North Midlands Cross Country Report

The third match in the North Midlands cross country league on Saturday 1st December was staged at Berry Hill Park.

Many runners found the strong wind and drizzle hard to handle. The best performance of the day came from Tamara Armoush in the U17 women's race where she finished in 2nd place, putting her in 3rd place overall in the individual placings. Andrew Fenwick is also positioned in 3rd place overall in the U13 boys, yet had a below-par race on the day, finishing in 10th.

(Click on thumbnails for larger images, then use the back button on your browser to return to this page)

Many of the young Amber Valley area runners had raced in the local schools cross country trials just two days beforehand and several found the effects of two races in three days too much to contend with.

Steve Bonnington and Geoff Lowry were the first senior AVAC runners home in 29th and 37th place respectively.

In the U11 mixed race Jethro McGraw showed the opposition a clean pair of heels with a convincing win, while Kennedy O'Brien had a strong run to come home 2nd female.

Derbyshire Mini League

Weather conditions for the second race in the Derbyshire Mini League on 8th December couldn't have been worse with strong winds and torrential rain at the Ilkeston golf course venue. Despite this AVAC runners gave some excellent performances, and the club now heads the leader board in five out of the six age / gender groups and leads the competition overall.

AVAC U11 boys took the first 4 places with Jethro McGraw heading them all home, and looks to have the individual title sewn up with one race left to go. Sharnie Richards gave a consistent run in 3rd to give her 3rd place overall.

The top 3 in the U13 girls came home in the same order as in the first fixture, and stay 2nd on the day and overall for Jessica Turner and 3rd on the day and 3rd overall for Jennie Lockwood. It couldn't be tighter at the top in the U13 boys with victories one a piece for Andrew Fenwick and his Trent College rival, with it all to race for in the third and final fixture in February.

Emily Allsopp came home first again in the U15 girls race to keep her undefeated so far in this league, supported in 2nd by Josie Lockwood. The U15 boys race was a repeat of match 1 with Alex Nix finishing 3rd and Michael Bosworth 4th again.

No Gold Medal This Time for Club

Regular readers will know that the Club was a nominee in this years UK Athletics National Awards in the 'Club of the Year' category. Sadly we were pipped on the line to the title by Herts Phoenix AC, but can still bask in the glory of getting to the final stages and gaining recognition for our hardworking coaches, administrators, officials and athletes.

To put this achievement into perspective, our initial nomination saw the club being judged East Midlands Junior Club of the Year in October. We were then judged against other East Midlands winners in the 'Club' category and became the regions nominee to go through to be considered against other regional and national selections in the 'Club' category. This is where we suspected that our nomination would reach the end of its road as the club would be judged and considered against the eleven other clubs from all over England, N Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

 However the success story continued and AVAC was short listed as one of the final 3 by a distinguished and experienced national panel. Up against Swansea AC and Herts Phoenix AC, a small group of club coaches and other club volunteers attended the glittering awards ceremony at the National Motorcycle Museum on December 1st. A little disappointed then, not to get the overall title but not bad for a young club that has only been going 8 years.

Why were we judged to be worthy finalists? Not necessarily on athlete or team success (although we do have that) but more on recognition of the work that is done to make the club organised, safe, pro-active, forward thinking and dedicated to providing a good service to all its members.

The picture to the right shows the AVAC attendees joined by Darren Campbell and Nicola Sanders.

 East Midlands U11 Sportshall Championships, Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham, 24th November

The Amber Valley U11 Borough Boys & Girl Squads, 15 Boys & 15 Girls selected through the Schools represented Derbyshire again, with both teams winning again this year.

Thanks to Julie Feeney & Judy Payling for managing the Girls team and Nigel Smith the Boys team.

Both Teams were up against 7 other Teams, representing the Counties of Lincolnshire. Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire & Northamptonshire.

This year the invite was for 2 Teams per County but there were no other takers for the other Derbyshire place, they must have know what a tough challenge it would be :-)

Saturday 1st December, North Midlands Cross Country League

The third fixture in this league takes place on the popular Berry Hill Park course, Mansfield. The league is hotting up now in terms of team and individual titles with AVAC featuring in both in some of the age and gender groups. Not to be missed!

First races 1pm. Individual race start times available on www.northmidsxcleague.co.uk.

Races for U11 through to Vets. You can still take part even if you haven't run in this league yet this season. Meet the rest of the team at the clubs base in the park.

Saturday 8th December, Derbyshire Cross Country Mini League

The second fixture in this league specially for younger runners U11,U13 and U15 is taking place from the Ilkeston Golf Course club house which is situated at the very end of Oakwell Drive, Ilkeston (carry on past the entrance to the Rutland Sports Park, venue of match 1).

 AVAC has made a fantastic start to this league and currently lead overall. All AVAC members welcome to run. Just turn up before 10.30am and find you team manager, pay £1 to run.

First races start at 11am.

Any help with course constructing and marshalling gratefully received. Please email here if you can help.

Derbyshire County Cross Country Championships, 5th January 2008, Markeaton Park, Derby

Entries close on 10th December. No late entries will be accepted. Remember to get your entry sent off and check on the Derbyshire Athletics website www.dcaa.org.uk for confirmation of receipt, entry forms and race details.

Remember - the top 8 in each age group are likely to be selected to represent Derbyshire at the fantastic televised Inter-Counties race at Wollaton Park, Nottingham in March, an opportunity not to be missed!

Points Pleaser for Senior Runners.

As from 1 December 2007 the club is launching a new incentive league for senior athletes both male and female. This is for senior runners to gain points during the season to be in with a chance to win a trophy to be presented at the Club Presentation Award Night.

Selected cross country and road races have been ear-marked which the club would like runners to take part in. This, we hope, will help to help give runners some structure to their season, to act as an incentive to compete, and support races as a club team. We hope that club members will support this new initiative and that it will encourage as many senior runners as possible to take part in the events. We want to see more runners competing across the county and beyond, wearing the AVAC vest.

The list of suggested races and how it works is available here. The list is provisional and runners wishing to do other races can be accommodated. The league will be updated after each event and events will be added throughout the year. Further information is available from John Davis or Andy Marriott at training.

Derbyshire Mini-League Cross Country - Rutland Sports Park, Ilkeston Sat 17th November.

The first of this seasons mini-league cross country events for Derbyshire runners aged 9-15 took place on Saturday 17th Nov hosted by Amber Valley AC. It was good to see over a hundred young runners from local clubs and schools taking part and the bright dry day was a real bonus. The course was slightly modified from that used last year to make full use of the fields around the rear of the track and this proved to be highly successful.

Amber Valley will host all three mini-league events this season and other courses are being developed - all from Amber Valley's Ilkeston base at Rutland Sports Park. We had a lot of positive comments about the course and the organisation and everyone involved from AVAC and the other clubs (especially Derby AC) who provided support deserves a big thank you.

From an Amber Valley perspective it was a very successful day although we suffered from a very disappointing turnout in the U15 girls age group (and boys to a lesser extent) which has meant that despite some fine individual performances we are behind where we should be in this age group as a team. However, our younger runners turned out in force and were pretty well dominant such that overall Amber Valley having a commanding lead after this first of 3 events.

Full provisional results can be found by clicking here (Spreadsheet file)

The main highlights for Amber Valley were:-

U11 girls: 2nd and 3rd place for Hannah Blount and Molly Mee with Sharnie Richards, Susanah Allsop, Alishia Sanders and Jessica Lockwood finishing 5th, 6th 10th and 14th. Well done to Pariss Rohun of Blackwell Striders for holding off a strong late challenge from Hannah to retain her lead and win the race by 1 second.

U11 boys: For most of the race Derby AC's Ben Robertson was in what looked like a decisive lead but Amber Valleys Jethrow McGraw held on and used his strong finish to take the lead with 150m to go from which he pressed on to win by 8 seconds. Jayson Fenwick and Joel Paisley finished 3rd and 6th to clinch the team win just ahead of a strong Derby team with Mark Rathbone, Michael Ball and Adam Smith in support (11th, 16th and 20th).

U13 girls: Derby's Veleska Wills was impressive leading from start to finish with but Amber Valley's Jess Turner, Jennie Lockwood and Rosie Blount finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th the team win for AVAC was never in doubt. We also had Abby Siddal, Kelly-Jay Paling, Alex Brown and Laura Belcher finishing in 8th, 9th 14th and 19th place.

U13 boys: A very dominant run from AVAC's Andrew Fenwick secured 1st place followed by David Narborough Luke Turner and Jerome Richards (5th, 7th and 12th) to also clinch the team win.

U15 Girls: Amber Valley's sole representative in this event was Emily Allsop who made up for reduced numbers with a decisive win having been the leading girl (the race was combined with the U13 boys) from the start.

U15 boys: A strong Chesterfield pairing of John Holt and James Selvey worked together to secure 1st and 2nd followed by Amber Valley's Alex Nix and Michael Bosworth. Chesterfield were first team.

Annual Presentation Evening

Around 200 athletes, parents and coaches attended the clubs annual celebration of achievement, recognition and good old-fashioned partying!

Our special guest for the evening was Laura Finucane, top ranked U23 athlete this year at 800m, European U23 finalist and potential for inclusion in the 2008 Olympics.

The evening got underway with the presentation of certificates to all those athletes having achieved a Standards Grade or Primary School standard this track and field season. 'Achievement Awards' and 'Coaches Awards were presented to male and female athletes in each age group who were judged to have done the best performance or deserved recognition during the season.

Emily Cotterill was rewarded with the David Dilkes Memorial Trophy in recognition of her long service to the club, and the results of the Athletes Athlete awards were revealed - Zak Hooper and Emma Komocki.

Chairman, Dave Turner, paid tribute to all coaches, officials and administrators who have contributed to the clubs success in being in the final 3 short listed for the National Club of the Year, and to Paul Smith, John Davis and Julie Feeney who have all received recognition this year for their contribution to the sport.

It was then down to the athletes (and some coaches) to display their coordination, endurance and agility on the dance floor, partying until midnight with varying techniques!

Thanks to Laura Finucane for being so delightful in presenting the awards and to all those who had a part to play in organising the night.

Ready for Mini League Cross Country?

The first of this winters Mini League cross country fixtures is this Saturday, 17th Nov. AVAC are hosting all three fixtures in the series, with the course on the first one being run from the new Pavilion at the Rutland Sports Park Ilkeston (similar course to 2006 - around the cricket field and surrounding parkland).

Any club member can run for AVAC provided they are from 9 years old on the day, and in school year 9 or below i.e. U11, U13 and U15. The first race starts at 11am with the U11's. Runners need to be checking in with team manager Julie Feeney on the day from 10am to 10.45am. There is a £1 charge to run, and AVAC athletes should assemble near the entrance to the Pavilion (not going to training at the track or tennis centre). All races should be finished by 12.30pm at the latest. Club vest or T-shirt needed.

Help is needed on the morning of the event to help set up the course, marshal the races and generally help where needed. Parents and adult athletes - could you spare a morning to help the club stage this event, and help the next generation of cross country runners? Please see Trevor Jolly or Jim Feeney if you are available, or just turn up from 9am on the day and offer your services.

Training will take place as normal at the track and tennis centre for those not competing.

BOY'S WHERE WERE YOU ALL????

Not a very good turnout for us again, hopefully we can get more of you there for next one . Which is Sunday 25th November with a later start time of 1 o'clock.

Well done to the ones that took part some special mentions go to:

Hannah Blount for winning U11 girls 3 lap race, Imogen Cresswell won U11 girls standing long jump, Aaron Trueman won U11 boys speed bounce, James Morley won U13 boys standing long jump and Rosie Blount won U13 girls speed bounce.

We only had one U15 boy that was Charlie Waterhouse who not only won the speed bounce, but broke the record which hadn't been broken for four years. So a big well done to Charlie as well.

Sadly because of the poor turnout we've had at the first two matches we are lying last, so come on you boys let's get more of you there at the next one!

AVAC Makes the UK Final

We have just received the fantastic news that AVAC has made it through to the Final of the UK Athletics Awards.

Further to our local win as East Midlands Junior Club of the Year in October, our nomination was considered by a National Panel, against 11 other winning clubs from around the country. We are now one of three short listed in the 'Club' section, and as such are invited to the glittering UK Awards Dinner on 1st December.

This is a tremendous achievement for the club and it recognises the outstanding work being done by our coaches, officials, administrators and athletes.

Information about the Awards can be found on www.ukathletics.org.uk

Unfortunately Paul Smith, winner of the East Midlands 'Officials' section didn't progress further, against some stiff competition in his category.

A little more local to home, coach John Davis has been nominated in the Derbyshire County Council Excellence in the Community Awards. Johns many years of service of athletics coaching in the community is being recognised and he will attend the Presentation Evening at Buxton on 13th November. Well done John.

Our unsung hero Julie Feeney has been nominated for a BBC Award

The hard work and dedication of our Club Secretary and technical coach Julie Feeney has at long last been recognised not only by those with whom she works within the club, but from International Athlete and Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Kelly Sotherton who has urged the local community to rally behind Julie in her bid to become the BBC’s unsung hero at the forthcoming BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony. The Award recognises and rewards outstanding contributions by individuals at the grassroots level of local sport.

I had the privilege of nominating Julie for the award for her selfless dedication and huge commitment she gives not only to the athletes, coaches and officials at AVAC, but also to school children in the Amber Valley area.

Julie’s encouragement, enthusiasm and commitment in introducing children to the sport of athletics no matter what their ability has made a significant impact in Amber Valley over recent years. One only has to look at the success of AVAC, recently winning East Midland Junior Club of the Year award and, for example, how Sports Hall Athletics has taken off within Amber Valley Schools to show what Julie’s contribution has been to the local community.

We are not sure how the voting process will take place as yet, but if successful, Julie will represent the East Midlands and go forward alongside 15 other finalists from the UK to the star studded BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony being held and broadcast live from the NEC Birmingham on the 9th December 2007.

Once we know what the voting arrangements are they will be published giving everyone the opportunity to support her.

Dave Turner, Chair, AVAC

English Cross Country Relay Championships – Saturday 3rd November – Berry Hill Park, Mansfield.

The annual English Cross Country Relay Championships were held on Saturday 3rd November at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield. This event just seems to get bigger and better every year and is one of those occasions where club runners of all ages from U13 to senior mix it with the UK’s top international runners representing clubs from all over the country.

The conditions on Saturday were perfect - a bright and dry sunny day with the temperature reaching the mid teens set in the picturesque autumnal setting of Berry Hill park.

(as always with pictures on the site - click on the thumbnail to see the full size image)

Amber Valley AC were represented by a total of 28 runners in 9 teams across the age groups together with plenty of supporters amongst the large crowds cheering them on. For anyone involved in cross country running it really doesn’t get much better than this. There were no medals this time for Amber Valley but everyone gave 100%, supported each other well and the event was highly enjoyable for all involved.

Our U13 girl’s trio of Jessica Turner, India Bell and Jennie Lockwood in the 3 x 2km event finished 36th out of 67 complete teams. For India, this was her first competitive cross country race for Amber Valley and what an event to debut at!

In the U13 boy’s race, David Narborough, Jerome Richards and Andrew Fenwick finished 28th out of 59 teams with a particularly strong run by Andrew who gained 13 places on the last leg.

Our U15 girl’s team of Emily Allsop, Lori Marshall and Leanne Cartledge were 47th out of 60.

In the highly competitive U15 boys race Michael Bosworth, Alex Nix and Chris Dawe finished a very creditable 27th out of 75 teams. Alex in his first year as an U15 gained 15 places on his 2nd leg run and was our fastest U15.

The U17 women's race was combined with the U20 event which made for a very fast field towards the front and featured a very impressive looking Stephanie Twell (current European Junior Cross Country Champion). Tamara Armoush ran first leg for Amber Valley ‘A’ team followed by Olivia Pell and Alex Turner to finish in 17th place out of 53 U17 teams. Amber Valley’s second team of Cassie Blount, Kim Jenner and Emily Cotteril finished 45th .

We also had 2 teams in the U17 men’s event but the lads found the competition a little hot finishing 67th and 75th out of 76. Our A team comprised Rory Dickenson, Dean Bower and Jack Elliot with Nick Rowton, Ryan Blore and Arron Smith making up the B team. Special mention to Ryan who battled on despite a cramp problem thus enabling the team to finish.

Unfortunately we couldn’t get a senior ladies team together but Amber Valley’s senior men’s team of Geoff Lowry, Steve Bonnington, Andy Marriot and Fred Maer finished 99th out of 143 teams. It was particularly good to see Steve Bonnington racing again having been plagued by injury for most of the last year.

Full results can be found here: http://www.englishcrosscountry.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=31

Indoor Triathlon Challenge

The East Midlands competition group has devised a new and exciting indoor athletics challenge for U15/U17 and U20 age groups. Based on an athletics triathlon, athletes select 3 events from those on offer to earn points.

Prizes for top athletes in each age group. Held in the HiPAC (indoor track) at Loughborough University on Sunday 9th December, entry forms can be downloaded here or available from training.

You can also download the poster with some more info here.

Derbyshire Cross Country Championships

The annual championships takes place this winter at Markeaton Park, Derby on Saturday 5th January. This is one of the main cross country events of the year and not to be missed by any middle distance / cross country athlete. Entry forms are now available from training, from the County Athletics website www.dcaa.org.uk.

Entries must be made by 10th December.

Races are for all age groups U13 (must be 11 years on the day) through to Vets with individual and team medals at stake.

Runners coming in the top 8 in each age group race may be selected to represent Derbyshire at the fantastic, televised Inter-Counties event at Wollaton Park, Nottingham on 15th March 2008. See entry form for further details.

AVAC Reaches a National Final With a Difference!

AVAC has been awarded East Midlands Junior Club of the Year at the regional England Athletics Awards Dinner on October 19th. Athletes, coaches and volunteers have been rewarded with the honour, in recognition of its work in developing young athletes.

In addition there was individual success for popular coach and official, Paul Smith who won the Newcomer to Officiating category. Paul has quickly moved through the officiating ranks and levels in little over a year, with enthusiasm and gusto.

The awards were supported by Heidsieck & Co Monopole champagne and all category winners received a bottle along with commemorative trophy and certificate.

Icing on the cake, however, came with the announcement that both the Club and Paul had been chosen in the overall categories of 'Club' and 'Officials' and could through to represent the East Midlands in the glittering UK Athletics Awards Dinner in December.

The club was also formally presented with the 'Clubmark' certificate, the nationally recognised mark of quality junior sports clubs.

 

National Young Athletes Road Relay Championships at Sutton Park - Sunday 21st October.

The English Road Running Association road relay championships for U13, U15 and U17 athletes was held at Sutton Park last Sunday. Clubs from all over the country were involved and Amber Valley fielded teams in all age groups. The weather was perfect for this kind of event with bright early autumn sun and mild conditions making it a very enjoyable day.

Big championships like this are always an exciting event and for many of our younger athletes this was their first taste of competing at a national championship. The 3.86km undulating course around the picturesque park roads was the same for all age groups which is fine for the U17's but a real test for the U13's.

The day started with the U13 girls race featuring Jessica Turner running first leg followed by Rosie Blount and then Jennie Lockwood on the 3rd and final leg to finish in 41st place overall out of 53 teams.

Our U13 boys trio of David Narborough, Jerome Richards and Andrew Fenwick finished 30th.

In the U15 girls event Leanne Cartledge ran the first leg followed by Lori Marshal and Emily Allsop finishing 45th with the U15 boys represented by Michael Bosworth, Chris Dawe and Alex Nix finishing 34th.

Amber Valley's strongest showing was in the U17 women with Tamara Armoush finishing her first leg in 7th place followed by Alex Turner and Olivia Pell bringing the team home in 13th place in a very strong age group.

In the final event of the day (U17 men) James Barker, Dean Bower and Nick Rowton faced tough competition and finished 55th out of 59 finishing teams.

Full results can be found at :- http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2007/natyarel.htm

The next big event is the English Cross Country Relay Champs on Saturday 3rd November at Berry Hill, Mansfield. Final team selections will be made this week.

SPORTSHALL - WHERE WERE YOU ALL!

First sportshall we had a very poor turn out especially from the boys. Well done to all of you who took part, a special well done to Jodie Wills who equaled the record for VHJ.

Next sportshall is Sunday 28th October at 10 o'clock Queens Park Leisure Centre Chesterfield. As a club we expect all our u11s, u13s and u15s to take part.

TURN UP HAVE FUN AND SUPPORT YOUR CLUB

North Midlands Cross Country

The first of the season’s cross country meetings took place over the weekend at Wicksteed Park, Kettering and despite heavy rain on the way down, the weather was kind and warm. The course itself was grassy and firm underfoot, virtually indistinguishable from Markeaton Park and brought out some excellent performances.

The U13 boys saw Andrew Fenwick tussle for the lead until 800m to go, finishing second with David Narborough just pipped in the run-in to finish fourth. Jerome Richards and James Morley had their own tussle, finishing 34th and 35th. In the U15 girls, Lori Marshall and Leanne Cartledge fought hard to finish 18th and 35th.

Aiden Smith was the sole representative in the U15 Boys and came a creditable 19th. In the U17Women, Tamara Armoush was an excellent 3rd and Cassie Blount looked comfortable, finishing in 15th position.

There were two representatives in the Senior Women’s race, with Leila Armoush, competing as an U20 coming 30th and Jane Poole competing as a vet coming 43rd.

The senior Men’s race saw Geoff Lowry (vet) as first AVAC runner home in 35th, followed by Rob Love in 48th, Andy Marriott in 77th and ‘shoeless’ Fred Maier in 96th!

Our two debutantes in the U11 race found the going tough but came out with a lot of credit with George Rains in 9th and Sharnie Richards in 23rd, competing right up to the finishing line.

The U17 Mens race saw Jack Elliott enjoy a comfortable run in 16th, with James Barker in 26th, Nick Rowton in 30th and sprinter Arran Smith in 31st.

The last race saw a superb run by Jennie Lockwood in her first season in the U13 Girls, holding off some fast finishing girls to finish 6th.

The worst complaint from the runners was that the finishing funnel involved an uphill walk! Obviously some more practice needed there.

For full results, see http://www.northmidsxcleague.co.uk/

The next race in the series is at Markeaton Park on 10th November – an excellent way to get ready for the Presentation Evening that very same evening!

Help Your Club - Become a Qualified Official

Athletics competitions, whether Mini League or major championships simply wouldn't happen without officials. AVAC is no different and we urgently need people to train to become qualified timekeepers, track judges and field judges.

Every track and field league competition where we send teams, whether young athletes or seniors, we also have to provide our quota of officials. To not do so causes the club to lose points, never mind how good our athletes are, and this could mean the difference between promotion or league win, or not.

There are some local courses taking place very soon including:

• 3rd November at Moorways, Derby, Level 2 field and track judging

• 4th November at Mount St Mary's college, Spinkhill, N. Derbys, Level 2 timekeeper

• 8th December at Loughborough University, timekeeper, starter and marksman

Parents and senior athletes - give something back to your club.

The course is 1 day in length, 10 - 4pm and there is no exam, just a period of supported practice. It's not difficult and AVAC will pay the course fee for those who are certain to officiate at competitions where AVAC have a team.

Application forms and course lists can be found here: St Mary's course, Moorways Course, Course List, and Booking Form.

Applicants need not have done Level 1 but should have some knowledge of the sport.

Further information can be found here on the England Athletics site or www.ukathletics.net and follow the officials links.

Alternatively email here info@avac.org.uk  to talk direct to one of our existing club officials to find out more.

 

Northern Open Indoor Meetings

Entry forms for two indoor track and field Opens are available from the Northern Athletics website www.noeaa-athletics.org.uk.

 The Opens are on November 24th and December 15th at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield. Age groups include U13's through to Seniors. Remember that young athletes will move up a year for indoor track and field competitions this winter i.e. the age group that you will be in for next summers track and field.

The Opens are a great opportunity to keep competing throughout the winter months and are good practice for U15s and above who may be entering the Northern and England Championships in the New Year.

 Remember, competing indoors can be quite different to outdoors (running on a 200m banked track, short hurdles, different call-up procedures and warming up areas, not to mention no wind or rain). Ask your coach if in doubt or for more info.

 

Annual Presentation Evening

This years extravaganza to celebrate our athletes achievements is on Saturday November 10th at the Royal Regency Banqueting Suite, Ilkeston (Co-op Rooms), from 7.30pm.

Presentations of awards and certificates, disco, buffet, bar (and hopefully no fire engines this year!).

Make a note in your diary now. Look out for further details. Tickets on sale soon. 

Club Track and Field Championships 2007

What a fantastic finale to the track and field season. Almost 100 AVAC athletes from ages 8 to 50+ took part in the annual Club Championships at Rutland Sports Park on September 22nd in warm autumn sunshine. It was pleasing to see a mass of yellow vests and T-shirts contesting a triathlon-type competition format of one run, one jump and one throw to produce an all-rounder champion in each of the junior age groups.

 

The biggest field contested the U11 girls where 22 athletes took part. Early leader Megan Bruce couldn't hold onto top spot following a scintillating piece of front-running in the 800m from Kennady O'Brien, leaving Megan with the silver and Sharnie Richards with bronze overall.

Mark Rathbone easily took the U11 boys trophy, thanks in part to a massive 37m cricket ball throw, Jethro McGraw finished in silver medal position after an exciting 800m tussle between himself and Jayson Fenwick, with James Bowers taking the bronze medal overall.

10 athletes contested the U13 girls event with the experienced Rosie Blount taking first place from Kelly-Jay Payling in 2nd and Jennie Lockwood, still with another year in this age group, in 3rd.

Tom Bridge took the U13 boys title thanks to further improvements in his shot PB, with James Morley in 2nd and David Narborough in 3rd.

Jodie Wills and Abbie Langley were neck and neck when it came to the jump and run, and were only split after Jodie produced a better javelin throw compared to Abbie's shot, with the former taking gold, Abbie the silver and Josie Lockwood the bronze.

The U15 boys event was keenly contested, with only 5 points separating the top 3 places. Michael Bosworth added the U15 boys title to the U13 one he won last year, whilst Jake Taylor and Ryan Newton, at their first club champs finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Arran Smith demonstrated his potential at multi-events by taking the U17 mens trophy, and in the closest finish of the day, Dean Bower, Jack Elliott and Jordan Martin all tied on the same number of points to finish equal 2nd.

The U17 women's trophy was won by a large margin by Alex Turner, with Stacey Henshaw in 2nd and Kim Jenner in 3rd.

Nine athletes contested the mixed Mile Handicap. Based on submitted middle distance PB's, each athlete set off accordingly on the 4 lap race, with the slower runners first, gradually followed by the faster ones. Rebecca Herring was the first to go and she provided the 'hare' for others to chase down. She kept the lead until the final straight where George Slyz took the overall lead to claim first place and the Frank Stokeley memorial trophy. Rebecca remained comfortable in 2nd, whilst Leila Armoush was able to hold off the fast-closing pack to take 3rd, just ahead of Geoff Lowry in 4th.

Runners Up x 4

AVAC was well represented at the recent Amber Valley Sports Awards evening at Horsley Lodge. Short-listed in 4 categories it was a little disappointing however, to finish runner-up in all of them.

The categories and nominees were Jim Feeney (Performance Coach of the Year), Julie Feeney (Community Coach of the Year), AVAC (Junior Club of the Year) and Amber Valley Borough Councils U11's Sportshall Athletics Squad (Junior Team of the Year).

This awards evening was one of several being staged throughout Derbyshire to recognise sporting achievement in the districts, with some of the successful nominees going forwards to the Derbyshire Sports Awards Final on October 26th.

More details can be found on www.derbyshiresport.co.uk

 

Cross Country Change

All cross country runners should note the changes to venues for this seasons North Midlands Cross Country League.

Match 1 is at Wickstead Park, Kettering on 13th Oct NOT Markeaton Park. Match 2 is now at Markeaton Park, Derby on 10th November. Please see the North Mids website www.northmidsxcleague.co.uk for more details of start times and directions to Kettering.

This league is a well-supported and very popular league for club runners in all age groups and all standards. It is one of the main focuses for AVAC runners and we encourage experienced and novice runners alike to take part in the 4 match series. No individual fee to take part. There is even an U11's race for boys and girls. For more club info see the trackside noticeboard or ask for an info sheet from training, or see one of the endurance coaches at training.

Belated Congratulations!

Thirteen young AVAC athletes were selected to represent Derbyshire in the annual Young Athlete Inter-Counties match, this year at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium, Cudworth. All those Mini League competitions at Moorways over the summer paid off as they were selected only from performances there, plus the County Championships back in May. The Derbyshire team managed probably its best performance in recent years as they finished 2nd again to Warks but had held the lead for much of the match.

Competing on the day were Andrew Fenwick, James Morley, Rory Chambers, Alex Nix, Jake Taylor, Michael Bosworth, Ryan Newton, Zach Hooper, Jessica Turner, Kelly-Jay Payling, Keira Gee and Abbie Langley. Many of these athletes set new PB's and won their events, and special mention goes to Tom Bridge who was awarded U13 boy field event Athlete of the Match for his shot putt.

'A' for effort at English Schools

The experienced trio of Michael Bosworth, Chloe Smith and Louise Feeney made the long trip to Exeter last weekend to compete in the English Schools Combined Events Finals. They had previously made it through to the prestigious Finals from their performances at the Midland Schools competition in June. At Exeter they were competing against the best athletic all-rounders in the country.

Competing in the Finals for the first time, Michael finished in 22nd position in the Junior Boys Pentathlon. This was a fine achievement given that his training up until very recently has based around middle distance. He knocked almost a second off his 80m H PB and jumped over 5m in long jump for the first time. A gutsy run in the 800m brought his finishing position up by 7 places and was good enough to clinch a new club record with his overall points score of 2354 pts. It is also worth pointing out that the vast majority of competitors above him were in the upper end of the age group whereas Michael still has 2008 to improve further in this age group.

Chloe Smith was also a first-timer at an English Schools Final, having previously won the Derbyshire Inter girls title in May. Unfortunately her overall points total in the Heptathlon was somewhat down on her best, finishing in 38th position.

Louise Feeney, competing in her last ever English Schools event tackled the Senior girls Heptathlon. She finished 29th out of 36 finishers and added to her overall points PB. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to Derbyshire Schools athletics, Louise was presented with her Gold colours, only the second athlete in the county this year to have done so. She has represented Derbyshire Schools athletics in cross country and track and field in all age groups over the last 6 years. To cap a memorable season Louise was also presented with a trophy by Chesterfield & District AC at their annual awards evening. This was in recognition of her contribution when competing for the club this season, particularly in the Northern Senior League where she achieved the highest total individual points score in their senior ladies team.

 

Get Ready for Sportshall!

Derbyshire clubs are gearing up for the start of the sportshall athletics season next month. There are 6 matches in the Mini League series, all staged at the Queens Park Leisure Centre, Chesterfield. The first one is on 7th October, 11am start. The league is for all club athletes in the U11, U13 and U15 age groups (as was this summer, regardless of birthdays since). All athletes must be at least 9 years on the day. AVAC expects all its athletes in these age groups to take part in at least 3 of these competitions over the winter season. Events include short and long sprints, relays, shot putt, standing and vertical jumps, and speed bounce. There is a small fee per athlete. In a change to this years format, athletes will need to wear numbers (as track and field).

The best competitors at U13 and U15 will be selected to represent Derbyshire in the East Midlands Regional Final in February, and then hopefully the National Final in April, both fantastic events!

Further details on sportshall can be found on www.dcaa.org.uk

League Results

We can now confirm that AVAC finished 3rd overall in Division 1of the Heart of England League (out of 8 teams) and retain our place in this league for 2008. Unlike previous years we did not win any of the age groups this time round. Looking further back to the first half of the season, AVAC finished 5th overall in the Young Athletes League.

 

Last Chance for Club Champs

The annual Club track and field championships are on Saturday 22nd September at the Ilkeston track. Entries are still being taken for this informal and enjoyable end to the summer season (entry form here) but must be received at training, by phone or email by Thursday evening (20th). Remember it's 1 run, 1 jump and 1 throw event from the given choice, with medals for the top 3 in each age group U11 to U17. All members can give it a go. Only £3 for the whole days activity.

Please note that there is NO TRAINING on this day and athletes should go direct to the track for warming up at 10am.

Parents welcome.

There is also the unpredictable mixed Mile Handicap at 2.30pm, open to all members aged U20 and over. Only £1 to enter (entry form here), just let us know some info to base your handicap on.

Tesco Sports Vouchers

The club is now collecting these so we would be grateful if you would like to collect these and encourage your friends and relatives too. Last year we were able to exchange them for a quantity of items including skipping ropes, balance trainers and storage bags and these have been well used by our coaching groups. Please hand them in to the payment desk at training or to your coach.

 Important Information about Wednesday training

The club will be reverting to its Winter Training Times on Wednesdays with effect from 19th September. The last session on the track is on 12th September. All groups will be using the Tennis Centre from then on as follows:

 

Recreation Group:	Time: 7 - 8pm
	Collection of money: 6.50 - 7.00pm
	Area: using 1 court, nearest to the entrance.
	Format: introductory skills and drills / fitness / event specific (including sportshall events)
	Age group: 8 - 11's

 

Intermediate Group	Time: 7.15 - 8.30pm
	Collection of money: 7 - 7.15pm
	Area: middle court
	Format: skills and drills / fitness / event specific
	Age Group: This summers U13's and some U15's
	NB: this group will aim to strike a balance between maintaining event specific coaching (e.g. hurdles / shot / high jump etc), as well as fitness and agility work / jumping, bounding activities / sportshall event practice and so on, aiming to equip athletes with a range of skills and competencies.

 

Advanced Group	Time: 7.15 - 7.30 warm up, 7.30 - 8.30pm main activity
	Collection of money: 7.05 - 7.15pm
	Area: top court (far end)
	Format: strength and conditioning / agility / speed & power development designed to complement work done on the track . Using medicine balls, introductory lifting techniques, circuit training, plyometrics etc.
	Age group: This summers U17 and U20 and some U15's.
	Grouping of athletes will be made in the first weeks of this arrangement. Athletes will not change groups except by agreement with group coaches. £1.50 per athlete, £1 siblings, £2 non-members.

 

Thursday Middle Distance Group

This group will finish training at Shipley Park 7 – 8pm on Thursday 20th September. As from Thursday 27th the group will meet at Belper Leisure Centre (car park) 7pm. Training runs take place from here around the streets on tried and trusted routes. All middle distance / cross country athletes welcome (min age 10 years). First timers should check with Jim first to make sure that the group is suitable for them and that the standard is appropriate.

All other training sessions remain the same.