July 2005

England Expects - Athletes Deliver Wednesday, July 27 2005

The three Tamworth AC athletes picked to represent England at the Kit Kat SIAB Schools' Track and Field International in Ireland produced some stunning performances.
   Nathan Woodward (400m hurdles), Meghan Beesley (300m hurdles) and Brett Byrd (javelin) all claimed silver medals in their individual events.
   Beesley and Woodward then claimed gold medals in the 4x400m relays.
And to complete a great weekend for Tamworth, Alex Shepherd - who is trained by club coach Phil Owen - won gold in the javelin ahead of Byrd.
   Woodward ran a personal best of 53.7secs to compete a one-two for England in the 400m hurdles, while Beesley ran 42.8secs for second in the 300m hurdles, just 0.6secs behind England team mate Perri Shakes-Drayton.
   Trevor Marsay, who used to coach Olympic heptathlon bronze medallist Kelly Sotherton and now looks after Beesley and Woodward, was delighted with the result.
"They produced excellent performances," he said.
"They can only get better as it is their first year in this age group and they will be stronger next year.
"Both of them could compete at major championships in the future. They have great potential.
"We will now work towards the AAAs Championships next month.
"Meghan is extremely talented and could do any event. Depending on how she develops, she could be a good heptathlete.
"Nathan has only been doing the 400m hurdles since Christmas but is not far off the qualifying standard for the World Youth Games.
"The next step for him is the Youth Olympics or Commonwealths."
   Shepherd followed up his success at the English Schools Championships last week with javelin gold following a throw of 55.22m.
   Just as in last week's championships, Byrd claimed silver with 54.13m.
England were emphatic winners of the international ahead of Ireland, Wales and Scotland.   For photos see the Tamworth Herald.
Posted by:chris
Williams' Walk Double Wednesday, July 27 2005
Mark Williams made it a golden double at the British Masters Track and Field Championships, held at the Alexander Stadium last weekend.
   The Welsh international won both the 3km and 5km men's titles, while his Tamworth AC team mate Ann Ashton was eighth in the women's 3km in 19.45mins to claim a superb silver in the W45 category.
   Williams' opened his championships with a comfortable win in the 3km walk in 13:32mins on Saturday.
   His fine victory was made all the more impressive as he raced between training sessions for a 50km event later this year.
   Williams again trained on Sunday morning before competing in the men's 5km, where he secured another victory in 23:52mins.
   His performances completed an excellent week for the Tamworth man, who had recorded a comfortable midweek league victory for his club over 2km in a time of 8:50mins and has now almost returned to full training after recovering from a virus last month.
   Ashton's performance came after recording a personal best time of 13:10mins - an incredible 40 seconds quicker than ever before - in the women's 2km walk at the same league fixture earlier that week.
Posted by:chris
Tamworth AC Produce Best Cup Performance Wednesday, July 27 2005
Tamworth AC produced their best ever performance in the British Athletics League Cup semi-final at Derby last weekend.
  Tamworth finished third with British League sides Bedford and Derby trailing behind them.
   It was also Tamworth's youngest ever team in this competition with Juan Padmore, Faye McCabe, Sophie Cash, Hollie Owen, Tom Hardman and Charlotte Elvins all giving a good account of themselves in the senior ranks.
   Gavin Showell produced some good performances to win the pole vault with a 4m clearance, finish third in the hammer with 21.40m and fourth in the shot with a putt of 8.93m.
   Laura Langowski made a welcome return to form after recovering from a virus to win the 400m against a strong field in 57secs.She also finished sixth in the 100m in 13.6secs and the same position in the long jump with 4.62m.
   Chris Mawbey also made a welcome return and picked up a good second place in the 200m in 23.4secs.
   Young athletes Padmore and Hardman gained good third places in their events with Padmore recording 6.50m in the long jump and Hardman throwing 48.64m in the javelin.
   David Lines was third in the 400m hurdles in 1:00.4mins, while Lara Hooper was second in the triple jump with 9.10m and third in the pole vault with a clearance of 2.10m.
   Fourth places were claimed by Owen in the 200m in 27.2secs, Paul Tasker in the 1,500m in 4:19.3mins, Cash in the high jump with a clearance of 1.40m, Alana Smetham in the hammer with a good throw of 37.71m, John Jenkins in the 800m in a personal best time of 1:57.4min and Adam Smith in the triple jump with 12.73m.
   Gemma Wheelhouse also took fourth place in the discus with a throw of 26.42m and fifth in the shot with a putt of 8.12m.
   Neil Rudd ran the useful time of 52.4secs for fifth in the 400m and youngster McCabe was fifth in the javelin with a personal best throw of 23.50m.
   Daniel Cash grabbed fifth place in the high jump when he equalled his personal best jump of 1.70m.
   Richard Bown was seventh in the 100m and Rebecca Hallam was fifth in the 800m in 2:44.2mins.
   Matty James was sixth in the 110m hurdles in 19.9secs and took the same position in the discus with a throw of 21.91m.
   Dave Williams completed a very good team effort by finishing sixth in the 10,000m in 38:57.6mins.
Posted by:chris
Olympic Dream is Possible Tuesday, July 19 2005
Birchmoor athlete Meghan Beesley is being taken to the Beijing Olympics by her coach to inspire to compete in London 2012.
   The 15-year-old from Tamworth AC is being taken to the 2008 Games by Trevor Marsay, former coach of Olympic bronze medallist Kelly Sotherton, as part of her development as a top international athlete.
   The Polesworth High School pupil is already the English Schools multi-event champion and claimed a silver in the 300m hurdles at the English Schools Championships at the Alexander Stadium last Saturday.
   She ran a personal best of 42.26secs, the fifth fastest in the all-time rankings, and was only beaten by a new British record.
   As a result, she is set to compete for England at a home countries international in Ireland this weekend.
"Trevor has bought me the tickets for my 18th birthday and I am looking forward to it," she said.
"However, I want to go to the London Olympics to compete."
   Marsay sees similarities between Beesley and his former prodigy Sotherton."Meghan has always looked up to Kelly and they have similar abilities," he said."She could be going to the Olympics by right in 2012."
   Tamworth enjoyed unprecedented success at the English Schools last weekend with three athletes claiming silver medals.
   As well as Beesley, javelin thrower Brett Byrd (see right) and multi-talented Nathan Woodward stood on the podium and will now compete for England this weekend.
   Woodward was just squeezed into second place in the intermediate boys 400m hurdles after clipping the last hurdle.He was only beaten by 0.41secs by Toby Ulm of Wiltshire.
   Like Beesley, Coleshill High School pupil Woodward has also set his sights on competing in an Olympics."I want to go to Beijing but if not, then London 2012 is a possibility," he said."I am determined to become an Olympian and my coaches have told me to go for it."
Posted by:chris
Woodward Targets Olympics Tuesday, July 19 2005
Coleshill athlete Nathan Woodward has set his sights on becoming an Olympic hero.
   The 15-year-old from Coleshill High School has targeted Beijing in 2008 and London 2012 after winning a silver medal at the English Schools Championships at the Alexander Stadium last Saturday.
   Woodward was just squeezed into second in the intermediate boys 400m hurdles after clipping the last hurdle.He was only beaten by 0.41secs by Toby Ulm of Wiltshire.
   "I was doing well until the last hurdle and who knows what would have happened if I hadn't hit it," he said.
   "I am still ecstatic at taking a silver medal. I only started doing the 400m hurdles at the start of the season and my aim was just to reach the National Schools Championships, so to get a medal is fantastic."
   The Tamworth AC athlete, who was competing for Warwickshire last weekend, has been selected to represent England this weekend in a home nations international in Ireland.
   Woodward is a talented all-round athlete and won silver at the National Multi-events Championships last season.Now he has had a taste of international athletics, Woodward wants to compete on the ultimate stage in 2008.
"I want to go to Beijing but if not, then London 2012 is a possibility," he said.
"I am determined to become an Olympian and my coaches have told me to go for it."

Fellow North Warwickshire athlete Meghan Beesley will also be in Ireland competing for England this weekend.
   The Polesworth High School pupil and Tamworth AC member is already the English Schools multi-event champion and claimed a silver in the 300m hurdles at the English Schools Championships at the Alexander Stadium.
   She ran a personal best of 42.26secs, the fifth fastest in the all-time rankings, and was only beaten by a new British record.
Posted by:chris
Tamworth's Best Ever English Schools Tuesday, July 19 2005
Tamworth AC enjoyed their best ever results at the National Schools Championships at the Alexander Stadium last weekend.
   Tamworth athletes, competing for their counties, were amongst an elite field of 1,800 who had qualified as the pick of over one million athletes for across the country for the games and they emerged with three silver medals, recording new personal bests at the same time.
   All three of the Tamworth medallists have been selected for the England team for the Home Schools International match to be held in Ireland this weekend.
   Nathan Woodward won his 400m hurdles heat in a personal best time of 53.85secs and just lost the title in the final when he hit the final hurdle when in the lead and had to be content with the silver medal spot.Woodward set another personal best of 53.84secs in the final.
   It took a best ever British performance by an under-17 girl to deny Meghan Beesley her first English Schools title in the 300m hurdles.She won her heat in 44.27secs, won her semi-final in a personal best 42.65secs and then improved that again in the final to finish second in 42.26secs behind the new British record holder, Perri Shakes-Drayton of London.
   Brett Byrd also earned himself an international place and a silver medal when he finished in second place in the javelin with a throw of 55.1m.
   Tamworth Athletic Club coach Phil Owen can also claim the distinction of not only coaching Byrd but also the winner of the competition Alex Shepherd fropm Cannock AC.
   Juan Padmore, in his third championships, also rose to the occasion when he earned himself a place on the podium with sixth place in the long jump.Padmore produced four personal best jumps in the competition, 6.58m proving to be his best ever.
   Alana Smethem just missed the cut in the senior ladies hammer when she finished in tenth place with a good throw of 34.74m.
   Alex Berrow and Sarah Williams can also be pleased with their performances in reaching the championships for the first time with Berrow gaining 12th place in the hammer with 44.38m and Williams taking ninth place in the pole vault with a clearance of 2.7m.
Posted by:chris
Tamworth is a Shining Example Tuesday, July 19 2005
Former 5,000m world record holder Dave Moorcroft has used Tamworth Athletics Club as a shining example of what could be achieved in the restructuring of the sport.
   Moorcroft was speaking during a presentation of a new blueprint for the governing of athletics at the Marlborough Way Stadium on Monday night. Moorcroft, who was also the voice of athletics for the BBC before becoming the chief executive of UK Athletics, said: "With the award of the 2012 Games to London, we have a real opportunity to reshape the way our sport is funded and build a capacity for the sport to sustain itself.

"We need a will from everyone to achieve our goals. It can be done.

"Tamworth is a great example. The club grabbed a small, scrubby piece of land and built a superb facility. They run it on a shoestring budget but with a great amount of enthusiasm."

Moorecroft was joined by Peter Radcliffe, chairman of the new England Athletics body and father of marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe, and Jack Buckner, project director of England Athletics, to present their new plan to representatives from athletics clubs from across the Midlands.
   The new body proposes to organise the country into nine regions with the chairman of each region sitting on a new English Forum.
   Similar models will be run in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with the four national chairman sitting on a UK Athletics Supervisory Board which will monitor the UK Athletics Board.
   "With the 2012 Olympics in London, this is an incredibly exciting time to be involved in the restructuring of our sport so it can take full advantage of this opportunity," Buckner told the Tamworth audience.
   "We need to all pull in the same direction to stop athletics losing out on funding to other sports".
Posted by:chris
Melbourne is Still in Sight For Williams Tuesday, July 19 2005
Mark Williams maintained his challenge for a place in the Welsh team for next year's Commonwealth Games with a fine sixth place in the 5km walk at the AAA Championships in Manchester last weekend.
   The Championships, which included the top ranked walkers in the country, doubled as the qualifiers for the World Championships and Commonwealth Games with the first athlete home securing their place in the team.
   Williams, still recovering from a virus, produced a fine performance to make the Championship 14-man final and take sixth place behind winner Colin Griffin of Ireland.
   Although Williams never headed the race, he still managed to finish as both the leading Welsh and Midlands athlete.
   The Tamworth man was pleased with his performance as he maintained his position high in the rankings in all events from 2km though to 20km this season.
His next target is qualification over 50km for the Commonwealth Games next year.
   Williams has been selected to represent the Midlands over 3km in an inter-area track and field match later this month and over 2km later this year.
Posted by:chris
Busy Meeting For James Tuesday, July 12 2005
Matt James competed in nine events as the Tamworth men's B team finished fourth in their Midland Men's League Division Five fixture.
  James took second place in the triple jump with a personal best of 11.68m, second in the 400m in 1:02.9mins, second in the 110m hurdles in 20.2secs, third in the high jump with 1.55m, fourth in the discus with 19.27m, fifth in the hammer with 12.07m and sixth in the shot with 7.19m.
  Also chalking up useful points was Matt Hargreaves who won the 1,500m in 4:46.5mins, took second place in the 800m in 2:13mins, fourth in the shot with a putt of 4.86m and fifth in the discus with 21.45m.
  Nathan Jones-Faulkes, in his first senior competition, recorded a good throw of 40.41m for second place in the javelin.
  Nick Crawford was fourth in the 200m in 25.5secs, fifth in the 100m in 12.9secs and the same position in the long jump with 5.05m.
  Kirk Allen was fifth in his 200m in 26.7secs and newcomer Nick Lane was fourth in the 100m in 13.2secs.
  Adam Bache finished third in the 1,500m in 4:46.1mins and fourth in 2,000m steeplechase in a personal best time of 7:44.2mins.
  Michael Pierpoint gained a personal best time of 2:18.8mins for fifth place in the 800m and Nick Wilkins also finished fifth in the 400m in 55.5secs.
  Ashley Smethan was third in the 2,000m steeplechase in 10:45.8mins and fifth in the hammer with 10.49m.
  Ben Storey was second place in the triple jump with a personal best jump of 10.65m and fifth in the long jump with 4.55m.
  David Goodwin finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 26.62m and Nigel Fisher finished in the same position in the 5,000m in a personal best time of 21:4.1mins.
Posted by:chris
Midlands Men's League Div 1 Tuesday, July 12 2005
Tamworth's men's first team were fourth in their penultimate Midlands League Division One fixture and look set for a mid-table finish.
  Adam Smith won the A triple jump with a personal best of 13.15m and took fourth place in the high jump with a personal best clearance of 1.65m. Stephan Tonks won the B triple jump with 12.19m and was second the long jump with 5.52m.
  Ricky Hallam picked up a couple of second places with a clearance of 3.6m in the pole vault and a time of 19.19secs in the 110 hurdles.
  Juan Padmore enjoyed a good debut in senior competition when he finished in second place in the long jump with 6.26m and was seventh in the shot with 8.3m.
  Daniel Cash was second in the 400m hurdles in a personal best time of 62.7secs, fourth in the 200m in 24.1secs and the same position in the high jump with 1.7m.
  David Lines chalked up three good third places when he clocked a personal best 19.1secs in the 110m hurdles, 1:00.1mins in the 400m hurdles and 12.1secs in the 100m.   Howard Bush was third in the 2,000m steeplechase in 7:10.7mins and seventh in the 5,000m in a personal best time if 17:13.4mins.Neil Rudd clocked a useful 52.3secs for third place in the 400m and finished eighth in the discus with 11.15m.
  Paul Tasker set his best 800m time for several years with 2:01.7mins for fourth, the same position in the javelin with 34.57m and third in the 1,500m in a time of 4:18.3secs.
  Richard Bown was fourth in the 200m in 23.6secs and fifth in the 100m in 11.7secs, with Nick Spargo finishing fourth in the 400m in 52.8secs.
  Tom Orton finished fifth in the 2,000m steeplechase in 7:4.7secs, Phil Clamp was sixth in the 1,500m in 4:08.09mins and John Jenkins was eighth in the 800m in 2:03.05mins.
  John Culshaw Jnr worked hard to pick up valuable points in the throwing events with seventh place finishes in the hammer with a throw of 16.17m, the javelin with 38.33m, the shot with 9.33m and the discus with 25.31m.
Posted by:chris
Promotion is Just One Match Away Tuesday, July 12 2005
Tamworth AC's women's team are one match away from promotion in the Midlands Women's League.
  They pulled out all the stops, and recorded 23 personal bests, to finish second in the penultimate match at Sutton Coldfield. They are level on points at the top of the table with Tipton, Wolverhampton and Bilston and Telford, with only two gaining promotion.
  Best ever performances were recorded by were recorded by Rebecca Findley (high jump and triple jump), Kathy Snowden (400m and long jump), Amy Frith (200m and 400m), Hannah Sargeant (high jump and 75m hurdles), Liz Checkley (100m and 400m), Marriane Pritchard (3000m and javelin), Megan Jacobs (3000m) Hannah Allton (long jump), Hollie Owen (200m), Danielle Margate (100m), Meghan Beesley (200m), Amy Williams (high jump), Georgia Lorraine (200m), Laura Taylor (100m), Claire Free (long jump) Sophie Cash (80m hurdles) and Rebecca Hallam (800m)
   Owen and Beesley picked up a winning double each with the former winning the 200m in 25.9secs and the 300m in 41.5secs.Beesley won the long jump with 5.34m and the 200m in 25.1secs.
   Jenna Lander made a welcome return to the team to win the hammer with a throw of 37.11m, finish fourth in the shot with 6.62m and fifth in the discus with a throw of 13.98m.
   Frith also made a welcome return to win her 200m in 27.2secs and finish second in the 400m in 59.8secs.
   Laura Taylor won her long jump with 4.71m and finished third in the 100m in 13.3secs.
   Lara Hooper won the pole vault with a clearance of 2.3m and took sixth place in the 1,500m in 6:27.5mins, while Hannah Allton won her long jump with 3.7m.
   Sergeant won the 75m hurdles in 13.2secs and finished fourth in the high jump with 1.35m.
   Youngster Sophie Taylor made a good debut when she finished second in her long jump with 4.19m and fourth in the 200m in 30secs.
   Mariane Pritchard picked up a couple of second places when she clocked 12:15.4mins in the 3,000m and threw 15.14m in the javelin.
   Snowden earned valuable points for the team with fourth place in the 400m hurdles in 1:12.9mins, second in the long jump with 4.51m, fifth in 100m hurdles in 20.7secs and sixth in the 1,500m in 5:39mins.
   Faye McCabe was second in the shot with 8.16m and third in the javelin with 16.48m.
   Findlay finished second in her 80m hurdles in 16.6secs, third in the high jump with 1.55m and fifth in the triple jump with 9.02m.
   Liz Checkley took second place in the 400m in 1:01.3mins and fourth in the 100m in 13.8secs.Charlotte Elvins finished second in the 300m in 46secs.
   Reanne Wood was third in the hammer with 18.55m and fourth in the javelin with 15.85m.
   Sarah Williams was third in the pole vault with a clearance of 2.75m and the same position in the high jump with 1.3m.
   Gemma Wheelhouse was third in the shot with 8.54m, fourth in the discus with 27m and sixth in the javelin with a 15.32m Hallam finished third in the 800m in 2:34.1mins and fifth in the javelin with a throw of 11.29m.
   Claire Free picked up two useful third places with 3.92m in the long jump and 24.8secs in the 100m hurdles.
   Also gaining two third spots was Cash who clocked 13.4secs in the 80m hurdles and jumped 8.54m in the triple jump.
   In the tough senior sprint events, Justine Passey was fourth in the 200m in 27.3secs and fifth in the 100m in 13.2secs.Williams finished fourth in her 800m in 2:54.3mins and fifth in the high jump with 1.15m.
   After a hard senior 800m race, Leah Moores was fourth in 2:23.9mins and Jacobs finished in the same position in the 3,000mins in a time of 12:06.6mins.Marczak was fourth in the 100m and Nicola Paul was fourth in the discus with 9.68m.
   Elyse Jinks finished fourth in the 1,500m in a time of 5:51.6mins and Jenna Passey was fifth in her 1,500m in 6:16.3mins.
   Laura Lewis was fifth in the 800m in 2:59.3mins with sister Leanne was third in the 1,500m in 6:25.3mins, with Georgia Lorraine also finishing fifth in the 200m in 28.8secs.
Posted by:chris
English Schools Success Saturday, July 9 2005

The weather was perfect and the athletics was fantastic at the ESAA National Track and Field Championships held at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium on 8/9 July.

Three Tamworth AC athletes came away with silver medals, their national vests and invites to compete in the International event in Ireland next week-end

The silver medallists were Meghan Beesley for the 300m hurdles which she ran in 42.26, Nathan Woodward for the 400m hurdles where he finished in 53.84 and Brett Byrd for his javelin throw of 55.10m. All three athletes achieved a national standard each for their events in the intermediate section of the championships.

Juan de Leon Padmore took sixth place in the intermediate boys long jump with a leap of 6.58, Sarah Williams was 9th in the senior girls pole vault with 2.70m, Alana Smetham's hammer throw in the senior girls event was 37.74 for 10th place and Alex Berrow took 13th place in the intermediate boys hammer with 44.38m.

Congratulations to all our athletes.
Posted by:chris
Foster Report Meeting Friday, July 8 2005

Don't forget that the last of the series of Foster Report Open Meetings will be held at Tamworth AC on Monday 11 July at 7pm.
Posted by:chris
Seven Set For English Schools Friday, July 8 2005

Seven of Tamworth AC's young athletes are competing at the prestigious English Schools Competition at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham this week-end, Friday 9th and Saturday 10th July.It is the highest number of Tamworth AC athletes to be selected.

They are Meghan Beesley and Nathan Woodward who will compete for Warwickshire, Alex Berrow, Brett Byrd,Alana Smetham and Sarah Williams who will all represent Staffordshire and Juan Padmore who will be wearing a West Midlands vest.

Results will be posted here ASAP.
Posted by:chris