monday evenings in Ilkeston).
Interested? Please speak to Dave Turner (Chair) or Jim Feeney (Vice Chair) at training, or email queries or register your interest here: feeney@mailbox60.freeserve.co.uk
Forthcoming Open Meetings
Halfway through the track and field season now.... if you still feel that you have plenty of competition left in you, why not give these local Opens a try.
Details are on the club noticeboard at the entrance to the track, and entry forms are available to download from the relevant club's website. Most events available for all ages from U11's to seniors. These are not league competitions so no club selections are made.
Anyone can enter regardless of ability or experience.
Charnwood AC Open Meetings on Wednesdays 23rd July and 20th August at
the Loughborough University track. First events 6.45pm. Enter on the
night.
Watch out for their very popular 'Stars of the Future' Meeting on Sunday
31st August, 12.00 onwards. Events for U11's to U20's. Medals for first
3 in each event.
Tamworth Games, Monday 25th August. Events for U11's to Seniors.
Electronic Timing and EDM long throws, medals and T-shirts. Very popular
and well-supported annual event. Pre-entry necessary. Closing date for
entries 4th August.
www.tamworthac.co.uk
Mansfield Open Meeting Saturday 23rd August, Berry Hill Park Stadium,
Mansfield, 1pm onwards. Events for U11's through to Veterans.
Competitors are seeded based on anticipated performance in mixed races.
Great for trying a new event or going for a pb. Enter on the day.
www.mansfield-harriers.org
AVAC Athletes Part of Winning Teams
A stunning set of performances by Derbyshire athletes at the Midland
Schools Combined Events Championships at Milton Keynes ensures that 10
local athletes athletes go through to the English Schools Combined
Events Championships in September.
Competing in the Junior Boys Pentathlon Michael Bosworth earnt himself a
bronze medal and automatic qualification for the Finals, setting a new
points pb of 2490 with a solid set of performances. His place was far
from certain however, before the fifth and final event, his 800m
speciality. An incredible piece of gutsy loan running against the clock
saw him jump from 8th place to 3rd. The Junior Boys team finished in 4th
place overall out of 5 County teams. Michael made it to the Finals last
year as a lower-end Junior where he finished 22nd.
Michael Feeney and Arran Smith competed in the 2-day Octathlon for Intermediate Boys. Along with teammates Dan Burdett from Chesterfield DAC and Jack Andrew from Macclesfield AC the four lads lead the team competition from the very first event and won the team title in convincing fashion by 1400 points, to go through as a team to the Finals.
Michael and Arran gave solid performances across the 8 disciplines,
settling into 6th and 7th places overall respectively for almost the
entire event, backing up Dan in 4th place and Jack, one of the countries
up and coming decathlon stars, in 1st place. Michael has qualified for
the English Schools Championships in July as an individual in the 100m
Hurldes but this will be both Michael and Arrans first chance to compete
in the Combined Events Finals.
The Derbyshire Junior Girls quartet also came out on top in the team
event but, by contrast, their win was a total surprise. The presentation
ceremony revealed that the team, featuring AVAC's Emily Butlin, had won
the team title by only 40 points from the Notts team who had held the
lead for much of the 1-day Pentathlon.
The Derbyshire girls' gutsy runs in the 800m made all the difference.
Emily finished in 11th place overall with pb's in 4 out of the 5 events.
Her teammates Suzzi Palmer, Agnes Milner and Rachel Griffiths (all from
Derby AC) finished in 1st, 14th and 19th respectively. AVAC new-comer
Catherine Ross, representing the Notts team, finished in 10th place
overall with some consistently high performances.
Successful Eight Top of the Class!
The Derbyshire team for the English Schools Finals has been announced and 8 AVAC athletes have been selected. All have achieved the tough entry standard to reach the prestigious Finals in Gateshead on 11th and 12th July, which for many is the highlight of their track and field season.
The super 8 are Michael Feeney, Zach Hooper, Tamara Armoush, Claudia Rogers, Alexandra Turner, Emma Komocki, all of whom are in the Intermediate age group and have competed at English Schools in previous years, plus first-time selected Tom Bridge in the Junior age group. Sam Stone competing in the Senior age group for Nottinghamshire completes the line-up.
Commiserations must go to Ryan Newton and Jack Elliott who were
unfortunate to miss out on selection despite having acheived the entry
standard for their event. Team selectors from the Derbyshire Schools
Sports Association had the impossible task of trying to select from over
40 athletes with allocation to take only 35. The full Derbyshire team
plus event details can be found on
www.esaa.net.
Still with schools athletics, many AVAC athletes represented their
districts at the County Schools Championships on 14th June at Moorways.
Successful athletes from here progressed a week later onto County
representation at the annual Midlands Schools Inter-Counties
competition, this year at Leamington Spa. The photos show some of our
athletes in action wearing the red and blue Derbyshire Schools kit.
Derbyshire Mini League
The third match in this league is on Saturday 12th July at Moorways
Stadium, Derby. Info / entry forms are now available from training and
can also be downloaded
here, and
also here.
This is a fantastic league for beginner and experienced 9 to 14 year
olds alike. The first two matches were probably the best attended
matches in the leagues history and resulted in some excellent
competition for the Counties young athletes. Never competed before? The
League is an ideal starting point with many athletes having taken their
first steps in track and field this way. There is only one more match
left in the league so don't miss your chance to show your coaches what
you can do, and gain possible selection for the Inter-County match in
September.
AVAC are currently joint leaders with Derby AC so an exciting match is
in prospect! It's easy to take part. Complete the entry slip with the
events you want to do and return to training. Turn up on the day, pay £1
to team managers, then run, jump and throw!
Please note that all members are expected to take part and training for
all but pre-arranged U17+ coach-lead groups is CANCELLED on this day.
Heart of England League
Match 1 of Division 1 in this friendly domestic league was hosted at
Worcester on 8th June on a warm and sunny day, ideal conditions for many
disciplines. Indeed many athletes continued to improve mid-way through
the season with pb's and club records appearing throughout the
afternoon. Seven clubs took part and overall AVAC finished a pleasing
3rd behind last years winners Rugby & Northampton, and Solihull.
A small number of our higher-performing U11's got chance to compete in
this league in their own separate U11's match. Elliott Dipper, Phillipa
Wright, Jethro McGraw, Chloe Gee, Aiden Newton, Niamh Emerson and Oliver
Brookes all made their league debut, and along with Sharnie Richards,
finished in 3rd place for the boys and 2nd for the girls. Niamh gave
supporters the most thrilling of races in the 600m which saw her
overhaul the leading girl with a gutsy sprint finish to win by a
fraction of a second. Jethro McGraws 600m was equally impressive in the
way that he dominated the race to win with a comfortable margin.
The U13 and U15 boys found the going tough and each managed to finish
in 5th place each in their age group. The highlight however was Tom
Bridges pb in the U15 shot of 12m 51 which increases his own club
record.
By contrast the U17 men had an impressive day finishing is 1st place.
Jack Elliott did the double when winning both the 800m and 1500m.
Michael Feeney and Ryan Bloore took A and B string wins in the 100m
Hurdles. There were B string wins for Dean Bower (200m), and Arran Smith
(LJ).
Overall, the combined results of the boys puts them in 4th place. The
girls go one better by finishing in 3rd place overall. In fact the girls
were particularly impressive with the U13's finishing 2nd, the U15 girls
finishing 4th, and the joint U17's / Women also finishing 2nd.
At U13 a most impressive piece of front running came from Robyn Allan
who won the first race of the day, the 1500m. Maddy Cusack had a
successful day when winning the A string 200m, the A Javelin and the B
shot putt.
Emily Butlin, at U15, continues to push the high jump club record by
recording a pb of 1.50 (the highest any female athlete has achieved so
far in the clubs short history). Jessica Turner (800m), Keira Gee (200m)
and Kelly-Jay Payling (shot) all performed well to take A string 2nd
place finishes.
The Womens age group saw an A string win for Tamara Armoush (800m), A
string 2nd places for Lori Marshall (1500m),Alex Turner (80mH and 400m),
and Chloe Smith (shot). To finish off a successful day the 4 x 100 relay
team of Abbie Langley, Jodie Will, Louise Feeney and Alex Turner won by
the thickness of a vest from the Rugby quartet.
Young Athletes League at Tipton
AVAC athletes turned in a truly magnificent performance on Sunday at the Third Round Midlands Div 1 East Young Athletes League match at Tipton. Regular points updates throughout the match indicated a very close match and so it turned out in the end with AVAC winning by only 6.5 points from host club Tipton.
Leicester Corintanian were close behind in 3rd only 11 points adrift of Tipton, with Corby trailing behind for 4th. The significance of the match can be seen when you note that AVAC are the only club in the division to still hold an unbeaten record from the 3 matches so far and appear to still be in first place and gunning for promotion (to be confirmed, all match results not in at the time of writing).
Of the many good performances, several stand out for particular mention. At U17 Jack Elliott won both the 3000m and the 1500m steeplechase, Arran Smith won the 400m hurdles and high jump, whilst Alexandra Turner won the 1500m and 300m.
At U15 Ryan Newton did the 100m and 200m double, Michael Bosworth won both the 1500m and 80m hurdles and Tom Bridge won shot and discus.
Thank you to all team managers, officials and volunteers and
especially to every athlete who helped to make this such a successful
match.
Site last updated: 23rd July
Visitors to this site since April 2003