January - March 2004
AVAC Cross Country Championships, Saturday 20th March
The 30 or so runners who took part had to do battle with a ferocious wind, strong gusts that threatened to flatten the course markings and occasional drizzle as they made their way round the perimeter fields and brook path.
There was a good turnout of parents to support the runners, and to see the winners medals presented after the final race.
Thank you to everyone who helped set up the course and to all those parents and older athletes who marshaled.
Derbyshire Sportshall Match 6, 7th March 2004.
The final match of this year's Derbyshire Sportshall took place last weekend at Chesterfield. The home team were crowned overall champions for this season after amassing 1929 points - AVAC were second with 1699 points and Derby AC came home with 907 points from the six competitions.
It was a closely fought league with Chesterfield's strong turnout in the U15 Boys team making the difference overall - has that category's points been shared between AVAC then AVAC would have shaded the trophy by a couple of points.
There were some fine performances on the day including the U11 Girls relay team who recorded a quick 42.2 seconds time to win comfortably.
Charlie Waterhouse recorded victories in the Long Jump (1.88m) and Speed Bounce (49) to score valuable points for the U11 Boys team, although Adam Pickering managed 52 'bounces' in the same event to equal the County record. Emma Komocki took 1st place for the U13 Girls in the same event with a score of 58.
Andrew Fretwell made an excellent PB of 7.54m in the shot to record second place for the U13 Boys team. Claudia Rogers made a fantastic PB Long Jump of 2.26m to take first place and a County Record in the process for the U13 Girls.
U15 winners included Abby Wood (pictured) in the Shot Putt & Katie Noonan in the Speed Bounce.
For full results check the DCAA website.
Inter-County X-Country
Championships March 6th at Wollaton Park, Nottingham.
A total of 9 Amber Valley athletes represented Derbyshire at the Inter-County X-Country Championships on 6th March which are held every year at Wollaton Park in Nottingham. This is a really exciting event where all competing athletes from U13's upwards can rub shoulders with the UK's top international distance runners and take part in major televised event (shown on Sky Sports Extra). Each county in the UK sends a team of 8 selected from the county championships so the standard is very high with just under 300 runners in each event. The senior events are used as trials for the UK team for the World X-Country Championships so its pretty serious stuff.
Apart from some initial rain, the conditions were superb with spring sunshine and reasonably firm ground over the well laid out and picturesque course. It really was a superb event and extremely well supported with spectators along most of the way.
All of our runners gave their best but the star of the day has to be Tamara Armoush making her race debut at this level. In spite of a top class field Tamara really went for it and took the lead in the early stages of the 3km race before settling down with a pack of around 6 girls chasing the leading 3. Tamara eventually finished 10th (although official results give her as 11th after a mix up in the finishing area but footage from Sky Sport shows she was indeed 10th) only 20 seconds behind the eventual winner - Elish McColgan (daughter of the famous 5,000/10,000 m runner - Liz McColgan). We have to remember that Tamara still has another year in this age group and so is potentially a real medal contender for next year. There was some excellent TV coverage of Tamara's performance which has no doubt been watched several times over in the Armoush household !
Danni Alldread had an excellent race and was the 2nd Derbyshire girl home in 59th place with Alex Turner 146th.
Other AVAC runners were Michael Feeney also on his Inter-Counties in the U13 boys race, Robert Love in the U15 boys, Louise Feeney and Leila Armoush in the U15 girls and Rebecca Herring and Samya Armoush in the U17 Ladies.
Full results can be found on the UKA website here.
AVAC's first ever AAA's Indoor Championships medallist!
Abby Wood became the clubs first ever medallist at the AAA's Indoor Championships. She came a very pleasing 3rd in the U15 girls shot and is currently ranked 3rd nationally so far this year.
David Feeney chose the Scottish National Indoor Championships (on the same weekend as the AAA's) in Glasgow and took a silver medal in the U17 mens 60m hurdles. David is currently ranked in the top 20 for Hurdles and Long Jump.
East Midlands Sportshall Competition Grantham 29th February
The Derbyshire Sportshall Athletics teams have done it again! Both the U13 girls and the U13 boys won through from the East Mids Final at Grantham beating 5 other Counties to go through to the exciting National Final in April.
AVAC athletes included in the teams were Emma Komocki, Yvette Bowler, Alex Turner, Claudia Rogers, Chloe Smith, Charlotte Noonan, Gareth Griffith, Michael Feeney, Ben Hawkins and Jordan Martin, along with their team-mates from Chesterfield and Derby AC's.
The U15 girls and U15 boys just missed out by coming 2nd each in their competitions, featuring Josh Cartledge, Andrew Szarkowski, Louise Feeney and Katie Noonan.
Pictured are some members of the successful 2004 Teams.
AVAC Cross Country Championships, Saturday 20th March
The annual Cross Country Club Champs are almost upon us again. Athletes from U9 through to U17 are invited to compete at Charles Hill Sports Complex against their fellow Club athletes. Medals are on offer for the first three in each race.
It will be held during the normal Saturday training session with first races at 10.45am. All members are welcome to take part and there is no entry form or registration.
Please bring spare socks, trainers & spikes - if you don't wish to compete there will still be training as normal in the sportshall.
Parents please come & support the runners, and if you can find time to help with the setting up of the course please meet Jim at 9.15am at the centre - we look forward to seeing you there!
2004/5 Membership
Next year's membership fees have been agreed at the recent AGM.
There is an enforced increase of £1 per member which reflects the £1 rise in affiliation fees per athlete the Club has to pass on to the North of England AA for the forthcoming year.
This affiliation fee allows you to compete in competitions throughout the season with adequate insurance.
Click here to download the new membership form and be the first to renew!
February 2004 Newsletter is here!
The latest edition of Trackline, the AVAC newsletter is here - click to download.
Coaches' Spring Conference.
There will be another three conferences taking place at the Loughborough High Performance centre over the coming weeks for coaches to increase their knowledge.
Aimed at coaches at all levels the 6 hour workshops have a specific focus on either Jumps, Speed or Throws with experienced guest speakers. The course costs £5 each which can be claimed back through the Club.
Jumps - 28th March 10am-4pm
Speed - 4th April 10am-4pm
Throws - 25th April 10am-4pm
Bob & Carole have been to similar workshops and reported back favorably so they are well worth a look. Each workshop also adds two of the six points required to keep your coaching licence current.
Email the organiser for more details.
2004 Coach Education
The 2004 list of Coach Education courses in the East Midlands has now been released. There are courses all over the area and at all levels - click here to view the full list. Although there is a charge for these courses the Club has money available due to successful funding applications, so the Club will cover the costs of the courses - all it takes is a bit of your time!
There are also two AVBC Sports Development courses being run on 'Good practice & child protection' (6th March 1-4pm) and 'Disability awareness' (27th March 2-4pm) at Charles Hill and these should be of interest to all coaches/helpers within the Club.
Remember all these courses count towards the renewal credits required to keep your UKA coaching licence up-to date. Even if you have achieved all the credits necessary how about trying another module to widen your knowledge?
North of England Combined Events Championships, 21st/22nd February, Sheffield.
Four AVAC athletes made the trip to Sheffield to compete in this Regional combined events competition. Richard Szarkowski, Katie Noonan and Chloe Smith had their first taste of this event and gained valuable indoor experience by being able to try out some of their least favourite events.
David Feeney's successful indoor season continued as he won a Bronze medal in the U17 Pentathlon. The Indoor Pentathlon consists of 60m Hurdles, shot, long jump, high jump and 800m all in one day. After 3 events David was leading the competition after PB's in the shot and a superb jump of 6.12m in the long jump, but his lead was overhauled during the next two events to finish a pleasing third.
David can be seen below displaying his Bronze medal for a job well done.
Officials Course
If you would like to become more involved in athletics, such as Timekeeping, Track Judging, Field Judging, Starting or being a Marksman then the place to be is Derby AC Clubhouse, Moorways Stadium at 6.30pm on the 16th March. Everyone is welcome - see the DCAA website for details.
Annual General Meeting
The Club AGM is fast approaching and will take place at Belper Sports Centre on Wednesday 25th February at 8pm.
All are welcome to attend and have their input. A regular Committee meeting will precede this at 7.30pm for normal Club business.
Winter Warm-Up Meeting, Quibell Park Scunthorpe.
One of the first outdoor meets of the year is to be held on March 21st for athletes U11 through to seniors. The event begins at 10.30am and offers a variety of field and track events.
No Club transport has been arranged but if you are in need of a lift to the event please ask.
Closing date for entries is 10th March..
Derbyshire Sportshall Team 2004 announced.
Over a dozen AVAC athletes have been asked to represent Derbyshire at the regional final at Meres Leisure Centre Grantham on the 29th February.
Athletes for the U13 & U15 age groups were selected from their overall results in all events. Unfortunately there is not an U11 competition at this level.
Selected athletes should report to their Team Manager for 11.15am on the day in order to be issued with shirts and numbers.
Click here for a full list of all selected athletes.
Track & Field Fixture List
The website now contains the updated Summer 04 fixture lists. Have a look through at some of the events coming up for this track & field season - which ones are you going to be aiming for?
Remember any questions about the events/transport/venues/abilities then please ask one of the coaches or email us.
Click here for details of this summers events.
Scottish National Indoor Combined Events Championships
Kelvin Hall, Glasgow,
Sat 31st Jan 04
Athletic all-rounder David Feeney had a successful trip north of the border at the weekend.
The Amber Valley Athletic Club athlete came away with a silver medal (pictured below) after taking part in the Scottish National Indoor Combined Events Championship. Scottish by birth, David competed in the U17 Mens Pentathlon, consisting of 5 events in just one day.
High jump, the first event of the day, is usually one of David's stronger events. However, feeling a slight ankle strain to his take-off leg, he decided to not take further jumps and finished overall in 4th position after clearing 1.71m.
The 60m Hurdles is another strong event and a solid run brought him up to overall 2nd position. From then on it was clearly a two-horse race between the top two athletes, with only 100 points separating David and the overall leader from Gateshead.
The points difference remained similar after the shot put, but David was able to claw some points back on the long jump by jumping a personal best of 5m 89cm and recording the best jump of the day in the competition.
The final event was the little-run 1000m, 5 laps of the 200m track. In a tactical cat and mouse run, David was unable to beat the overall leader in what is his weakest event out of the five, and remained in silver medal place.
The Belper School student amassed a total of 2947 points, only 53 points from his early-season target of 3000, and only 141 points behind the eventual winner.
David now turns his attention to the Indoor Pentathlon at the North of England Championships in a few weeks time where he hopes to come home with another medal.
The Amber Valley Athletic Club athlete came away with a silver medal (pictured below) after taking part in the Scottish National Indoor Combined Events Championship. Scottish by birth, David competed in the U17 Mens Pentathlon, consisting of 5 events in just one day.
High jump, the first event of the day, is usually one of David's stronger events. However, feeling a slight ankle strain to his take-off leg, he decided to not take further jumps and finished overall in 4th position after clearing 1.71m.
The 60m Hurdles is another strong event and a solid run brought him up to overall 2nd position. From then on it was clearly a two-horse race between the top two athletes, with only 100 points separating David and the overall leader from Gateshead.
The points difference remained similar after the shot put, but David was able to claw some points back on the long jump by jumping a personal best of 5m 89cm and recording the best jump of the day in the competition.
The final event was the little-run 1000m, 5 laps of the 200m track. In a tactical cat and mouse run, David was unable to beat the overall leader in what is his weakest event out of the five, and remained in silver medal place.
The Belper School student amassed a total of 2947 points, only 53 points from his early-season target of 3000, and only 141 points behind the eventual winner.
David now turns his attention to the Indoor Pentathlon at the North of England Championships in a few weeks time where he hopes to come home with another medal.
It’s time for the fifth Sportshall competition! The competition will take place at the Queens Park Leisure Centre, Chesterfield (easy to find off A61), on Sunday 1st February, and the sixth and final on Sunday 7th March.
The competition starts at 1.30pm again, likely finish time 3.45pm.
For more information please see one of the coaches at training, and remember the more the merrier!
Fifth sportshall competition
Almost thirty AVAC athletes enjoyed a closely fought competition this afternoon at Chesterfield's Queens Park Leisure Centre.
An excellent day for the female teams as all three age groups achieved first place - a fantastic result.
Of particular note for the Girls was Yvette Bowler's PB of 8.50m in the U13 shot which clinched 1st place for her (pictured below). In the Boys event Andrew Fretwell also made a Pb of 7.38m.
The 2 Lap event saw Amber Wilde and Louise Feeney edged into second place in the U11 & U15 competitions respectively, while Alex Turner managed to squeeze into first spot at the finish for the U13's. Claudia Rogers came home a strong first in the guest race in this event.
Charlie Waterhouse won a keenly competed U11 Triple Jump contest - his 5.24m edging out Tom Boyd by just 3cm into first
place. These two athletes were only 1-2cm apart again in the Vertical Jump with Tom edging the contest this time.
Alex Turner provided more great entertainment with an impressive victory in the 4 lap race for the U13's; Michael Feeney ran well to make second place in the Boys event.
The sitting throw event for the U11's saw Adam Pickering's commanding throw of 5.40m give an easy victory by over 80cm from his nearest competitor.
Another good day for Gareth Griffiths included a strong 55cm in the Vertical Jump competition to take first place.
The AVAC relay teams performed well again with victory for the U11 & U13 girls teams - the latter by a comfortable margin. The U15 girls came 3rd in the closest finish of the day when the Derby AC team pipped their Chesterfield rivals by an impossibly small margin.
Shown below are Tom Boyd, Michael Feeney and Nicholas Rowton in the Triple Jump competition.
All in all a good day for the AVAC athletes who have a well earned rest now before the last competition on March 7th.
Full results are available on the DCAA website
Fifth sportshall competition
North of England Championships
St Helens
Sat 24th Jan 04
Racing two cross country courses in two days is how several of our athletes spent the weekend. The first of which was the trip to Sherdley Park, St Helens for the annual North of England Championships, which attracts top club runners from all over the northern counties.
Amber Valley’s most successful athlete on the day was Tamara Armoush who finished an excellent 8th place out of 200 starters.
Up with the leading pack throughout, Tamara ran a determined and gutsy race over the boggy course, all the more remarkable to later discover that all 7 who finished in front were a school year older herself.
As a team, the U13 girls finished a pleasing 11th place. Danni Alldread improved on her finishing place in last years race by over 20 places to finish up with the front runners in 24th, with team mates Alexandra Turner and Charlotte Noonan coming home mid-table in 63rd and 129th.
Amber Valleys other 12 athletes across the age groups couldn’t quite match the impressive U13 girls, but performances of note came from Michael Feeney and Chris Dawe (56th and 92nd in the U13 boys) and Rob Love (108th in the U15 boys).
Latest Newsletter
The new edition of Trackline the AVAC newsletter is now available.
David Feeney also had a great day recording a PB in the U17 60m hurdles - his 8.77 seconds time enabled him to take second place in this high level competition - well done David!
We hope to see as many of the Club there on the day - all are welcome and the more the merrier!
Almost thirty AVAC athletes enjoyed this fourth competition in the Mini League series at Queens Park today.
Our U13 girls relay team excelled again with Claudia Rogers, Emma Komocki, Alex Turner & Chloe Smith taking maximum points by over half a lap from their nearest challengers. The girls now have their sights firmly set on the County record!
A clean sweep was recorded by the U11’s in the relay, with particular mention to the Boys team which included two new members today - Adam Pickering & Matthew Padgett helping Charlie Waterhouse and Tom Boyd to their 1st place.
Alex Turner put in a fantastic 6 lap performance for the U13 girls team to achieve a convincing victory over this tough distance, this was after just edging first place in a thrilling 2 lap encounter. Jordan Martin in the Boys version of the event came a gutsy 2nd after a very fast race.
Louise Feeney was nudged into 2nd place by just a yard in a keenly fought U15 girls 4 lap event.
Few records were broken today but Charlie Waterhouse, Adam Pickering and Michael Feeney all came close by
equaling a county record - this time in the Speed Bounce with enviable scores of 52, 52 & 58 respectively.
A good performance all round sees AVAC sitting in second place overall in the competition, and with little chance to rest as the next round is just two weeks away on February 1st.
Mini League Cross Country
25th January Charles Hill Sports Complex
Athletes from all over Derbyshire enjoyed a good day out at Charles Hill for the last competition in this season’s cross country mini league.
As well as the races on the day medals were also given out for the overall individual winners, the AVAC ones being pictured below.
The athletes performances on the day were all the more impressive as they had competed in another tough competition in the North of England Championships just the day before see above!
In the U11 boys Chris Dawe took his customary 1st place with a win he made look easy, picking up the overall title in the process.
In the girls competition at this age group Jessica Riley was third on the day behind a good run from Emily Rowe in second; Jessica picked up overall silver medal though for three excellent performances.
In the U13 boys Michael Feeney paced his run well to come home 1st on the day and also claimed the overall gold medal for the League, he was accompanied on the day by the welcome return of Tom Mayer after injury.
In the U15 girls Leila Armoush’s performance on the day enabled her to clinch a bronze medal overall - well done Leila!
Full results are available on the DCAA website
A big thank you to Jim for organising the course and to all the parents and coaches who assisted with the marshalling, refreshment, course construction and the tombola.
Derbyshire Schools Cross Country Championships
Saturday January 17th, Alfreton Park
Several AVAC athletes were in action this weekend, this time representing their local Amber Valley Schools Sports Association. A tough course, both hilly and boggy, did not prevent our athletes shining.
Both Danni Alldread & Rob Love qualified to represent the County at the English Schools final in Maidstone on the 13th March: Danielle came first and Rob achieved a creditable 2nd in their respective Junior competitions.
The Club also has two athletes on the reserve list for the National final after Ricky Kiggins (14th) and Louise Feeney (11th) performed well in the Junior & Intermediate events respectively.
The Club’s younger athletes also adapted well to the tough conditions with Tamara Armoush winning the Year 7 event and Michael Feeney achieving third place in the same age group.
This is the first time the competition has welcomed athletes from the Year 7 age group, and although they don’t get chance to progress to a national final it is all good experience for the years to come!
With an average of 80 athletes competing in each race this was no small achievement from the AVAC athletes.
AVAC were prominent in many races, with performances on the day also from Katie & Charlotte Noonan, Alexandra Turner, Emily Cotterill, Jessica Rowe, Ben Hawkins and Leila Armoush.
AVAC athlete smashes North of England Championship Record.
Abby Wood came home from the North of England Championships at the English Institute of Sport’s Sheffield Athletics centre with not only a gold medal but also a new Championship record.
Abby (pictured below earlier in the season) managed a fantastic 11.30m in the shot putt to smash the previous record by over a metre, and over 1.5m from her nearest competitor in the U15 competition, in the process becoming AVAC’s first record holder at this level.
Performances of note also came from Andrew Szarkowski whose PB of 4.64 earned him a Bronze medal in the U15 Long Jump competition, brother Richard made a creditable fourth place in the U17 Triple Jump.
Josh Cartledge also put in a great
PB performance but was unable to progress to the finals of the 200m competition.
Derbyshire Mini League Cross Country comes to Charles Hill on Sunday 25th January
Amber Valley A.C. is hosting the final match in this league on the fields around the sportshall (no roads).
Any club athlete can enter these races – you do not have to be selected. All abilities encouraged and welcomed.
If you’ve never done cross country before why not make this your first go?
Being the last fixture in this league there will also be the presentation of the overall trophy and individuals winners’ medals, so stay around to cheer on our athletes.
Mums and Dads (Grans/Granddads/big brothers etc)
We need your help to host this event, to make it successful, enjoyable and safe for all. We need:
If you can help in any way please see one of the coaches at training.
Fourth Sportshall Mini League Competition
Full results are available on the DCAA website
North Midlands Cross Country League
Wollaton Park, Nottingham
Sat 10th Jan 04
The North Midlands Cross Country League had it’s traditional finale at Wollaton Park, Nottingham on Saturday. With individual and team trophies at stake the young Amber Valley AC athletes competed in this seasons final fixture.
Team gold in the U13 girls age group just eluded the talented trio of Tamara Armoush, Danielle Alldread and Alexandra Turner once again. This season the team from Kettering proved too strong on the day leaving the Amber Valley girls in a creditable runners-up position for the second year running by only 4 points. However consolation came with Tamara taking an individual bronze for consistently high performances across the 4 fixtures.
Not to be outdone, the U13 boys (Michael Feeney, Chris Dawe and Ben Hawkins) finished a pleasing 2nd place team on the day, and team 3rd overall beating many more established clubs in the process.
Rob Love turned in a sparkling performance in the U15 boys 2 mile race. Finishing 6th in a quality field he bettered his previous finishing positions by around 15 places. Ricky Kiggins was the only other AVAC boy in this age group finished a solid 21st.
Two other athletes to better their previous placings were Leila Armoush and Louise Feeney, 8th and 13th respectively in the U15 girls age group and Rebecca Herring 74th in the combined Ladies age groups.
Derbyshire County Cross Country Championships,
Saturday 3rd January 2004
Markeaton Park, Derby
Our athletes were in action at the weekend in the annual County Cross Country Championships held at Markeaton Park, Derby.
This event traditionally attracts the best runners in Derbyshire across all age groups, with individual and team medals at stake. Not only this, our athletes were all fighting for places in the County cross country team for the prestigious Inter-Counties competition at Wollaton Park in March.
The top 8 finishers in each age group gain automatic team selection.
The club got its only individual medallist on the day early on in the proceedings when 11 year old Tamara Armoush lead from the front of a quality field to take first place in the U13 girls 3K race.
Braving the snow showers last years winner Danielle Alldread and team-mate Alexandra Turner had good races to finish 5th and 7th respectively, and together the 3 girls took the gold medal team position from their Chesterfield AC and Derby AC rivals for the second year running.In the U13 boys race Michael Feeney came home in 6th place out of 18 runners, and with Ben Hawkins and Rory Dickenson making up the team to take bronze medal team position.
The only two AVAC girls to run in the U15 girls race both gained County selection with 6th place from Leila Armoush and 8th place from Louise Feeney, both having excellent runs on the tough 4K course. .
Robert Love earned his first County place in the U15 boys race: in this race, which featured many of the County’s established middle distance stars, Robert steadily worked his way through the large field to take a well-earned 6th place.
Rebecca Herring and Samya Armoush did enough to earn there place in the U17 women's team by finishing 4th and 5th respectively.
Full results are available on the DCAA website
Fourth sportshall competition
It’s time for the fourth Sportshall competition! The competition will take place at the Queens Park Leisure Centre, Chesterfield (easy to find off A61), on Sunday 18th January, and the fifth on Sunday 1st February.
The team have performed brilliantly so far, and currently AVAC are just fifty or so points off first place team Chesterfield - a good performance in the next competition could allow us to close the gap to the leaders.
The competition starts at 1.30pm again, likely finish time 3.45pm.
For more information please see one of the coaches at training, and remember the more the merrier!
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