Olivia Walker and Natalie Mukerji each won two gold medals at the County Championships at Stoke's Northwood Stadium on Saturday.

 

Olivia started the meeting with a bang, winning the U20 100m hurdles in what would have been a Championship record of 14.7 if the run hadn't been wind assisted. She later took the 200m title in a time of 26.2 secs. Natalie won the 100m in 13.1 secs and then completely destroyed the field in the 200m in both her heat and the final, recording a pb of 27.0 to take her second gold.

 

On the field, the javelin throwers performed well. Emma Hamplett (U15) and Bethan Rees (U13) both recorded Championship Best performances with throws of 38.36m and 32.03m respectively. Lucy Heap won the U20 event, Harry Marshall the U17 title with a pb of 48.64m and Tori Hamplett 2nd in the U13 with 24.84m.

 

Steve Thompson won his 80m  hurdles in a legal time of 12.1, just outside English Schools standard and Paul Edwards won the M50 100m hurdles. Craig Hicks took home gold in his first hammer competition with a throw of 21.86m, Chris Mayne equalled his pb of 1.45m to win the U15 high jump and Shannon Clarke won the U17W triple jump with 9.65m

 

Elisha Walker won the U13 1500m title in 5:15.2 with Charlie Peters 3rd in the same race. Iris Davies finished 1st in the U13 800m in 2:35.2 followed in 3rd place by Rachel Jones.

 

Dominic Tooth had an excellent day, taking home three silver medals in the U13 200m, long jump and 100m where he recorded a pb of 13.8. James McCann came 2nd in a fast U17 1500m race and Sam Nicholls took silver in the U17 800m.

 

Jordan LeFevre also took home a silver medal by throwing 23.88m in the U15 discus and he recorded a wind assisted 12.2 to finish 3rd in the 100m. Eleanor Proud coped with the windy conditions to finish 2nd in the 300m and Emily Fowler-Parkes came 3rd in the U17 100m in 13.2.

 

Martin Roberts came 2nd in the hammer with a throw of 41.08m and Jess Leek 2nd in the U20 long jump with a jump into the wind of 4.87m

 

There were also 3rd place finishes for Jamie Graham (SM 400m), Callum Houseman (U15 hammer), Pippa Nock (U15 1500m), Emily Colquhoun (U15 800m) and Georgia Hollins (U17 long jump).

 

 

Cannock & Stafford's Elisha Walker and Charlie Peters were selected to compete at this years London mini marathon on 22nd April where, along with four other athletes, they represented the West Midlands.

They both completed the 3 mile course, which was actually the last 3 miles of the London Marathon. Elisha finished in 40th place in a time of 19.27 and Charlie in 56th place in a time of 19.54, out of a field of 355.

 

Congratulations to both girls!

Photo (courtesy of Rebecca Freeman West Midlands mini marathon team manager)

 

Martin and Mel Leek took part in the London Marathon on Sunday. They reached the half way point in just under 2 hrs 6 mins and, despite Martin cramping badly in the last 8 miles, completed the course in 4.51.27

 

Jim Arnold of Stafford Borough Council this afternoon confirmed that the provisional commencement date for the works to install artificial football pitches inside the running track is the 25th May.

 

The final date for training on the track before the works are completed will therefore be Thursday 24th May 2012. The works are programmed to last for between 14 to 16 weeks.

 

To dispel any rumours, the only facilities that are being relocated as part of the scheme are the discus cage and the javelin run up. They will be moving to a different area within the park. All other facilities (high jump, long jump, pole vault, shot and track) will still be in their positions following the works.

 

Alternative training venues are now in place for nearly all athletes. The only group to be still to be located are the discus throwers. Please see your coach for details of their training sessions whilst the works take place.

 

The track at Rowley Park is not available for training on the following dates due to football matches taking place on the pitch in the centre of the track:

Sunday 22nd April 2012

Tuesday 24th April 2012

Sunday 29th April 2012

Tuesday 1st May 2012

 

A large contingent of Cannock & Stafford athletes made their way to the East Midlands on Sunday to take part in the Notts AC Open Meeting at the Harvey Hadden Stadium.

 

Unfortunately for the sprinters, fast times were never going to be on the cards as, despite the warm and sunny conditions, there was a  headwind blowing into the faces of the athletes down the home straight. However, Natalie Mukerji was the first on the track and recorded an outdoor pb in the 100m with 13.4 seconds finishing second to last years English Schools 200m silver medallist, Charlotte McLennaghan. Natalie also came third in the 200m with a time of 27.7 secs.

 

Eleanor Proud (13.8) and Emily Fowler-Parkes (13.9) came 4th and 6th respectively in the U17 100m and Emily came 5th in the 200m with 28.4.

 

Steve Thompson and Jordan LeFevre took part in the U15 100m with Steve just recording the faster time of 13.3 and Jordan 0.1 secs behind. Steve later recorded another 80m hurdles pb of 12.9 secs.

 

Chloe Wilde came 3rd in the U15 800m in 2.28.7 with Pippa Nock 4th in an excellent pb of 2.36.3. James O'Brien ran a controlled race to win the U15B event in 2.17.7 which equalled his pb. Jordan Barrett (2.14.9) and James Lake (2.14.3) competed in the U17 and U20 events.

 

The javelin throwers turned out in force. Bethan Rees easily won the U13 event with a throw of 28.58m and Tori Hamplett threw 22.35m to make it a C&S 1,2. Emma Hamplett won the U15 with a distance of 31.36m and  Richard Stanley came 2nd in the U20M with 40.95m. However, the performance of the day from the javelin throwers came from Lucy Heap who recorded a pb throw of 38.67m to win the U20W event.

 

Back on the track, Eleanor Proud finished strongly down the home straight to win the 300m in an encouraging time of 42.6 and veteran Shaun Ainge ran in the final race of the day, finishing his 400m in 59.1 secs

 

We have received advice from Jim Arnold of Stafford Borough Council that work to the Stadium to construct an artificial football pitch and fencing inside the running track should commence towards the end of May / start of June 2012.

 

As a result, the track will be out of action for a period of 3 months. Alternative training facilities are being arranged for this period and details should be available shortly.

 

Athletes - please see your coaches for details of their plans for this period.

 

Natalie Mukerji made a flying start to the season at the HPC in Birmingham. The 13 year old recorded a time of 12.97 in the 100m to smash her previous best of 13.5. Natalie also recorded a pb in the 60m of 8.29 secs.

 

Olivia Walker competed in her first 100m hurdles race in 15.08 secs having earlier ran 9.19 over the 60m hurdles.

 

Steve Thompson was another athlete smashing his pb. In the 80m hurdles he ran 13.05 easily beating his previous best of 13.7. He also recorded his best time in the 60m hurdles of 9.68.

 

Emily Fowler-Parkes recorded a pb of 8.36 in the 60m and then ran 13.32 in the 100m and Paul Edwards competed over the M50 heights in the 60 and 100m hurdles races finishing with times of 9.72 and 16.34 respectively.

 

The BMAF Cross Country Championships were held at Bath University in very hot and dry conditions.

 

Cannock & Stafford had two representatives. Dot Fellows won gold in the W65 race Malcolm Eustace took bronze in the M50 event. 

 

Dot took the women's title convincingly, winning by over 3 minutes from her nearest rival. Malcolm admitted he was beginning to struggle towards the end of his race but did well in a strong field.

 

Cannock & Stafford's Stacey Johnson helped the England team to victory in the Home Countries Cross Country International in Scotland on Sunday.

 

In a field of 23 athletes, Stacey's fourth place finish made her the third scoring athlete of the England team and enabled them to finish comfortably ahead of Scotland.

 

Becky Straw continued her impressive cross country season with a third place finish in the Senior Girls race at the English Schools Cross Country Championships at Ilton, Somerset.

 

Ryan Ashforth is a first year U15 but ran a great race to finish 76th out of the 329 athletes in his age group. Jagon Edge (295th) and Ashley Daniel (316th) also competed in the same race.

 

In the U17s, Aaron Houseman finished as top C&S runner with a 245th place finish, James McCann came 5 places further back and Sam Nicholls came 285th.

 

In the Senior Boys race, Ashley Wickett finished 254th, Michael Smith 281st and Adam Johnson 298th.

 

Congratulations to all these athletes on being chosen to represent their Counties.

 

Three Cannock & Stafford athletes were included on the shortlist for awards at the Sport Stafford Awards presentation evening at St Leonards last night.

 

Both Emma Hamplett and Eleanor Proud were shortlisted for the Most Improved Sports Performer of the Year award. However, they were pipped to the award by another former C&S athlete, Sarah Gough, who gained recognition for her cricket achievements during 2011.

 

Emma and Eleanor both had outstanding seasons. Emma broke the County Championship and County Schools Championship javelin records and finished the season ranked 7th in the Country with a throw of 36.38m. Eleanor won gold medals in the 100m and 200m in both County Championships and County School Championships and finished the season ranked 10th in the Country in the 200m with a best of 25.6 secs. Emma and Eleanor represented Staffordshire in the English Schools Championships in Gateshead.

 

Twelve year old Bethan Rees was shortlisted for the Female Under 18 Sports Performer of the Year award. Bethan won the U13 County Championships in the javelin and also took gold in the Welsh National Championships in Cardiff with a new Championship record. She finished the season with a personal best of 29.82m at Wrexham. Bethan was beaten to the award by a Great Britain International canoeist.

 

Well done to all three athletes.        Pictures

 

The club are always on the look out for officials to help out at meetings. In all of the leagues up to and including Seniors, officials earn valuable points for their team.

 

If you are interested in becoming a qualified official, there is a course organised that takes place at Aldersley Stadium on 21st April. You can choose to become either a track or field official or timekeeper. The course fees will be covered by the club if you agree to help out during the season.

 

If you are interested please e-mail me

 

Gemma Smith had a brilliant weekend at the MVC Indoor Championships in Cedar Falls, USA.

 

On Saturday she achieved a pb of 5.74m in the long jump. She followed this up on the Sunday with another pb in the high jump, clearing 1.68m. Gemma also beat the club's senior women triple jump record that had stood for almost 10 years. Her jump of 12.31m beat the previous best of 12.20m set by Stephanie Morgan in 2002.

 

Cannock & Stafford's Rebecca Straw became the U17's National Cross Country Champion in the English Championships at Parliament Hill in London. Rebecca gained a prize scalp by beating the well known Jessica Judd into third place.

 

We had a number of other athletes in action. In the SW race Stacey Johnson finished 13th and in the U13 boys race Ryan Ashforth finished 24th. In the same race, Harry Jones came 259th and Callum Humphries 336th.

 

Chris and James Perrin both ran in the U20's race, Chris finishing 29th and James 67th. In the U17s, Aaron Houseman came 177th and Jordan Barrett 203rd.

 

The U15 boys race had three C&S athletes, Jagon Edge (267th), James Russell (293rd) and James O'Brien (307th) but the biggest contingent of C&S athletes took part in the U13 girls race where we had seven representatives. Molly Trow headed the way with a 63rd place finish and was backed up by Charlie Peters (105th), Rachael Jones (207th), Megan Hartman (274th), Jade Gibbons (319th), Rachel Wallace (355th) and Georgia Wallace (356th)

 

The young athletes of Cannock and Stafford Athletic Club completed their league programme last weekend when they travelled to Birmingham for the final round of the highly competitive West Midland Young Athletes League, coming away with individual and team successes.

 

Going into the final round Ryan Ashforth led the under 13 boys by one point from Birchfield’s Tom Dodd so a good performance was needed and so it was as Ashforth soon built up a commanding lead on the first half lap. Going into the large lap he maintained the lead to cross the line well ahead and take the title after being runner up last year.

 

The team earned a well deserved second place with outstanding performances from team mates Billy Hicks, Tom Walton, Sam Bagley, Callum Houseman and Harry Jones.

 

The under 11 girls were also in brilliant form as they took the team title with individual trophies from Charlie Peters in second overall and Iris Davies third overall. The remaining athletes of the winning team were Molly Trow, Orla Walker, Jessica Ward, Sophie Ward, Freya Harper, Jessica Harrison, Ellyssa Jones, Alice Richards, Katie Fallon-Mellors, Arian Jones, Scarlett Richards and Millie Peters.

 

After winning the under 15 boys title last year James McCann competed in the under 17 boys age group this year and consistent runs through the season enabled him to take fourth place overall with Aaron Houseman next for the team  followed by Jordan Barrett and Tom Eustace.      

 

The under 15 boys had good performances from Jagon Edge and Connor Walton.

 

Finally the under 13 girls had excellent efforts from Chloe Wilde, Phillippa Nock, Rachel Wallace and Georgia Wallace.

 

Bob Hughes - Team Manager

 

 

 

Athletes from Cannock and Stafford Athletic Club were in action last weekend when they competed in the Staffordshire Schools Cross Country Championship at Stoke University. With selection to the All England Schools Championships in Somerset in March at stake, C&S athletes were keen to book their place in the Staffs team.

 

James McCann, running for Stafford and District, celebrated an excellent victory in the Year 10/11 Intermediate age group leading from start to finish on a tough and demanding course made more difficult with the frozen conditions. The next three athletes were all C&S athletes running for Cannock schools with Jordan Barrett 2nd,  Aaron Houseman 3rd and Sam Nicholls 4th giving all four a place in the Staffs team.

 

With three to score in the Senior Girls race again it was the Hulme Triplets taking the Team title for Stafford with Catherine 2^nd Teresa 4^th and Sarah 5^th. Kelly Gamble was 9^th.

 

The junior boys in the year 8/9 age group had Ryan Ashforth take a splendid third place along with Harry Redford 6^th and Jagon Edge 7^th with all three running for Stafford schools and again being selected for the Staffs team. Other club runners were Ashley Daniel in 9^th Billy Hicks 11^th Tom Dodd 13^th.

 

In the junior girls 8/9 race Chloe Wilde finished in 7^th place just ahead of club mate Phillipa Nock in 8th to gain selection. Other runners were Emily Colquhoun in 12^th .

 

In the year 7 girls race the race winner was Elisha Walker of Stafford Harriers representing Stafford with the minor medals going to C&S and Stafford schools runners Iris Davies 2^nd and Charlie Peters 3^rd. This age group is too young for the English Schools but all three athletes look good for future years. Other C&S athletes were Jessica Harrison 12^th and Jade Gibbons 32^nd.

 

The inter Girls had Eleanor Mottershead 10^th and Amelia Ridgway 13^th and the senior boy runner for C&S was Michael Smith gaining selection in 4^th place.

 

The year 7 boys race saw Sam Bagley finish 14^th and Harry Jones 33^rd.

 

Bob Hughes

 

Athletes from Cannock & Stafford Athletic Club were in action last weekend when they travelled to Nottingham to compete in the Midland Cross Country Championships and they came away with individual and team success plus several near misses.

 

The individual success went to Rebecca Straw in the under 17 girls event with Becky and Amy Griffiths from Leicester dominating the race between them on the two laps of an undulating course but in the final quarter of a mile Griffiths edged away to cross the line ten seconds ahead.

 

The team honours went to the under 20 ladies with the Hulme sisters competing in this age group in their first year. Going into this race they held the honour of being Staffs County champions and  again they turned in a splendid performance. With three to score it was Catherine who crossed the line in 16th place ahead of her sisters, Teresa in 23rd and Sarah in  27^th. With good support from Becky Bray right behind in 28^th the silver medals were assured behind winning team Birchfield Harriers.

 

Near misses came from under 13 boys  Ryan Ashforth who went into this race as Staffordshire champion. However, with the race being over a lot shorter distance Ryan could not quite match the sprint finish that the other three athletes who were well ahead of the rest of the field produced and so he had to settle for fourth place. Also in the under 13 boys race was Billy Hicks in 19^th and Callum Houseman 91^st.

 

International Stacey Johnson was also just outside the medals in the senior ladies race. She again was part of the leading group who had pulled well clear of the rest of the opposition and it was a well earned fifth place that Stacey achieved.

 

The under 17 boys turned in outstanding efforts as they  finished in a well earned 6^th place with  James McCann in finishing in a top twenty place in 17^th spot followed by Jordan Barrett  in 40^th, Aaron Houseman 51^st and Sam Nicholls 75^th. All these athletes are competing in their first year as under 17s.

 

The under 20 men had the Perrin twins running. Chris came 16th and James 28^th. In the senior men's race two athletes took part with Craig Pearson in 88^th and Jamie Graham in 323^rd.

 

In the under 15 boys James O’Brien was the sole runner in 95^th.

 

With the under 13 girls not taking part for C&S, it was Stafford Harriers who carried the flag for the county town and first year under 13, Elisha Walker, did not disappoint with a brilliant run to take sixth place overall .Part of a leading group of eight runners after the first lap, Elisha stayed on strong to record an outstanding top ten placing. The team took an excellent 12^th place with Hannah Talbot finishing in 54^th followed by Amy Oliver 103^rd and Emma Underwood 106^th. The Harriers also had under 17 Nathan Sabin in 37^th place, Under 13 Tom Sabin 17^th and Joe Smith 78^th in the under 15 boys

 

C&S Team Manager -  Bob Hughes

 

The first Midland Athletics indoor open meeting was held at the High Performance Centre in Birmingham last weekend.

 

Athletes were able to compete in two races at their chosen event. Olivia Walker and Steve Thompson both showed early season promise over the 60m hurdles with Olivia recording times of 9.08 and 9.06 in her first races as an U20 athlete. Steve ran 10.09 and 10.16 in the U15s.

 

Paul Edwards also competed over the 60m hurdles, set at the veterans M50 height, and ran times of 9.94 and 9.86.

 

Talent Gukwe and Steve Allen were our other two athletes in action on the track in the 60m. Talent finished his two sprints in 7.47 and 7.41 whilst Steve ran 10.46.

 

Jess Leek was our only athlete in action in the field events jumping 5.03m to win the U20's long jump.

 

Athletes from Cannock and Stafford Athletic Club were in action last weekend when they travelled to Sandwell Valley to contest the Staffordshire County Cross Country Championships, coming away with several individual and team titles.

Ryan Ashforth continued his excellent form this season with a victory in the under 13 Boys race, finishing twenty four seconds ahead of James Fradley of Newcastle who is Ryan's main county rival. They have been involved in close finishes all season but on this occasion the victory was emphatic. With two small laps on a undulating course, the two of them matched strides on the first lap but going into the second lap Ryan increased the pace to take the gold medal.

Giving good support and helping the team to also take gold were Harry Redford in 10^th, Sam Bagley 14^th, Keiran Hardwick 20^th, Harry Jones 24^th, Riley Hall-Woodcock25th and Callum Houseman 29^th.

In the senior Ladies race, international Stacey Johnson ran fellow international Kate Holt from Stoke AC all the way finally having to settle for second place collecting a brilliant silver medal.

The senior ladies team, which included a race within a race, allowed the under 20s to score as seniors as well as their own age so Catherine Hulme 19^th,Teresa Hulme 26^th, Christine Kilkenny 27^th, Sarah Hulme 34^th, Gillian Russon 36^th  and Dot Fellows earned them the fifth team place. In the under 20 Ladies most clubs have trouble fielding a scoring team of three runners but when a club consists of three triplets the problem is solved. So it was with C&S with the Hulme sisters taking the team gold medals with Catherine 4^th, Teresa 5^th and Sarah 7^th.

The under 17 men took a well deserved silver team prize with outstanding performances from James McCann in 5^th, Aaron Houseman 7^th, Jordan Barrett 10^th, James Lake 15^th and Tom Eustace 16^th.

The under 13 girls also took team silver in their race with Charlie Peters just missing out on a medal in fourth place with Iris Davies  7^th. The remarkable thing about these two is that they normally compete in the under 11s age group but they had to move up an age to compete in this race. Giving good support were Phillippa Nock in 11^th, Rachel Jones 14^th, Jade Gibbons 19^th, Megan Hartman 24^th, Rachel Wallace 29^th and twin sister Georgia Wallace in 30^th. 

The under 15 boys finished in fifth place with good efforts from James Russell in 22^nd, Tom Dodd 23^rd, James O’Brien 27^th, Ashley Daniel 28th and Jagon Edge 30^th.

The under 15 girls had two athletes competing with Dannielle Woodward  a creditable 11^th with Eleanor Mottershead 19^th.

The senior men’s race had four competitors with Craig Pearson 21^st, Stuart Davies 59^th, (11^th U20), Jamie Graham 83^rd and Gordon Richards 89^th (38^th Veteran)

 

Bob Hughes - Team Manager

The NIA have made the indoor track available for training between 1700 and 2100 hours on the following dates:

Monday, 6 February

Thursday, 9 February

Friday, 10 February

Monday, 13 February

Tuesday, 14 February

Monday, 20 February

Tuesday, 21 February

Thursday, 23 February

 

Whilst every effort is made to secure training dates and times, you should double check availability on the day by phoning (0121) 644 7134.

Individuals, clubs or groups, wishing to use the Arena for training will be requested to sign, pay and enter through the Community Hall, St Vincent Street. Pole-vaulters will have to enter via Stage Door (AF4) and then report to Community Hall. Please note that athletes from other clubs are also able to use the facilities at this time and that no shot putt is available on the above days.

 

Training Prices:

Adults £3.00, Children U18 & OAP £2.00

 

Athletes/Coaches

Athletes who are part of the BOA passport system will be allowed to train free of charge. All others will have to pay. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS.

Coaches will be required to show their UKA Coaching Pass. Failure to do so will result in the above prices being charged.

 

Note to all athletes:

1. All personal equipment should be removed after training and not stored under the track or in corridors.

2. The NIA will not accept responsibility for any loss or damage to such equipment.