April - June 2009
Heart of England League Match 1
On a cold and wet and windy day in Rugby on 6th June , our team of
around 50 athletes finished 3rd overall. Age / gender group results as
follows (all out of 7 teams):
U11 Boys 7th
U11 Girls 2nd
U13 Boys 3rd
U13 Girls 2nd
U15 Boys 2nd
U15 Girls 4th
U17 Men 2nd
Women 2nd
Male total (excluding U11's) 2nd
Female total (excluding U11's) 3rd
Unfortunately the circulated results (which
can be downloaded here) have some omissions and inaccuracies which
team managers are aware of and are awaiting news on amended results. U11
guest races have not been recorded (although times were taken by the
timekeepers). We have asked that these be made known to clubs, so far
with no response.
At U17 Chris had a welcome return to track and field winning the A
string 1500m whilst Matt Rimmington in his first race for the club
finished 1st in the B string 800m. An injured Michael Bosworth had to be
content with shot and discus, winning both A string events.
The U17 women (which is combined with Women i.e. all ages) saw Alex Turner have a busy and successful time on the track winning the A string 400m, 800m and the B string 200m. The ever-improving Jodie Wills took 2nd in A string 100m and 1st in 200m. Emily Butlin won high jump with a height of 1.55m and Emily Allsopp took 1st in the B string 1500m. Coach, Judy Payling contested the shot putt finishing 3rd in the B string but significantly setting a new senior women's club record of 7.64m!
At U15 Josh Rae had an excellent run to win the A string 800m, and Jacob Smith easily won the high jump. Jack Newton and James Morley took A and B string wins in long jump, and Tom Bridge won both shot and discus, getting the kind of quality opposition he's been needing all season to push his progress. The U15 girls found 1st places not so easy to come by but a good smattering of 2nds and 3rds ensured that they were always in contention.
Catherine Ross, in a welcome return to club competition won high jump and the girls relay team of Emily Heappey, Kiera Gee, Kelly-Jay Payling and Jessica Turner combined together for a pleasing win towards the end of the match.
At U13 an inform Molly Mee didn't disappoint, winning the A string 1500m and the B string 200m. Imogen Cresswell took two 2nds in the A string 70mH and 200m whilst Chloe Gee smashed her 70mH pb to win the B string event. Jethro McGraw continued his fine season with yet another win in the 800m, setting another new pb and winning by over 20 seconds from the nearest rival. He followed that up with a 2nd in the 200m, with George Coutts also 2nd in the B string.
At U11 Niamh Emerson, unusually for her, finished 2nd in the 600m,
although the quality opposition pulled her to yet another pb. She also
won long jump and recorded another 2nd place finish, this time in the
75m. Ben Michell recorded the fastest boys 75m and won his guest heat of
the 600m. The mixed 4 x 100m relay team of Niamh, Ben, Lydia Gilliver
and Tiago Geraldo finished in 2nd position.
The next match in the league is on Sunday 5th July at Solihull. Selected
athletes are currently being informed.
Derbyshire School Championships
The East Midlands Airport-sponsored annual event at Moorways on 13th June inspired several AVAC athletes to new heights as pb after pb were broken in an exciting and eventful championships.
This event gives club athletes in Years 8 to 13, the chance to compete against the best school athletes with often surprising results. At stake is selection for the Derbyshire Schools team to compete in an Inter-Counties match the following weekend, and for the top athletes, the chance to gain qualification standards for possible selection for the English Schools Finals.
Tom Bridge was AVAC man of the match winning the junior boys (U15) shot putt. Adopting a rotation technique, his best putt of 13.88m saw him win the competition, set a new pb and club record by over 70cm, gain an English Schools national standard qualification and set a new Championship Best Performance!
Alex Turner smashed her pb for 400mH in the senior girls event (U19) finishing within a whisker of former AVAC athlete Emma Komocki (whose time was also a new CBP). Michael Feeney was the third AVAC athlete on the day to achieve an English Schools qualification time, this time in the senior boys 110mH in a new pb time.
Big PB's came from Emily Heappey in the junior girls 200m, winning the event and taking a second and a half off her previous best time. Jessica Turner found something very special on the day as she took a massive 5 seconds off her previous best in the junior girls 800m to win the race, and Ella Smith also took 5 seconds off her pb in the same race to finish 3rd. James Morley took point 5 off his 80mH time to win the junior boys event and Dominic Hare also ran a pb in the 200m.
National Junior League match 3
Team CDAV managed it's best result to date in this seasons league,
finishing 6th (out of 8) at the Mansfield Harriers-hosted match at Berry
Hill stadium.
Wins from AVAC athletes were hard to come by, with Michael Feeney's B string win in the 110mH the sole one. Alex Turner had an excellent match taking 2nd in the A string 400mH, 100mH and 3rd in the A 1500m s/c. Jodie Wills came 2nd in the B string 200m and 3rd in the 100m. Arran Smith, Andrew Szarkowski, Michael Feeney and Chesterfield DAC team mate Nathan McKenzie finished in a pleasing 2nd in the Mens 4 x 100m relay.
The final fixture is at Cardiff on 26th July.
Jumping Joe Takes Medals
Popular long and triple jump coach, Joe McColgan, proved that he's still got what it takes, with success at the recent Midlands Masters Championships in Solihull.
He won the V50 Mens high jump with a very respectable height of 1.55m and took silver in the V50 Mens triple jump, jumping a best of 10.17m. Well done Joe!
Decathlon Success For Feeney
David Feeney had his most successful decathlon to date competing in the England Athletics Combined Events Championships in Stoke at the weekend.
The 21 year old finished 4th overall, his highest ever finishing position in a national decathlon championship as a senior. His final score of 7048 points took him over the significant 7000 point barrier for the first time. Incorporating the Northern Athletics Championships too, David took gold in this category, some 200 points ahead of his nearest rival in second.
The 2-day event got off to a flying start for David, recording the fastest 100m of all the competitors, 11.01, a shade off his pb. A surprise massive pb in long jump of 7.05m followed, and kept him in first place still.
A below par shot putt of 12.43m was disappointing by his usual standards but it was still enough to retain the lead going into event four, the high jump. Normally a good points banker David managed only 1.80m but he is still re-learning his technique having made the decision six months ago to change take-off leg in order to rest a damaged right knee. The final event on day 1 saw David blast under the 50 sec barrier for the first time in the 400m with 49.56, recording again the fastest time of the day.
Starting day 2 in 3rd place overall David won his third event of the weekend, the 110m hurdles in a somewhat disappointing time of 14.53 but this was enough to leapfrog him into 2nd place overall. A below par discus of 35.79m saw him drop to 3rd, but he rallied in pole-vault, probably his weakest event, to record a new pb of 3.96m.
Another pb, this time in the javelin of 46.59m was not enough to prevent a further drop overall to 4th place, with other competitors recording outstanding throws, in decathlon terms, of over 50m. Determined to hang onto 4th spot, David gave it his all in the final event, the 1500m, running his second-best ever time of 4.46.77
The icing on the cake came on discovering that his final points total has set a new Northern Athletics Championship Best Performance (awaiting official confirmation) beating the previous record set in 2001 by 26 points.
Mini League Reminder
The next Mini Leagues are on Saturday 27th June at Moorways and Saturday
4th July at Mount St Marys College, Spinkhill (just off J 30 M1,
directions on this website
http://www.msmcollege.co.uk/msmcollege/Welcome/findus.php.
There is NO TRAINING for Recreation Group or ANY U13 or U15's at Rutland Sports Park on these days.
All athletes should be taking the chance to compete for the club, the track and field season is already half way through! All abilities and levels of experience welcome, especially first-timers.
Details can be found to download here and also here.
Make your choices and email feeney@mailbox60.freeserve.co.uk to enter.
Updated Club Records
You can now have a look at the recently updated Amber Valley A.C. club records by clicking here or using the link on the left of this page.
Rugby Directions
Venue for the Heart of England League match 1 is the Ken Marriott
Leisure Centre, Bruce Williams Way (off Hillmorton Road the A428 towards
Northampton, about 1/4 mile from the town centre).
Further details can be found on www.runtrackdir.com and 'UK Track List' on the menu.
Sat nav users should use CV22 5JL.
Charnwood AC Open Meetings
Looking for extra competition? The popular mid-week Opens organised by Charnwood AC at the Loughborough University track are always well attended with a good standard for all ages and abilities.
Races and field events for U11's through to adult. Pre-enter or enter on the day.
Details can be found on www.charnwoodac.com and follow the Fixtures link.
Tom Does the Double Again
Tom Bridge was in winning form at the weekend at the Northern U17 / U15
Championships. The trip to Gateshead was rewarded with wins in both the
U15 shot putt and discus.
He currently stands 6th in national rankings for shot and 10th in discus. Also at Gateshead Josh Rae was unlucky to finish just outside the medals competing in the U15 3000m, finishing in 4th place.
National Junior League
The second match in the league was hosted by our composite team, Team CDAV, at Moorways on 24th May. Ideal weather conditions greeted the eight competing teams in the Midlands Premier League.
Team CDAV hoped to improve on their 7th finishing spot from match 1 but it wasn't to be, finishing in 7th place again.
In such a high standard league first place finishes are hard to come by but Tamara Armoush is always a safe bet for maximum points and she didn't disappoint on this occasion, front running out on her own in the women's 1500m to record the only win by an AVAC athlete. In the same event Lori Marshall ran well for a 2nd place 'B' string.
Jodie Wills gave her best performance of the season so far finishing
2nd in both the 'B' string 100m and 200m with PB's in both distances.
Alex Turner recorded two 3rd place finishes in the 400m and 400m
hurdles. Arran Smith won the 'B' string Mens shot putt and took 3rd in
the 'A' string triple jump. The AVAC quartet of Alex, Tamara, Lori and
Jodie combined well to finish 3rd in the women's 4 x 400m relay.
The match was superbly organised by Paul Smith (his first time of asking) and ably delivered on the day by Paul, stage managed by Frank Gorman (Chesterfield DAC) with assistance from many officials, helpers, and results team from both clubs. Many athletes also covered their maximum allowed 5 events and credit to them for filling in for events, sometimes at short notice. Thank you to everyone who played their part.
Results can be downloaded here.
The next match in the league is on 14th June at Mansfield. Athletes need
to give their availabilities to Nigel Smith (women) or Trev Jolly (men).
Mini League
Younger athletes get their chance to compete in the forthcoming Derbyshire Mini League matches.
Matches 2 and 3 are only a week apart (not ideal but it's the way these matches have had to fit around other events and track availability) on Saturday 27th June at Moorways, and Saturday 4th July at Mount St Marys college track.
Details will be available at training shortly or available to download here and also here.
A reminder that there is NO TRAINING at Ilkeston on these days for
Recreation Group or any U13 or U15 athletes.
Derbyshire Athletics Network and Daniel Caines featured on England Athletics website
Daniel Caines, the 2001 World Indoor 400m champion and double
Olympian has been appointed Athletics Coaching Co-ordinator for the new
McCain Derbyshire Athletics Network-
see link for details
Derbyshire County Championships
Club athlete Tom Bridge shone at last weekends County Championships, setting two new Championship Best Performances in the two-day event at Moorways. Competing in the U15 boys shot his best putt of 13.04m added 29cm to the previous record that had stood since 1995. A day later in the discus he recorded a personal best of 36.76m to better the CBP by 6cm. This is also a new AVAC club record beating one of the longest standing records which has stood since 2002.
At the other end of the age range David Feeney was the only other AVAC athlete to set a new CBP. Competing in the senior Mens 110m hurdles he shaved a second off his own CBP.
Jethro McGraw won every track event that he entered in the U13 boys category. In his first ever County Championships he took home gold's in the 100m, 200m, 800m and 1500m proving real versatility across the track distances. Also competing in his first Championships was Kasey Pearson who won both the U13 shot and javelin. The U13 boys 4 x 100m relay quartet of George Coutts, Jack Allan, Jethro McGraw and Rory McColgan were unlucky to just miss out on setting a new CBP by 0.17 secs, which incidentally is also held by an AVAC quartet from the 2002 Championships.
Molly Mee dominated the U13 girls distance events winning both the 800m and the 1500m in excellent times. Particularly significant is the fact that Molly has never raced a 1500m before. Another double gold winner was Alexandra Turner who ran big PB's to win the junior women's 400m and 400m hurdles.
Perhaps one of the most nail-biting events of the weekend came in the
U15 girls high jump where club new-comer Aimee Ward (in only her second
ever competition) was locked in a jump-off to establish the winner.
Eventually Aimee cleared 1.43m, for her rival to fail, giving Aimee a
well-deserved victory.
The U20 Mens 200m was an interesting event from a club perspective with all five entrants wearing the yellow vests of AVAC. Unpredictably it was Arran Smith who out-sprinted his club mates, setting a new club record in the process.
Many athletes won medals and the full results can be found on www.dcaa.org.uk . Significantly, a superb Championships weekend yielded a huge number of personal bests, with athletes taking full advantage of good conditions (if not a bit windy on the Saturday), electric timing and EDM.
As always at this annual event, the AVAC team spirit was evident with athletes, coaches and parents getting behind our athletes, as well as enjoying the social occasion.
Photos to follow.
Fixture List
You can now see the freshly updated fixture list by clicking here.
Details of the main track and field fixtures locally and nationally for all age groups, including league matches.
Trials Day Results 4th April
You can download the results of the trials day by clicking here.
Mini League Match 1
This seasons Derbyshire Mini League got off to an excellent start on Saturday 18th April with warm, sunny weather, loads of athletes and parents from all clubs swelling the stand and well contested races . The addition of Charnwood AC as guests gave added competition, atmosphere and interest.
AVAC had over 50 athletes attending, many for the first time. Overall, the match result was very close with Derby just winning by only 7 points from AVAC, 543 points to 536. Unfortunately several holiday absences and shortage of athletes in the U15 boys age group probably cost us the match. However, there was much to be positive about from the performances.
In the U11 age group AVAC athletes won six out of a possible ten events. Niamh Emerson won both the 150m and 600m, Ben Mitchell won the 150m, Lydia Gilliver took the High Jump and Jake Casey took Long Jump. The girls quartet also won the 4 x 100m relay.
At U13 Megan Bruce and Jethro McGraw made excellent starts in their first year in this age group. Megan won the 100m and came 2nd in Long Jump. Jethro won the 800m and came 2nd in both the 100m and 200m. Rory McColgan won the 75m Hurdles and came 2nd in shot, and George Coutts came 2nd in High Jump. The U13 girls also won the 4 x 100m relay.
At U15 the wins were harder to come by but Tom Bridge dominated the
two throws events by winning both the shot in a new outdoor pub and
extending his existing club record, and discus. Kelly-Jay Payling took
2nd in both the shot and 75m Hurdles, and Aimee Ward in her first club
competition won the High Jump.
Winners or not, all athletes performances are recorded and these will be
used to select the County team for the popular Inter-Counties match in
September.
There are 3 more Mini League matches, on 27th June, 4th July and 8th August.
Derbyshire Track and Field Championships 2009
Entry forms for must-do event are now available HERE or from the Derbyshire Athletics website www.dcaa.org.uk.
These annual Championships are a fantastic weekend of track and field with a full range of events for age groups U13 through to Masters (Veterans).
Entries must be made by individuals (not via the club) and note the strict closing date of 17th April.
Derbyshire Mini League 2009
Entry details for this seasons first Mini League track and field competition are now available from training or download HERE and ALSO HERE.
The first match out of 4 is on Saturday 18th April, at Moorways Stadium, Derby, 10.30am start.
All club athletes in the U11, U13 and U15 age groups should take part. The format is really simple and is an ideal introduction to track competition as it's a very informal type of match. £1 payable on the day. Club vests or T-shirts must be worn.
Entries can be emailed to feeney@mailbox60.freeserve.co.uk stating name, age group, date of birth, and the choice of events to do.
Mansfield Open
At last weekends Mansfield Open photos were being taken by Armada Photography. Almost all AVAC athletes present have been snapped and there are some excellent Pics available to view and buy.
See www.armadaphotography.co.uk
North of England Championships
Entry forms and details of the North of England Track and Field Championships are now available to download from their website www.noeaa-athletics.org.uk
The U15 and U17 Championships take place at the International Stadium, Gateshead on 23 /24th May. Closing date for entries 27th April
The Senior and U20 Championships take place at Sport City, Manchester
on 20/ 21st June. Closing date for entries 26th May
There are no entry standards for these competitions but athletes ideally
need to be of a reasonable ability before considering entry. Take advice
from your coach if not sure.
The Senior and U20 Combined Events Championships (England and Northern) is on 13 /14th June at Stoke. Entries close 22nd May
The U17and U15 Combined Events Championships (England and Northern) is at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham 8 / 9th August. Entries close 24th July
Online entry is available at www.athleticsdata.com
Collect Vouchers For Us
Tesco and Sainsbury's are both currently running a voucher collection scheme. We are collecting both types of vouchers with which we hope to get additional sports equipment for use in training sessions.
Please support AVAC - collect vouchers for us and bring along to give to the payment person at any training session.
Membership Renewals
These became due on 1st April for membership 2009 - 10. There have been no price rises from last year. A membership form can be downloaded HERE.
Please note that all athletes aged 8 to 16 (i.e. up to and including present school year 11) MUST read, sign and return the Athlete Code of Conduct HERE at the same time as the membership form. All parts of the membership form must be completed.
Memberships must be renewed by 1st May. Membership forms are also
available to pick up at every training session. Please be aware that
members will not be sent personal renewal reminders in the post.
Updated Newsletter
The latest edition of Trackline the AVAC newsletter is now available for download here.
Don't miss out!
There is also a new updated fixture list available - click here for more details.
Medals for AVAC Athletes at National Final
Sixteen AVAC athletes joined Derbyshire teammates from the county's main clubs as they competed in probably one of their biggest competitions in their athletics career so far.
The Derbyshire team of 36 athletes plus team managers and officials had a successful trip to the NEC for the National Sportshall Finals and came back with one of their biggest medal hauls ever.
Only one gold medal was won by Derbyshire, but fittingly this was for our own Ryan Newton and Michael Bosworth in the U15 boys 8 Lap Parlauf. Combining Ryan's speed with Michaels endurance they powered through their 2,4,2 formation to win their time trial and had an agonising wait to see if their time was quicker than that of the winners of the next heat. Their delight, and the rest of the Derbyshire team and supporters was a joy to see as they topped the podium, and significantly it ends their Sportshall 'career' in a fitting manner, as this was their last race before being 'too old' to do Sportshall next season!
At the younger end of the spectrum Megan Bruce was the youngest member of the Derbyshire team and still has four more potential years in the sport. She was delighted with her silver medal won in the U13 girls 4 x 1 relay, along with Imogen Cresswell and their two county teammates.
The U13 girls team finished in 3rd place overall out of 12 other county teams, and helping them to their team tally was Molly Mee who took bronze in the 8 Lap Parlauf along with Derby AC's Katherine Molyneux. Molly was unlucky not to pick up another medal finishing 4th in the 6 Lap, winning her time trial but unlucky to be pipped to the bronze medal by point two of a second.
At last years Final Tom Bridge won the U13 boys shot putt. This year, moving up to U15 he couldn't quite pull off a win again, but nevertheless threw well in difficult competition circumstances to take a well-earned silver with a throw just short of 13m.
Kelly Sotherton, Commonwealth heptathlon champion, and a past Sportshall champion in 1992 was on hand as patron and many of our athletes got chance to meet her and have their photo taken with her.
Other members of the Derbyshire team were Jessica Turner, Keira Gee, Kelly-Jay Payling, Charlie Waterhouse, Jennie Lockwood, Emily Heappey, George Coutts, Jerome Richards, Jack Newton and Dominic Hare. Well done to everyone who took part and your team managers are very proud of you.
If you want to have a chance at competing at Regional or National level the first step is to take part in the Mini League competitions that take place throughout the winter at Chesterfield.
Athletes are selected for the Derbyshire team only from these competitions (apart from U13 HJ) and based on their performances across a range of Sportshall events.
Just click on the link below to be taken to the section you wish to look at.