April 2005

Athletes Off to a Flyer Monday, April 25 2005
Tamworth Ac look on course for another good track and field season after picking up 15 medals and a host of personal bests at the Willie Kirk Memorial Open Meeting in Brierley Hill.
  Busiest athlete of the day was Sarah Williams, who took part in five events and added three more medals to her collection. Personal bests of 5.15m and 29secs earned her silver and bronze in the long jump and 200m respectively.
She was also third in the shot with 6.18m, fifth in the high jump with a clearance of 1.35m and sixth in the 100m in another personal best time of 13.5secs.
  No to be outdone, her father David Williams picked up a medal in the 3,000m.

Another family collecting medals were the Challis brothers, with Tom clearing 4.78m to win the long jump before coming first in his debut 400m race in 1:02mins.
He also won his 100m heat and then picked up his third medal of the day by finishing third in the final, clocking a personal best time of 12.6secs in both races.
  Brother Dan won his 100m heat and took second place in the final in a personal best time of 11.6secs. He was also fourth in the javelin with a throw of 16.25m.

The Passey family also added a couple of medals to their collection, with Justine clocking 12.9secs for second place in her 100m final and gaining another silver in the 200m.Sister Jenna was sixth in the 800m in 2:59.9mins.

Nick Crawford also had a good day, clearing 1.45m for second place in the high jump, finishing fourth in the long jump with a new personal best of 5.16m, fifth in his heat of the 100m in a new best of 12.2secs, and sixth in the 200m final in 24.8secs.

Kirk Allen showed good early season form when he picked up a silver medal in the senior men's 200m in 25.2secs, while coach Paul Tasker was fifth in the 800m.

Several of Tamworth's throwers showed good early season form, particularly Nathan Jones-Faulkes who completed a javelin and discus double with personal best throws of 37.44m and 28.11m respectively.
  Chris Smith won his discus event with a personal best throw of 26.04m and set another best of 30.51m to finish second in the javelin.
  Claire Perry threw the javelin 23.36m for the first ever time to earn a silver medal and also finished fourth in the discus with a 16.25m throw.
  Javelin coach Phil Owen threw 35.49m to pick up a bronze and was also sixth in the senior discus in 21.09m.
  Two newcomers who made a promising start to competitive athletics for the club were Danielle Murczak and Paula Hickenbottom.
  Danielle took second place in her 200m heat and improved her personal best to 29.2secs to finish fourth in the final, as well as clocking 14.2secs for fifth place in her 100m heat.Paula finished fifth in the 200m final and seventh place over 100m in 13.7secs.
Posted by:chris
Athletes Off To Flying Start at the Tipton Games Friday, April 15 2005
  Tamworth athletes from all age groups produced some excellent performances at the opening event of the track and field season, the Tipton Games, picking up a total of 26 medals and 15 personal bests.
  Francesa Hughes took three golds in the under-11 girl's events when she won the 75m in 11.7secs, the 150m in a personal best 23.6secs and the throwing the cricket ball event with a throw of 19.82m.
  Tamworth's youngest athlete Chloe Williams, in her first competitive race, took on a field of boys in a special invitation 60m race and beat them all in a time of 10.9secs.
  Sophie Taylor, in the under-13 girls' events, won the 75m in a personal best 11.1secs and won the 150m in another personal best of 22.3secs.
  In the same age group, Milly Kellyman picked up three medals when she took second place in the 150m in a personal best 22.4secs, third in the 75m in another personal best of 11.2secs and another third in the long jump with a jump of 3.73m.
  In the under-15 girl's age group, Laura Taylor chalked up three first places when she won the 75m hurdles in 13.4secs, the long jump with a leap of 4.76m and the 100m in 14secs.
  Nathan Jones-Faulkes moved up to the under-17 men's age group and produced two good performances when he won the discus with a throw of 24.96m and took third in the javelin with a personal best throw of 36.9m. Sarah Williams picked up a couple of medals in the under-20 women's events when she finished second in the long jump with a personal best jump of 5.04m and the same position in the pole vault when she equalled her personal best with a clearance of 2.80m.
  Hollie Owen produced two good performances in the under-17 ladies events when she won her 300m in a personal best 42.8secs and won the 200min another personal best time of 26.5secs.
  Gavin Showell won the senior men's pole vault with a clearance of 4m and Ben Jones picked up a couple of medals in the same age group when he took second place in the 400m in his first race at this distance in 52.6secs and third in the 200m in 23.7secs.
  Brett Cash picked up two medals in the under-13 boys' age group with second place in the shot with 4.81m, third in the high jump with 1.05m and he also recorded 3.19ms in the long jump.
  In the same age group, James Thacker, in his first competition, picked up two medals when he finished in second place in the 100m in 15.6secs and third in the 200m in 32.4secs.
  Danielle Cassar won her 75m race in 31.1secs and took seventh place in the long jump with a leap of 3.02m.
  Claire Perry gained a medal in the under-17 ladies' discus when she took third place with a throw of 18.18m. Rachael Fairfax-Steadman took second place in her 75m race in a personal best 13.9secs.
  Tom Challis, in his first outdoor events since moving up to the under-15 boys' age group, took three fourth places with 13.1secs in the 100m, 26.3secs in the 200m and a clearance of 1.35m in the high jump with brother Dan, who has also moved up to the under-17 men's group, clocking 12secs for second place in his 100m and 25secs for third in his 200m.
  Also moving up to the under-20 men's age group were Richard Bown and Dan Cash.Richard finished fourth in his 100m in 11.9secs and third in his 200m with Dan just one place behind in fourth in the 200m, clocking 24.3secs and 24.6secs respectively.
  Sophie Fairfax-Steadman took sixth place in her 800m race in a personal best of 3:22.4mins and clocked 12.4secs in the 75m.
  Amy Williams finished in fifth place in the 100m in a personal best 15.4secs and was seventh in her 800m in 2:48.1mins.
  Jo Cassar picked up a couple of personal bests with 12.5secs in the 75m and a jump of 3.10m in the long jump.
  Lauren Saunders clocked 12secs in the 75m and recorded a distance of 3.21m in the long jump, with sister Chloe timed at 12.4secs for the 75m and jumping 3.01m in the long jump.
Posted by:chris
Annual Presentation Evening is Another Huge Success Thursday, April 14 2005

  For the second year running Tamworth Athletic Club’s clubhouse was packed to the rafters when Olympic bronze medallist and European Indoor Silver medallist Kelly Sotherton dropped into the club to present trophies and Shine Award performance certificates to club members at the Annual Presentation Evening.  

   Jenna Lander was named ‘Athlete of the Year’ and promising young athletes Meghan Beesley, Nathan Woodward and Juan Padmore were all rewarded for their achievements over the past year. Beesley was named ‘Junior Athlete of the Year’; Woodward claimed the N J Williams Cup and Padmore took the Mick Sanderson Trophy for Best Field Athlete.  Beesley also went away with the Indoor Athletics Trophy for her performances in Sportshall Athletics.

  Laura Langowski won the best female sprinter for the 4th consecutive year and Neil Rudd won the Shilton Cup for the best male sprinter. Rudd and Amy Frith won the Tom Adams Shield and the Amy Adams Shield respectively for their performances in the National Junior League.

  Both Sarah Williams and Gavin Showell won their trophies for competing in many events for the club throughout the whole season in the Women’s and Men’s leagues respectively.

 Hannah Sergeant and Michael Pierpoint were chosen to receive the Young Athletes League ‘Athletes of the Year’ awards with Laura Lewis and Dan Challis taking the trophies for the Heart of England League.

 The prestigious Chairman’s Award was won by 18 year old Rebecca (Ribz) Hallam who was rewarded for her contribution made in competition , coaching , officiating and team management throughout the year.

 The club’s very successful race walkers won three awards between them with senior athletes Mark Williams and Sheila Owen winning the Cincinnati Cup and the Agnes Mary Williams Cup respectively and junior walker Sam Webb winning the Ron Stone Trophy for the second year running.

 The Richard Thornton trophy for the Cross Country Athlete of the Year went to Martin Naunton .In the Junior Cross Country sections Simon King and Leanne Lewis collected a trophy each for the male and female athletes in the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League. Veteran category honours went to Cathy Lyon Green and John Culshaw Snr.

 Other winners this year were Brett Cash, Tom Challis and Sophie Cash for their overall performances throughout the season , Mark Trigger (Performance of the year in a race over 10 miles), Josie Cassar (Most Attendances) and Andy Day (Best Club Member).

 Kelly Sotherton was presented with a gift by young athletes Laura Lewis and Craig Farrell. Sotherton, who took part in Sportshall Athletics as a young athlete told the crowded audience that she believes perseverance is the key to success.

  For more information on Tamworth Athletic Club phone 01827 260897 or email tamworthac@aol.com.
Posted by:chris
National Road Relay , Sutton Park Friday, April 8 2005

  The national championships took place on a chilly but dry day with teams travelling from all regions of the country to take part.

In spite of Easter holiday arrangements, Tamworth was well represented in the 6 age groups.

  Elyse Jinks was Tamworth’s only participant in the under 13 girls’ race as Rebecca Pate was taken ill on the start line but Elyse ran well to record 17min 53secs for a course of just under 4 km.

  The under 13 boys finished in 44th position with Tom Challis running 16min 49secs, Craig Farrell 15min 16secs and Stephen Parkes recording 15min 35secs.

Megan Jacobs ran 16min 47secs, Katie Barker 19min 25secs and Jenna Passey 19min 53secs to enable the under 15 girls to record a team position of 65th.

  Simon King achieved the fastest Tamworth time of the day when he ran 13min 21secs and he was ably supported by Steve Deeley with 14min 27secs and Alex Elson 16min 30secs with the team finishing in 58th.

  The under 17 Ladies had to field an incomplete team but the team rivalry was strong with Kat Snowden finishing in 18min 12secs and Marianne Pritchard in 18min 13secs.

  The under 17 Men’s team had the best finish of the day completing the race in 42nd position and all 3 athletes were extremely close to each other in times. Tom Adams recorded 13min 36secs, Adam Bache 13min 41secs and John Jenkins 13min 48secs.

  The track and field season is about to start with Tamworth AC hosting the first competition in the National Junior League on April 24th.
Posted by:chris