Awards Night and Report on Young Athletes Cross Country Events 1,2,3,4 & 5

Awards Night Saturday March 22nd

It has been a good year for Cross Country particularly for the youngsters.There is going to be an Awards evening Fordhouses Cricket club on Saturday 22nd March at 7:00pm.The tickets are £2:50 which includes a buffet and must be bought in advance from Tracey Cresswell on a Tuesday or a Thursday. 

Each of the youngsters who took part in the league will be receiving a medal on the night.

Any questions please speak to Wes Campion who is organising the night.

Fifth Event  Perry Park 9th February 2014

Paul Tabor reports

The young athletes went into the final race of the season at Birchfield, assured of third place, but looking to gain 600 points on Halesowen to capture second in the league.  Conditions on the flat course were very wet and muddy, following the month of rain we’ve had, but a bitterly cold wind on the day made conditions even harder for the youngsters 

Under 11 girls went it not the race lying in third place after four races.  Aliya Westwood once again led the girls’ home in fourth place, to continue her superb first season for the club.  The big surprise was second girl being Elizabeth Marshall, who had her best result by a long way  in 9^th. The other three counters on the day were Louise Saul-Braddock in 11th,  Beth Dyall in 15^th and Megan Davies 22^nd.  The girls ativan online buy were second on the day only three points behind Rugby, and third overall for the series.  As most of the girls still have a further twelve months in this age group, next year will be very exciting to see if they can gain first place.  Individual series result, for the best 4 of 5 races below:

• Aliya Westwood 2^nd (silver medal)
• Louise Saul-Braddock 13^th
• Beth Dyall 18^th
• Megan Davies 21st
• Becky Loundes 32^nd
• Rudee Robinson 36^th
• Elizabeth Marshall 37^th
• Brogan Pugh 40^th
• Abigail Preston 57^th
• Halee Robinson 64^th
• Abbie Lester 88^th
• Sophie Naylor 98^th
• Madeline Richardson 143rd
• Emily Jones 164^th
• Evie Giddings 172^nd
• Caitlin Price 189^th
• Daisy Guy 199^th

 

The under 17 men followed and Ellis Garemslegi was first home for the club in 12^th.  Jack Bonser, followed his indoor 800m the day before with a strong run in 16^th.  Jacks final run as an under 17, and he’ll be glad to see the back of cross country for a while!!!  Final scorer for the club was Tom Prior in 34^th. The team finished 5^th on the day and 6^th overall.  Individual series result, for the best 4 of 5 races below:

• Jack Bonser 16^th
• Ellis Geremslegi 40^th
• Tom Prior 46^th
• Sam Griffiths 50^th
• Daniel Watling 55^th
• Harry Halford 78^th
• Joshua Evans 82^nd

 

Under 11 boys continued their improvement and once again  Jack Tolley was first home for the club in 22^nd . Ethan Lewis 29^th, Callum Mcdermott 46^th, Jayden Meath 59^th and Henry Willis 67^th were the other scorers on the day.  Again most of the lads representing the club, have another 12 months in this age group, so will be in a much stronger position next year.  The team finished 5^th on the day, and 9^th overall.    Individual series result, for the best 4 of 5 races below:

• Jack Tolley 18^th
• Callum McDermott 27^th
• Henry Willis 28^th
• Thomas James 80^th
• Jayden Meath 87^th
• Luke Tomlinson 95^th
• Ethan Lewis 111^th
• Josh Tomlinson 113rd
• Joel Adderley 122^nd
• Levi Lawrence 153^rd
• Alister Sweeney 172^nd
• Oliver Brookes 188^th

 

Under 15 girls had a few absences for the race, but still managed to see 5 girls race to fill the team .  Amelia Silk continued her fine form from the Midland Championships with another strong run in 20^th place.  Beth Tabor 30^th, Ashleigh Miles 55^th, a seasons best for Katrina Williams in 62^nd and Emilia Ferrara in 71^st completed the team scoring.  The team finished 7^th on the day and were also placed 7^th overall.  Individual series result, for the best 4 of 5 races below.

• Beth Tabor 22^nd
• Amelia Silk 23^rd
• Ashleigh Miles 40^th
• Katrina Williams 69^th
• Evie Bramley 82^nd
• Lauren Brant 95^th
• Emilia Ferrara 98^th
•  

The under 13 boys had a very strong team turnout at Birchfield.   Matt Hogg’s impressive form continued with a superb run to finish 5^th .  Harry Dyall was second home in 9^th, Adam Saul-Braddock was 16^th, Leon Haffie-Hobday 36^th  and Jack Hughes 50^th completed the five counters.  Fourth place on the day but the overall league position was extremely tight, with less than 20 points between 3^rd and 6^th.  The boys missed a bronze medal by just three points!!! If they’d had one more athlete attend the first race, they would have guaranteed third.  Just reinforces the need to fill a team of 5 for each event.  Individual series result, for the best 4 of 5 races below.

•  Matt Hogg 7^th
• Harry Dyall 9^th
• Adam Saul Braddock 12^th
• Leon Haffie-Hobday 34^th
• Jordi ray-Partoon 60^th
• Oliver Evans 68^th
• Jack Hughes 73^rd
• Owain Morris 80^th
• Joe Starling 88^th
• Reegan mills 93^rd
• Zac Campbell 130^th
• Max walters 135^th
• Dan Pratt 138th

 

The under 15 boys were looking to console their leading position for their age group, and another strong team effort followed.   Jamie ward came home fourth, followed by Ryan Hodgkiss (8^th), Harry Cresswell (22^nd), billy Starling (31^st) and  Alex Reiss (32^nd).  On the day the team finished second behind Birchfield, but that didn’t affect the overall results as our under 15 lads won the league!!!!.  Individual series result, for the best 4 of 5 races below:

• Jamie Ward 2^nd (Silver)
• Ryan Hodgkiss 8^th
• Harry Cresswell 12^th
• Alex Reiss 28^th
• Jannik Poole 38^th
• Tyrone Johnson 69^th
• Billy Starling 85^th
• Harry Archer 102^nd
• Lewis Moreton 115^th

 The days racing was completed by the under 17 girls.   The team scoring positions on the day  were: jess Clark 11^th, Gemma Evans 29^th and Hannah Campion 34^th. welcome a new team member, Issy cotham, following her transfer from bridgnorth.  Issy had a very strong run in 11^th place, behind  Jess Clark in 9th place, with Gemma Evans completing the team scoring in 25th.  The girls were 6th on the day, and finished 5^th overall.  Individual series result, for the best 4 of 5 races below:

• Jess Clark 7^th
• Gemma Evans 25^th
• Leah Rutter 36^th
• Issy Cotham 47^th
• Molly Perkins 50^th
• Hannah Campion 54^th

 Overall the club weren’t quite able to make up the points gap on Halesowen so remained in third overall for the season.  This represents a massive achievement by all involved; athletes, coaches and parents.  The club has never finished as high as this and shows that the club is getting stronger and stronger each year.  Especially pleasing has been the progress in the under 11 teams, which is where we have traditionally struggled for numbers.  Next year will be very tough again, but second place is a distinct possibility for the club.  We may have a way to go to catch Rugby, but that is our ultimate goal.  Well done all!!!

Please note, all junior club members will receive their age group and overall medals at the cross country presentation night on Saturday 22 March, at Fordhouses Cricket Club.

Fourth Event Nuneaton 19th January

Paul Tabor reports

  A great performance by the juniors…

 The penultimate race of the season was hosted by Nuneaton Athletics club at the Pingles Stadium.  Fortunately, the weather was dry and sunny, which made the underfoot conditions much better across the flat course for the events.  The club went into the race in a very strong third position behind Halesowen and runaway leaders rugby and Northampton. 

 Many of our athletes had competed in the West Midlands Schools Cross Country the day before at a very Hilly and muddy Warley woods.  Would they have recovered in time for this league race…..? We would soon find out.

 Our under 11 girls eagerly anticipated this race, as many of the girls had trained superbly since the last race achieving notable pbs.  Aliya Westwood was looking for her first victory of the season after a few near misses.   Again she led the team home in fourth place, but was backed up admirably in Megan Davies 11th, Beth Dyall 15th, louise Saul-Braddock 19th and Becky Loundes 22nd.  In fact our first eight  girls were in the top 27 on the day.  A remarkable performance.    The girls came a close 2nd on the day behind Rugby, and remain third in the league.  The girls will be looking to win the final fixture in Birchfield!!!

 The under 17 witnessed the encouraging return of Ellis Garemslegi, who improved from his 13th position at Halesowen to be 4th at Nuneaton.   With jack Bonser in 13th and Dan watling in 18th, the lads finished second on the day, their best result of the season, and  are 6th overall in the competition and closing in on 5th for the final event.

 Under 11 boys also had their highest score of the season, with  Jack Tolley showing his  consistency  in 23rd , the improving Callum Mcdermott in 27th, Ethan Lewis (in his first race) 46th place, Jayden Meath 54th and Henry Willis 61st.  Great result for the under 11s, but I feel there is more to come from these boys.  6th place on the day, sees the team stay 10th overall.

 Under 15 girls were likely to be affected due to the previous days races for some of the girls.  This wasn’t the case however, with Beth tabor running stronger than 24 hours previous to lead the team home in  23rd, just ahead of Amelia Silk in 27th.  Ashleigh Miles was disappointed with 39th, but we had commendable efforts from Evie Bramley and Katrina Williams in 70th and 71st respectively.   The team remain 8th in the league.  There are a lot more points to be gained from this squad in the final race of the season and the girls could definitely achieve 60 – 70 extra points in the final race with a strong turnout from all team members.

 The under 13 boys were missing quite a few team members at Nuneaton but the great form of matt Hogg and harry Dyall saw them finish in 6th and 7th place.  Adam Saul-Braddock was 15th, leon Haffie-Hobday 31st and Joe Starling 57th completed the five counters.  Again there are a lot more points the boys can achieve with a full turn out at Birchfield.  However, the team were 4th on the day, and are now 5th overall.

 The under 13 girls race Amelia Samuels follow up her victory on Warley woods the previous day, with another commanding front run race to win her event.  Amelia is now effectively the winner of the overall individual under 13 girls category.  Very well done Amelia, and very well deserved!!! Behind her Lydia Silk (40th), Zoe Brickley (48th), Angel Evans (80th) and Emily Sandland (96th).  Fatigue from the previous days event seemed to have affected most of our girls today, but we should see much higher placing’s in the final event.   9th place on the day and 7th place overall for the under 13 girls.

 The under 15 boys went into this race in 1st place in their age group.   Jamie ward had another best finish of the season in second place, but behind him Ryan Hodgkiss was 10th and Harry Cresswel (17th )Billy Starling (22nd) and Alex Reiss (33rd) helped the team to second on the day behind the improving Birchfield Harriers.  The boys remain in first place with a comfortable lead over Rugby.

 The final race saw  Under 17 girls welcome a new team member, Issy cotham, following her transfer from bridgnorth.  Issy had a very strong run in 11th place, behind  Jess Clark in 9th place, with Gemma Evans completing the team scoring in 25th.  Unfortunate injuries to Molly Perkins and Hannah Campion, meant they either couldn’t compete or had to pull out of the race.  Let’s hope they have a speedy recovery for the final race!!!  The girls were 4th on the day, with their best score of the season remain 5th overall.

 Overall the club finished second at Nuneaton, and have closed the gap in the overall standings behind Halesowen .   A Silver medal for the team is now a possibility, and we will be encouraging all junior members to train strongly over the next three weeks and support the club at Birchfield, and we push to close the 635 point gap on Halesowen.  This can be done, as we gained 500 points yesterday, with a few areas where we can improve further.  Good luck all and keep up the hard work!!

 Full results on: www.wmyaccl.com

Third Event Halesown 8th December

Paul Tabor reports As I seem to be not the unofficial press officer, here’s the report form Sunday’s latest young athletes race at Halesowen. Full results on www.wmyaccl.com

Halesowen hosted the third instalment of the young athletes league on Sunday 8th December.  This was a new venue on the calendar, and the course was exceptionally tough.  Hilly, muddy with uneven ground …  ‘a proper cross country course’ (quote: John Abbiss)

  A usual the under 11 girls race were first off, with the club once more well represented.  Aliya Westwood used familiar tactics to work her way through the field.  An unfortunate fall in the muddiest section of the course, saw her slip back a couple of places and eventually finish fourth.  A first win won’t be far away for Aliya.  Behind her, Beth Dyall continued her improvement to finish, 16th just behind Louise Saul Braddock in 14th. Final two counters being Becky Loundes 31st and Rudee Robinson 35th and Megan Davies in 37th.  The girls finished 3rd on the day to consolidate their third position in the league.

 

 The under 17 men saw a surprise return to competition for Ellis Garemslegi, who was our first finisher in 13th.  Great to see Ellis competing again.   Jack Bonser came in 19th and Tom prior 36th to complete the scorers .  The lads finished 7th on the day, and are 6th overall in the competition.

 

 Under 11 boys continued their improvement seen at aldersley, finishing 6th on the day and moving up to 10th overall.   Jack Tolley led the team home in 27th place with  Henry Willis 40th,  Callum McDermott 42nd, Luke Tomlinson 61st amd Joel Adderley 68th completing the scoring.

 

 Under 15 girls were next, already down I numbers due to illness and injury to a couple of members,  they were also affected by two of our girls having to pull out on the day.  The girls turned up and tried the warm up but were in not fit enough to run in such conditions.  However, the three remaining girls ran extremely well, particularly Katrina Williams who finished her highest position to date of 73rd.  Amelia Silk ran very hard, despite her own illness and a falling twice in the race,  to finish 33rd, with Beth Tabor running strongly to finish 26th.   The girls finished 10th on the day and now lie 8th overall.  Let’s hope to see better luck with injuries and illness for the remaining fixtures.

 

 The under 13 boys had another strong performance, with matt Hogg, harry Dyall and Adam Saul-Braddock putting in super performances to finish 9th. 14th and 18th respectively.  The scoring was completed by  jack Hughes in 43rd and Leon Haffie-Hobday in 48th.  We were narrowly pipped to 3rd position by Birchfield, and now lie 5th in that age group.

 

 The under 13 girls race saw Amelia Samuels face one of her main rivals from Rugby who didn’t compete at Aldersley.  The race saw the two girls neck and neck from start to finish, with Amelia taking the lead with about 400 metres to go.  A strong push up the final steep hill towards the finish was enough to see Amelia win her second consecutive race in the series.  Behind saw a tussle between three of our girls, Lydia Silk, Angel Evans and Zoe Brickley.  The close competition between the girls eventually saw Lydia Silk finish 44th, Zoe Brickley 48th and Angel Evans 51st.  Emily Sandland completed the scoring in 75th place.  7th place on the day and 7th place overall for the under 13 girls.

 

 The under 15 boys were keen to maintain their lead at the top of the table.  Jamie ward had his best finish of the season to finish third, but behind him Harry Cresswel was second counter for the first time this season in 13th place.  Well done harry!.  Ryan Hodgkiss (15th), Alex Reiss (21st) and jannick Poole (48th) enabled the team to finish second on the day, but maintain their overall lead.

 

 Under 17 girls were led home  by Jess Clark in 8th place, with Gemma Evans 20th and Leah Rutter 31st.   The girls were 5th on the day and are also 5th overall.

 

 Overall the club finished third on the day, and also moved up to third place in the league.  A bronze medal =for the club is now looking a strong possibility, and will be a great reward for the very hard work put in by the young athletes.

 

 Second Event Aldersley 17th November

Paul Tabor reports that Aldersley hosted the second round of the west midlands young athletes cross country league on Sunday 17 November.   The event started with the under 11 girls race, with Wolves and Bilston very well represented with 13 girls taking part.  A very hard fought race saw Aliya Westwood work her way steadily though the field to take the lead going in to the final straight, but was just pipped on the line by her rival from Rugby and Northampton.  Great run again from Aliya, who will be looking to turn that results round at the next race.  Second counter for the club was Louise Braddock, with Beth Dyall, Megan Davies and new member Rebecca Loundes completing the counters for the club.  Under 11 girls finished third on the day in their age group.

 Next up were the under 17 men with jack Bonser first finisher for the club in 16^th place, followed by Dan watling in 23^rd and another new member, Tom Prior,  completed the three counters in 36^th.  The boys finished fifth in their age group.

 Under 11 boys saw a much stronger representation than the first race at Warwick, and have made a massive difference to the overall score for the club.  This race saw 10 boys run, compared to two at the first event.  Scores were Jack Tolley 23^rd. henry Willis 33^rd, Callum McDermott 44th, Levi Lawrence 48th and Luke Tomlinson 68^th.  The boys team were 7^th on the day, and we hope all the lads can attend the next race on 8 December, and continue the improvement with the positions.

 4^th event found three of our girls finish very close together with Ashleigh Miles 17^th, beth Tabor 18^th and Amelia Silk 19^th.  Final two scorers were Lauren Brant in 61^st and Evie Bramley in 72^nd.  Great to see Ashleigh getting back to fitness and having a much stronger race.  Girls again finished a very solid 7^th position.

 The club had very strong representation in the under 13 boys, which was a turnaround from only seeing four boys run at the previous event.  Harry Dyall 6^th, Adam Braddock 11^th, Matt Hogg 12^th, Jack Hughes 28^th and Leon haffie Hobday 44th were the scorers, but a further 7 boys also raced, including recent signing  Joe Starling.  This group finished a magnificent second on the day, and again we hope to see such a strong turnout in future.

 Under 13 girls witnesses a fantastic piece of front running by Amelia Samuels, who destroyed the field to win by a clear distance.  Superb run considering she had also competed for the West Midlands the day before.  The next scorers were Lydia Silk 30^th, Zoe Brickley 47^th, Angel Evans 57^th and Emily Sandland 65^th.  The under 13 finished 6^th on the day, but there are quite a few places that the other girls can gain in future races to back Amelia up, and the girls have the ability to do it.  Come on girls!!!

 Going into this race the under 15 boys were leading their competition, and Sunday saw them strengthen their grip at the top of the table.  Jamie Ward 5^th, Ryan Hodgkiss 9^th, harry Cresswell 14^th, Jannick Poole 35^th and harry Archer 44^th helped to see the club again finish top of the division.  Keep it up boys but it is crucial that those finial two positions keep up the pressure and look to finish higher in the next race.

 The final race was the under 17 girls.  Jess Clark had a very strong run to finish 5^th with our other two competitors being Gemma Evans 30^th and Leah Rutter 38^th.  Injuries meant we weren’t as strong as usual in this race, but it was good to see Gemma being able to compete at long last.

 Overall the club finished second on the day, which is the highest position we have had for many years.  Major thanks goes out to all the volunteers and parents on the day, but of course the athletes need major praise for the effort and training they’ve out in to see this result happen.  Don’t take the foot off the gas, as the next race is Sunday 8^th Devemebr at Halesowen.  Age group results below.

                                 Sunday 17 Nov                 

Under 11Girls                    3^rd                          

Under 11 Boys                   7th

Under 13 Girls                   6th

Under 13 Boys                   2nd

Under 15 Girls                   7th

Under 15 Boys                   1^st                          

Under 17 boys                   5th

Under 17 Girls                   4^th                             

 Overall                                  2^nd

 The club is now 4^th after two races, just three points behind Royal Sutton. Full results on www.wmyaccl.com

 

 First WMYACCL of the season……..

October saw  the first young athletes race taking place at Hattons Country world in Warwick.  Our under 11 girls had 12 girls competing for the club, and we were led home by Aliya Westwood, who had an incredible run to finish second.  That team now sits third in the league table , and will be looking at competing with the top two teams in the coming races. Under 13 girls also saw a second place finish for Amelia Samuels, who was narrowly beaten in the home straight.  Again a strong team performance sees the team in 9th position, in a closely fought category. Under 15 boys saw some amazing performances.  Jamie ward finished 4^th, Ryan Hodgkiss 7^th and Harry Cresswell 14^th, Alex Reiss 29^th and Jannick Poole 49^th.  They are currently joint top in the division, although a stewards enquiry for one of the places, could see us as outright leaders. Under 15 girls were represented by 6 girls on the day, and they now lie 10^th, under 17 men 9^th and under 17 ladies 8^th. Disappointingly in the day we weren’t able to field full teams for under 13 boys or under 11 boys.  Under 13s saw 4 team members compete out of the required 5, but for under 11 boys we only had two!!!  This has severely affected the points total we were able to achieve on the day, and we need to ensure we have these places filled for the remainder of the season. Overall the club is in a very strong position, sitting 7^th out of the 20 club competing.  Continued support and effort over the remaining fixtures needs to focus on getting g a top three place for the club.  We can do it!!!   Paul Tabor