The sixth and final match of the season took place on Sunday 10th March - which unfortunately was Mother’s Day and hence this match had the lowest attendance of the series. We hope this can be avoided in future!!
U11G The U11 Girls team of six girls, Summer Biggs, Sophie Humphrey, Florence Sibley, Esme Wainwright, Florence Protheroe and Ellise Rogers placed second in their group. Summer led the way winning the standing long jump with 2 - 10, with Florence S sixth with 1 - 74, followed by Sophie with 1 - 58 and Esme with 1 - 42. Summer came third in both the one and three lap, with Sophie seventh in the one lap with 15.2, followed by Florence S in 15.5 Esme in 16.1 and Florence P with 16.3. Ellise placed fifth in the three lap in 47.0 followed by Esme in 51.2. In the hi stepper Florence P came fifth in 15.4 and Sophie sixth in 16..00. In the speed bounce Ellise placed third with 47, followed by Florence S in sixth with 43 and Florence P with 37. The girls then placed second in the relay. U11B The U11 Boys team of five boys, Oscar Ashmore, Daniel Straker, Reggie Taylor, Benjamin McLaren and Kyran McCrellis achieved third in their section. Oscar placed fifth in the one lap in 14.5, Daniel seventh in 15.1 followed by Reggie in 15.2. Reggie placed fifth in the three lap in 47.8 with Benjamin seventh in 53.5. Oscar recorded 50 in the speed bounce for second place supported by Kyran with 46 in sixth place. The standing long jump saw Oscar reach 1 - 84 for fourth place, supported by Kyran in fifth place with 1 - 78, Daniel with 1 - 70 and Benjamin with 1 - 48. Kyran placed fourth in the hi stepper in 14.5, Daniel placed seventh in 15.8 followed by Benjamin in 16.3. The young men finished the day with third in the relay. U13G The U13 Girls saw six participants, Erin Beresford, Betsy Wilton, Isla Douglas, Bibi Mulholland, Olivia Irvine and Ruby Shore produce some very good results to tie for first place in their section. A slightly under the weather Erin produced another win in the two lap in 26.2, followed in third by Betsy in 26.5, Isla in 27.5, Bibi in 27.9 and Olivia in 28.5. Isla and Erin then teamed up to place second in the eight lap parlauf. Betsy leapt out to 2 - 14 in the standing long jump for second, with Bibi fourth with 2 - 02, Erin on 1 - 98 and Ruby 1 - 86. Olivia and Isla tied for second place in the speed bounce with 73 and Ruby scored 49. Betsy then won the shot with 8 - 06, supported by Olivia in fourth with 6 - 97, Bibi with 5 - 96 and Ruby with 4 - 99. Four of the girls then teamed up to win the relay. U13B The U13 Boys fielded a team of four athletes, Joe Moss, Archie Kirton, Isaac Smith and Gabriel Parr, who all performed outstandingly to win their section. Even by his own high standards Joe had a day to remember! In true all round style, as a pointer to a possible future as a multi eventer he produced three individual wins and ensured the lads also won the relay. In the two lap, Joe not only won but recorded 23.7, which knocked half a second off the eight year old record, whilst Archie placed fifth in 28.6, closely followed by Isaac in 28.7. The standing long jump saw Joe leap out to 2 - 52 for his second win, followed by Isaac in fourth with 2 - 05 and Archie and Gabriel close behind on 1 - 96. The shot saw Joe record his second record of the day, adding over a metre and a half to his own record with 13 - 15, following recent work on his technique. Gabriel also recorded a pb in placing sixth with 7 - 01. Archie placed first equal in the speed bounce with 69, followed by Isaac in fifth with 59 and Gabriel with 58. A very good team performance, that helped the boys secure an overall victory in their age group and take home the U13 Boys shield! U15G U15 Girls saw four girls, Jasmine Shore, Hallie Blancheon, Madeleine Turner and Sasha Fleming combine to place second in their section. Jasmine placed second equal in the two lap in 26.3, supported by Hallie in sixth in 28.0. Madeleine again won the four lap in 55.5, supported by Sasha in fourth in 63.8 Jasmine then won the standing long jump with 2 - 20, followed by Madeleine in fifth with 2 - 02 and Hallie with 1 - 92. Jasmine then placed fourth in the shot with 7 - 48, followed by Madeleine in fifth with 6 - 64, Sasha with 5 - 29 and Hallie with 5 - 08. Sasha then placed third in the speed bounce with 61, whilst the girls combined well to place second in the relay. Unfortunately a combination of Mother’s Day and illness meant the club were unable to field any athletes in the U15 Boys section. Thus the season ended with the Club finishing in second place, behind Chesterfield, who fielded more than twice as many athletes as us, with 55 against our 25! The season has seen the club set four new county records, Joe in the two lap and Shot, Summer in the chest push and Erin in the two lap. Scrutiny of Nigel Hiscocks impressive recorded keeping of all the county records over the years indicate the the high standard of performances by the Club’s athletes over the years (with the oldest records being the U11 standing triple jump of 6.84 by Emily Buckley and the U11 standing long jump of 2 -20 by Chloe Smith, both set back in the 2001/02 season!), as the Club hold 26 of the records, Chesterfield and Derby, 14 each and High Peak eight. Quite an impressive return by AVEAC! We now look forward to the mini league matches at Moorways, as the weather improves and the days lengthen. Bob Current members with Birthdays in March - Happy Birthday to all from AVEAC !
Athletes: Turning 10: ● Eli Metson Scott Turning 11: ● Aimee Brackenbury ● Teddy Wilton Turning 13: ● Ethan Barnett Turning 14: ● Samuel Davies Turning 19: ● Isabelle Hays Also celebrating a birthday this month is ● Dan Humphrey England Athletics Under 15/17/20 Indoor Championships, Sheffield - 10&11 February
AVEAC ace triple jumper Michelle Yalekhue took the gold medal at last weekend's England Championships. The under 20 athlete led the competition throughout and her third and sixth round efforts of 12.25m secured a well deserved gold medal ahead of Hope Yelling (Worthing & District) and Julie-Anne Boachie (Loughborough Students) who finished in the silver and bronze positions. This is Michelle's first national title and bettered her bronze postion in the same event last year. Last Summer she also went on to achieve further outdoor bronze medals at the English Schools finals and England Championships. After Michelle's podium presentation, it was great to meet up with her as her former coach, and present an outstanding AVEAC Achievement Award for last year having not being able to attend the club's recent presentation evening. She was pleased to receive the award and thanked the club for the recognition. Now studying at Brunel University, the talented jumper has a busy few weekends ahead of her. This Sunday she will be in action at the UK indoor senior championships in Birmingham and on the following weekend will return to Sheffield to contest the British Univerities and Colleges Championships. We wish her well! AVEAC'S only other qualifier for the national campionships was Joe Moss in the Boy's under 15 long jump. Joe dealt with his first national event with a lot of maturity coping well with all the protocol arrangements prior to getting on to the run up. He put a good series of jumps together and finished seventh in a field of twelve young athletes who made the national qualifying standard. His furthest jump was 5.44m, a centimetre behind his personal best. Joe is eligble for this age group next year and hopfully will be pushing further up the finishing order. He was very pleased with his performance and now looks forward to the outdoor season and improving further. Report and photos - Joe McColgan Erin Beresford equalled the 2 lap sports hall record in the under 13 girl's 2 lap sprint at the fifth meeting which took place at Chesterfield on February 4th. Her fine performance was one of many among the 32 athletes competing for the club at this latest fixture. There was an excellent turn out, with a number of newcomers in action, making this the highest total of the series so far despite a number of regulars being unavailable.
Under 11s The U11 girls fielded a team of eight who combined to place second; namely Summer Biggs, Aimee Brackenbury, Sophie Humphrey, Florence Sibley, Iyla Sanders, Ruby Arnold, Ellise Rogers and Florence Protheroe. Summer won the one lap in 13.7 seconds, closely supported by Aimee in second in 13.8, then Sophie in 14.8, Florence S in 15.5, Iyla and Ruby both in 15.7. Ellise placed sixth in the two lap in 30.0 seconds dead and Florence P was eighth in 31.9. Aimee placed second in the vertical jump with 45 centimetres, Ellise seventh with 31, followed by Iyla with 29, Florence P with 28 and Sophie with 27. Summer won the standing triple jump with a pb at 6.08m, supported by Ruby in third with 5.42, Aimee with 5.09, Sophie with 4.24, Florence P with 4.12 and Iyla with 4.06. Summer with 7.50m and Ruby with 6.25m grabbed a one-two in the chest push in which Florence S achieved 4.00m as well. The team then placed third in their relay. The U11 boys saw four athletes in action - Joseph Brackenbury, Leo Durrant, Oscar Ashmore and Kyran McCrellis who placed third in their section. Joseph was fifth in the one lap in 14.4 seconds, with Leo eighth in 14.6 followed by Oscar in 15.9, whilst Kyran placed fifth in the two lap in 29.9 seconds. Leo achieved 42cm in the vertical jump for third place, closely followed by Joseph with 41 in sixth place and Oscar with 33. Kyran then placed third in the standing triple jump with 5.36m and Joseph sixth with 4.64. In the chest push Kyran placed first with 5.74m, Leo was fourth with 5.00, with Oscar reaching 4.75. The quartet then combined to place fourth in the relay. Unders 13s The U13 girls saw seven girls turn out namely Erin Beresford, Betsy Wilton, Isla Douglas, Bibi Mulholland, Olivia Irvine, Mamie Skipper and Ruby Shore. They performed outstandingly well to place second in their section. Erin, as mentioned in the opening paragraph, set the standard by winning the two lap sprint in 25.7 seconds to equal the record and was ably supported by Betsy who placed second in 26.7, supported by Isla with 27.00, debutant Bibi with 27.3, Olivia with 28.3 and Mamie with 29.2. Isla then showed good pace judgement to place sixth in the four lap in 63.8 seconds. Erin and Betsy placed equal fourth with 46cm in the vertical jump, closely followed by Bibi with 45, Mamie with 42, Isla with 40 and Ruby with 32. Betsy won the standing triple jump with a personal best of 6.36m, with Erin third on 5.95, followed by Bibi with 5.59, Mamie 4.59, Olivia 5.29 and Ruby 3.68. Olivia achieved a pb of 6.92m to place third in the shot, supported by Ruby in fifth with another pb of 5.57. Unfortunately Betsy had to depart early, but four of the girls combined to place second in the relay. The U13 boys were represented by Charlie Davies, Alfie Ray, Isaac Smith, Harvey Glover and Gabriel Parr. With top points scorer Joe Moss away winning a medal at the Northern indoor championships, these five lads rose to the challenge and won their section - really well done! Charlie won the two lap in 26.2 seconds, whilst Alfie placed third in 26.6, followed by Isaac in 31.2, despite a fall at the start. Charlie then won the four lap in 56, just beating Harvey who placed second in 56.4. Alfie placed second in the vertical jump with 50cm, supported by Harvey in third with 47, Isaac with 41 and Gabriel with 37. Alfie then bounced to 6.24 for third in the standing triple jump, supported by Charlie in fifth with 6.06, Harvey 5.72, Isaac 5.31 and Gabriel with 5.04. Gabriel then produced a pb of 6.63 in the shot for fourth place. Finally the boys combined to win the relay. U15 girls saw six athletes in attendance; Nellie Hall, Hallie Blancheon, Sasha Fleming, Jessica Dickinson, Jasmine Shore and Madeleine Turner who combined to place second in their section. Nellie placed fourth in the two lap in 26.8s, whilst Hallie came fifth in 29.4, despite a fall. Sasha and Jessica combined to place second in the 8 lap parlauf, whilst the favourites, Jasmine and Madeleine came fourth after a problem at a changeover. Jasmine placed second in the vertical jump with 52, supported by Madeleine in fourth with 49, Hallie and Jessica with 47, Sasha with 45 and Nellie with 43. Nellie placed third in the shot with 7.50, with Jasmine fourth on 7.49, supported by with Madeleine 6.63, Jessica 5.54 and Hallie on 4.90. The team then placed fourth in the relay. U15 boys saw William Stimson and Jacob Hill work hard to place second in their section, despite missing Riley Jones who was competing at the Northern indoor championships, winning a silver medal in the shot. William placed third in the two lap in 25.5s, with Jacob close behind in fourth in 25.7s. In the standing triple jump William placed second with 7.32m followed by Jacob in fifth with 6.22. William reached out to 8.37m in the shot, whilst Jacob placed fourth with 5.83; both achieving personal bests. The boys then linked up with two girls to run in the non scoring relay. Overall AVEAC finished in second place, with our 32 athletes chasing hard on the heels of the 60 athletes representing the home team from Chesterfield! The final scores:
I would like to thank and congratulate the team managers, officials, results team, coaches, spectators and athletes on a really good afternoon of sport and hope that we can have an even larger turnout at the final match on Sunday 10th March. Report and photo - Bob Boyd Northern U15 Championships, EIS Sheffield - 4 February
The under age North of England Championships took place last Sunday and it proved to be a good competition for Riley Jones and Joe Moss who came away with silver and bronze medals in the boy's under 15 shot. Riley produced a solid effort of 10.63m while Joe's best was 10.21m. A step up from locally based competition both athletes showed that they can make their mark at regional level. As well as taking part in the shot, Joe had a busy day contesting the 60m sprint and long jump. He battled his way through the heats and semi finals of the short sprint and finished seventh in the final. His final time of 7.87 seconds was slightly slower than his heat time (7.78) and semi final (7.74). In the long jump all Joe's jumps were over 5 metres and his best of 5.16m placed him fourth. He was the only first year to reach the top eight in both the 60m and long jump. Corey Fisher also took part in the championships participating in the 60m and 200m. In his heat of the 60m he finished third and was rewarded with a personal best of 8.00 seconds dead. He placed eighth in the semi final in a slightly slower time of 8.11 seconds. In the 200m heats he just failed to qualfy for the semi final in fourth place clocking a respectable time of 25.94 seconds. PB for Nicole Loughborough Open Meeting, Seb Coe Hi Pac - 4 February Two AVEAC athletes Nicole Bonser and Ruby Arnold were in action at the latest Loughborough Open also on Sunday. Nicole took part in a mixed age long jump and placed third overall producing a new personal best of 4.90m. Similarily Ruby took part in a mixed age shot put. Her best effort of 6.59m with the 2.72k shot was a bit below her recent personal best set in Sheffield but was the best on the day by an under 13 athlete. Ella on comback trail New Maxico Collegiate Classic, Albequerque - 2 February Ella Rush made a welcome return to competition again at the New Mexico Classic last Friday. The University of Georgia sophomore had not competed since last April when she sustained a stress fracture on her foot after competing in a Heptathlon at Walnut, California. Following months of rehabilitation she resumed proper training just before Christmas and her coach at Georgia felt she was ready to have a go at an indoor pentathlon again. She performed admirably considering the lack of technical training in the high jump and shot in particular, finishing fourth overall, scoring 3816 points out of a field of eighteen multi-eventers. Particularly good were her 60m hurdles and long jump. A time of 8.82 seconds over the barriers wasn't that far off her 8.67 personal best while in the long jump a leap of 6.03m meant that she won that discipline outright. Understandably Ella was a bit rusty in the high jump (1.61m) and shot (10.74m) and ended the five event contest running 2:26.98 over the 800m. Ella was pleased with the overall points score and no doubt over the next few months as her technical training intensifies we could well see her getting back to the form she showed in 2022 when she took the gold medal in the pentathlon at the U.K. senior championships and ended the summer placing sixth in the World U20 Championships in Colombia. Credits Report - Joe McColgan Photo - Becky Moss Current members with Birthdays in February - Happy Birthday to all from AVEAC !
Athletes: Turning 11: ● Amelie Higgins Turning 12: ● Larice Klugman ● Harry Towns Turning 13: ● Tommi Lester Turning 14: ● Alice Corden Turning 15: ● Claudia Harasym Turning 16: ● Sebastian Banks Also celebrating a birthday this month is: ● Mr Scott Knighton Midland Indoor Athletics Championships, Loughborough - 20 & 21 January A small number of AVEAC athletes were in action last weekend over the two days of the Midland Indoor Championships. Alice Robinson came away with two individual bronze medals in the senior women's shot and high jump and a silver medal in the pentathlon. Betsy Wilton taking part in her first ever triple jump with a proper run up secured a silver medal in the under 15 girls event while younger sibling Teddy, stepping up a year from under 13 to under 15, gained a bronze medal in the high jump. It was good to see Midland Indoor Championships taking place again for the first time since before Covid. Previous championships had taken place in the Hi Pac at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, but this was the first time the Loughborough venue had been used.
Alice Robinson had a busy two days contesting an indoor Pentathlon competition comprising of long jump, shot and 60m hurdles on day one and high jump and 60m flat on day two. It was an unusual competition in which the pentathletes competed against athletes in the individual disciplines and were eligble for medals in these events as well. Alice scored 2589 points which was a personal best for this pentathlon format where the 800m was replaced by a 60m flat sprint. Her event individual scores were; 60m hurdles - 11.11 seconds, high jump - 1.30m, shot - 10.10m, long jump - 4.54m and 60m flat - 8.55 seconds which was also a personal best. Her shot and high ump performances also earned her bronze medals in the individual events. Betsy Wilton exceeded expectations in the under 15 girl's triple jump. Having had one proper coaching session trying the hop, step and jump from a short run up two weeks prior she sailed out to 9.23m to take the silver medal. Watching the event was none other than Ashia Hansen MBE, the former world indoor triple jump champion in 1999 and 2003, and still holder of the british record in the event. Ashia was quite impressed by Betsy's efforts particularly when she found out that this was her first attempt in a competition! Certainly fantastic words of encouragement from one of the all time great triple jumpers. Betsy contested two other events over the two day championships. She got through her heat in the 60m sprint recording 8.62 seconds and bettered that in the semi final in fourth place in 8.58; both times were personal bests. Completing a busy weekend she also got out to 4.10m in the long jump to place tenth. Betsy's younger brother Teddy stepped up to the under 15 age group gained a bronze medal in the high jump. A clearance of 1.30m improved his previous best by two centimetres. He also improved his 60m personal best clocking 9.29 secconds when finishing fifth in his heat. Grace Young was our only other athlete in action at the championships in the under 20 long jump. Two fouls in the first couple of rounds resulted in her putting in a safe jump in round three with a distance of 4.73m placing her eighth. Normally this would have gained her a further three jumps but with the senior jumpers also taking part in the same compeition the organisers only allowed the top eight overall to go through which penalised Grace and one other U20 jumper. Run, Jump, Throw Open, Sheffield - 20 January Five AVEAC athletes were in action at the latest Run, Jump Throw open at te EIS Arena. Joe Moss was in particularly good form recording three personal bests. He won his graded heat of the 60m in 7.72, an improvement of seven hundreths of a second from his previous outing over the short sprint at the end of 2023. On to the long jump and he once more got beyond the qualification standard for the England Championships on 10 and 11th of February by leaping 5.45m which placed him second by one centimetre behind Zak Wilberforce (Kingston upon Hull). Finally in the shot, his first competition with the heavier 4kg ball, saw him produce a good effort of 10.33m to also place second. Madeleine Turner having her first ever outing over 400m produced an excellent run recording a time of 64.24 in her graded heat which placed her fifth against older athletes. She also sprinted to an indoor personal best in the 200m with a time of 28.64 to finish third. Jasmine Shore had a busy schedule contesting three events. She finished just behind Madeleine in the 200m clocking 29.59, another personal best! Then in the u17/15 combined long jump she was the third best under 15 with a distance of 4.26m. A big improvement in the 3kg shot saw her add over fifty centimetres on to her previous best outdoors with a good throw of 7.26m which again placed her third. In the girl's uner 13, 2.72kg shot, Ruby Arnold produced an excellent 'put' of 6.91m to take first place and in doing so added thirty eight centimetres on to her best ever throw at the December meeting. She also finished in sixth place in the under 13 long jump with a best of 3.27m. The final AVEAC athlete taking part was Ruby Shore who placed fourth in the under 13 shot with a throw of 4.72m. Northern U13 & U15 championships this Sunday The Northern younger age championships take place at the EIS Arena this Sunday. Looking through the entry list three U15 AVEAC boys will be in action. Corey Fisher will contest the 60m and 200m, Riley Jones is entered for the shot and high jump while Joe Moss will feature in the 60m, long jump and shot. Good luck to all three! Report and photos - Joe McColgan Popular javelin coach Scott Knighton received the welcome news last week that he will accompany a group of fifteen talented under 18 and 20 throwers who will represent England at the Vaxjo International in Sweden next month. Scott will oversee and coach five of the country's leading young javelin throwers selected for the prestigious competition. Speaking on the opportunity, England Athletics Event Group Lead for throws, Nick Ridgeon said: "This competition provides a fantastic opportunity to develop coaches working with athletes on the Talent Pathway by giving them first hand experience of selection mettings and working as a team coach roles, rather than personal coaches. I'd like to thank coaches and selection panel members Katryn Woodcock (discus), Greg Beard (shot) and Scott Knighton (javelin) for their hard work and preparation for the selection meeting and wish them the very best for supporting the team out in Sweden" This is a great honour for Scott who over the past few years has begun to be recognised as one of the leading javelin coaches in England. He thoroughly deserves the acolade and no doubt will support the five young throwers to the best of his ability. We wish Scott and the athletes well! Northern Senior/U20 & U17 Championships, Sheffield, 13-14 January A small group of five AVEAC athletes contested this year's Northern Indoor Championships at the EIS Arena last weekend and for the first time in many years there were no AVEAC medals this time round. George Reynolds was the best of the bunch placing fourth in the under 20 long jump. He got out to a respectable 6.45m; his furthest ever indoor mark! Ryan Rawlinson, who over the recent months has been training near his sixth form college in Stockport finished ninth on 5.79m just narrowly missing the cut for a final three jumps. In the under 20 women's long jump, Nicole Bonser finished twelfth with a distance of 4.53m. On the track, Ben Pitts reached the final of the senior men's 60m hurdles where he finished seventh in a time of 9.17 seconds. In qualifying for the final he posted a new personal best clocking 9.00 seconds dead. Corey Tatum contested the under 20 400m finishing fourth in his heat in 55.41 seconds with only the first two only progressing to the semi-final. Loughborough University Open, Seb Coe Hi-Pac - 13 January For the fourth time this indoor season, first year under 17 sprinter Isla Hiscocks, set another 60m personal best last Saturday. In a mixed age, graded race, she finished 4th. Her time of 8.12 seconds knocked another hundreth of her previous best set in December at Sheffield. Isla has trained diligently this winter and her recent results are well deserved. North Midlands Cross Country League, Bulwell Hall Park - 13 January
Five AVEAC athletes took part in the final North Midlands league fixture on Saturday. Claudia Sangster gave of her best in the under 11 1km race to come home in 15th place in a time of 8:24 while brother Jasper finished 19th in the under 11 boy's race recording a time of 7:38. Harvey Glover had a fantastic run in the under 13 boy's race over 4km to finish 14th. He looked good throughout the race and was rewarded with a time of 12:23. Eight places behind Harvey, Lucas Sangster recorded 13:57 in 22nd place. In the senior men's 10km Coach Geoff Lowry finished 113th overall but had the satisfaction of being the fastest M60 runner in the field. Well done Geoff and the four young athletes! Report - Joe McColgan Scott Knighton photo - Chris Kirby North Midlands League photos - Chris Aikman Derbyshire Mini League Sports Hall, Match 4, Chesterfield - January 7th
Just about time to dust off the Christmas decorations, the over indulgent eating and enjoy the presents and then arrive at the Queens Leisure Centre for the first sports hall match of 2024. Under 11s The U11 girls saw nine young ladies turn out and place a strong second in their section, showing good strength in depth. Summer Biggs won the one lap sprint in 14.20, ably supported by Aimee Brackenbury who placed second equal in 14.3, backed up by Ruby Arnold and Florence Sibley in 15.00, Iyla Sanders in 15.7 and Esme Wainwright in 16.5. Four of team then combined to place third in the relay. In the three lap Summer placed third in 46.4, Katherine Turner placed sixth in 47.7, Esme recorded 52.7 and Florence Protheroe finished in 53.7. Summer then dashed over to the standing long jump and managed a win with 2.05, ably supported yet again by Aimee who placed second with 1.98, Ruby reached out to 1.92, Katherine leapt to 1.81, Florence Sibley recorded 1.71, Iyla managed 1.54, Sophie Humphrey recorded 1.50 and Esme 1.25. Great jumping! Aimee placed third in the speed bounce with a score of 50, closely followed by Katherine in fourth with 49, Iyla managed 44, Sophie got 35, Ruby had a score of 36 and Florence Protheroe recorded 32. The Florences then both scored in the high stepper, with Florence P placing seventh in a time of 16.3 and Florence S eighth in 17.0 seconds flat, supported by Sophie in 17.2. Three young men, Oscar Ashmore, Kyran McCrellis and Jack Biggs, appeared in the U11 boys and produced some excellent performances. Kyran placed first equal in the speed bounce with 48, supported by Oscar who was close behind in third with 47 and Jack with 33. Jack then placed second in the standing long jump with 1.87, again ably supported by Oscar in third with 1.82 and Kyran close behind with 1.79. In the one lap run Oscar placed sixth in 14.8, whilst Jack placed fifth in the three lap with 49.00 and Kyran placed seventh in the hi stepper in 16.3. Well done lads! Under 13s The U13 girls saw seven young athletes compete, Erin Beresford, Betsy Wilton, Olivia Irvine, Isla Douglas, Isobel Weller, Ellie Ursell and Iobella Parsons-Loades and place second in their section. The first event, the two lap sprint, saw a win for Erin in 26.2, closely followed by Betsy in fourth in 27.2, Olivia with 27.7, Isla 27.9 and Ellie 31.6. With Erin moving up to the U15 team for the relay the team still placed a close second in their race! The six lap race saw a well judged run from Isla to record 98.3 in third place. The standing long jump saw Betsy gain a pb of 2.10 for second place, followed by Erin in third with 2.01, Isabella reached 1.93, Isobel 1.92 and Ellie 1.63. Betsy placed first equal in the speed bounce with 75 ably supported by Olivia in third with 73, Erin recorded 71, Isobel managed 69, Isabella 64 and Isla 62. Isabella then won the shot with a pb of 9.15, Olivia with another pb placed fifth with 7.20 and Ellie recorded the third pb with 6.25. The U13 boys saw six lads, Joe Moss, Ethan Barnett, Alfie Ray, Harvey Glover, Gabriel Parr and Marcus Parson- Loades win their section. Joe sped to a two lap victory in 24.7, supported by Ethan in third with 27.3 and Alfie timed at 28.2. These three were joined by Harvey to record a fine first place in the relay later in the afternoon. Harvey also recorded 98.1 for third in the six lap, before wining the speed bounce with a good score of 76 supported by Ethan in third with 66 and Gabriel with 63. Then despite getting out to 2.04 in the standing long jump Harvey was pushed out of the scoring by Alfie in second place with 2.06 and Joe who won with an excellent 2.38! Our depth here also saw Ethan record 1.94, Gabriel 1.83 and Marcus 1.62. Not to be outdone by the girls, three lads recorded pbs in the shot! Joe won with a new county record of 11.58, beating his own mark by 44cm, (maybe he can break the record again in the next match), whilst Marcus placed sixth with 6.45 and Gabriel improved by over a metre with 6.25. Under 15s In the U15 girls three young ladies, Jasmine Shore, Madeleine Turner and Jessica Dickinson combined to place second with some excellent results. Madeleine easily won the four lap in 56.5, jumped out to 2.03 in the standing long for fourth behind Jasmine who recorded 2.06 for third, whilst Jessica managed a pb of 2.00. Jasmine recorded 26.7 for second in the two lap, produced 7.32 for third in the shot, ahead of Madeleine with 6.34 and Jessica with 5.82. Jessica then recorded 67 in the speed bounce for an excellent third place and as mentioned the three young ladies were joined by Erin from the U13s to take the honours in the sprint relay! Three young men, Riley Jones, Corey Fisher and William Stimson combined to place third in their section. The two lap sprint saw William place fourth in 26.3, but unfortunately Corey pulled a muscle to finish his day, although he had been so well placed that he still hobbled home in 28.7 for sixth place. Riley was in good form, adding two cms to his pb in the standing long jump with 2.46 for third place ahead of William in fourth with a pb of 2.40. These two then produced good results in the shot, Riley second with 10.63 and William fourth with 8.57. Riley also scored 63 in the speed bounce for third place. The end of the day saw the overall team scores as below: Chesterfield - 519 AVEAC - 413.5 Derby - 329 High Peak - 218.5 We hope we can improve our turn out at the next match on 4th February and challenge Chesterfield more closely. At this match we had 31 athletes whilst 66 turned out for Chesterfield, so a few more athletes could make all the difference! Finally, I must thank all the officials for helping the meeting run so smoothly, parents for transporting the athletes, the team managers for ensuring everyone made their event on time, coaches for ensuring the athletes were fit and the results team for getting these out so quickly! Put February 4th in your diary now!!! Report - Bob Boyd Photos - Sarah Turner England Combined Events Indoor Championships, EIS Sheffield - 6 and 7 January Three AVEAC senior athletes were in action at last weekend's national combined event championships at the indoor arena in Sheffield. Scott Ram and Ben Pitts took part in the senior men's heptathlon over the two days while Alice Robinson contested the senior women's pentathlon on Sunday. The three multi-eventers acquitted themselves admirably and came away with overall personal best scores at the end of their respective competitions. Scott Ram finished sixth overall in the senior heptathlon with a final points tally of 5032, beating his previous best score from 2022 by over 300 points. He started day 1 marginally bettering his previous 60m best time with a 7.24 clocking and things got even better in the next discipline, the long jump, when he soared out to 6.76m improving his outdoor PB by ten centimetres. Next up was the shot with a solid throw of 11.96 and he then went on to clear 1.78m in the high jump to end the first day of competition in sixth place overall. Day 2 started well again for Scott when he posted a time of 8.68 seconds in the 60m hurdles, just a tenth of a second off his previous best while in the pole vault he equalled his personal best clearing 3.80m. Scott has always had a good reserve of endurance and he dominated the final 1000m run with an excellent time of 2:39.22. This fantastic effort over five laps conslidated his overnight position and he came away with a brilliaant new best ever points total. Scott has contested this indoor championship on three previous occasions with this year's overall placing being his best to date. Running alongside the national championship, the North of England title was up for grabs as well, and it was fitting that Scott's overall tally secured him a bronze medal in the regional event. Competing alongside Scott was Ben Pitts having his first experience of a senior multi-events contest. Ben did incredibly well having to cope with higher hurdle heights and a heavier weight in the shot from last year when he was in the under 20 age group. He ended up placing 11th with a final score of 4486 points and had it not been for a cautious high jump of 1.75m due to a bruised heel and only taking one jump, he certainly would have ended up in the top ten. Ben recorded five personal bests over the two days recording 7.59 in the 60m, 10.02m in the shot, 9.07 in the sprint hurdles, clearing 4 metres for the first time in the pole vault and knocking fourteen seconds off his previous best in te 1000m running 2:56.69. In the long jump he got out to 6.45m, three centimetres behind his all time best. On Sunday Alice Robinson contsted the five event pentathlon. She put together a solid set of performances and, although there were no individual event personal bests on this occasion, the consistency of her efforts led her to acahieve a final tally of 2399 beating her previous best score by exactly fifty points. Her event by event performances were; 60m hurdles - 11.23s, high jump - 1.33m, shot - 9.81m, long jump - 4.42m and 800m - 2:43.29. Alice finished 15th overall and, opting for the regional Midland Championship rather than the northern one, she too picked up a bronze medal. Run Jump Throw Grand Prix, EIS Sheffield - 29th December England qualifying standard for Joe Moss Joe Moss had his first indoor outing of the season at this popular Christmas holiday meeting on the 29th December. Now in the under 15 age group he produced a good double victory in his graded 60m sprint and long jump. A time of 7.79 in the short sprint was nearly a second faster than his time last year at the same meeting. In the long jump he added 20 centimetres on to his previous best with a great effort of 5.36m and in doing so surpassed the 5.30m qualifying standard for the England age group championships in February. Betsy Wilton also now in the under 15 age group came away with two personal bests in the 60m and 200m. She was outright winner in her graded 60m recording 8.63 and, then went on later in the day to place second in the longer sprint, dipping through the finish in 29.17 seconds. Just behind Betsy in the 200m was Erin Beresford who also recorded a PB of 29.41 seconds. Erin also finished third in her graded 60m registering 8.90 seconds, yet another personal best. Other 60m PBs were set by U17 sprinterIsla Hiscocks who bettered her best time from last year for the third time this indoor season when finishing second in her graded race edging closer to the eight second mark in 8.13 seconds and by U13 Teddy Wilton who recorded a time of 9.44 seconds. Other fine performances on the track were recorded by;
Senior multi eventer Ben Pitts warmed up for the England Athletics national heptathlon championship in early January by setting personal bests in the 60m hurdles (9.05 seconds) and Shot (9.55m). As well as Joe Moss's excellent long jump other fine performances were recorded by Grace Young (U20) who set an indoor best ever performance of 4.94m; her change of technique to the 'H kick' improving her previous best indoor mark by twenty six centimetres, Katharine Turner (U11) - 3.14m, Summer Biggs (U13) - 3.69m, Ruby Arnold (U13) - 3.29m, Jasmine Shore (U15) - 4.08m and Betsy Wilton (U15) - 3.96m. Finally in the girls under 13 Shot Ruby Arnold placed first with a throw of 6.53m ahead of team mate Summer Biggs on 6.42m. In fourth pace was Ruby Shore with a distance of 4.42m. Derbyshire Athletics Mini League Cross Country Match 3, Moorways, Derby - 16 December
Madeleine Turner takes overall under 15 girls title With a clean sweep of victories over the three cross country mini league matches Madeleine Turner emerged as the overall under 15 girls champion for 2023. In the final fixture which took place around the grounds of Moorways Sports Village, Madeleine was once again was untroubled over the 3km course with a twenty second margin of victory over the runner up. AVEAC had nine other young 'harriers' in action, all of them ran well in their respective races. Kyran McCrellis's fine third place run in the under 11 boys race meant that across the three matches his high placings earned him the silver medal overall. In the under 11 girls Katharine Turner finished fifth on the day and over the three matches just missed the bronze medal placing fourth overall. In this final match she was ably supported by Florence Sibley in 11th and Claudia Sangster in 15th resulting in the team finishing third behind Derby and High Peak. In the under 13 girls race debutee Lucy Norman ran an excellent race to come home in fifth position with Bibi Mulholland not far behind her team mate in ninth. Harvey Glover has performed consistently across the three matches and had another fifth place finish at Moorways. Lucas Sangster and Isaac Smith placed sixth and eighth and overall the team were second behind Derby. Congratulations to Derby AC who were crowned overall team champions on 180 points. They dominated each of the six age groups and showed great strength in depth. AVEAC finished runners up on 354 points just ahead of High Peak on 367. Heanor and Buxton finished fourth and fifth. Report - Joe McColgan EA Combined Events Photos - Ian Pitts Cross Country photo - Sarah Turner Current members with Birthdays in January - Happy Birthday to all from AVEAC !
Athletes: Turning 12 ● Isla Douglas ● Marcus Parsons-Loades Turning 13 ● Isabella Parsons-Loades Turning 14 ● Evie Hardy ● Henry Jack Turning 15 ● Sasha Fleming ● Isabella Overy-Jones Turning 16 ● Lara Hubbard Turning 17 ● Leona Cresswell ● Isabelle Haworth Other members celebrating a birthday this month are: ● David Adams ● Damian Banks ● Julie King Current members with Birthdays in December - Happy Birthday to all from AVEAC !
Athletes: Turning 8 ● Florence Sibley Turning 12 ● Isaac Smith ● Isobel Weller Turning 13 ● Lilly Robshaw ● Molly Mackenzie Turning 14 ● Coen Fagg ● Corey Fisher Turning 15 ● Ebony Longden ● Preston Roach Turning 18 ● Louise Hirst Other members celebrating a birthday this month are: ● Charlie Yates ● Emily Coope ● Scott Ram Derbyshire Athletics Mini League Cross Country Match 2, Rutland Sports Park - 18 November
The second Mini League cross country match took place around the grounds of Rutland Sports Park on Saturday 18 November. The home fixture ensured a good turn out from our young athletes with 26 turning up to test their mettle over the undulating course adjacent to the track. This was the best turn out since pre Covid days and hopefully the trend will continue onto the final fixture at Derby on Saturday 16th December. As usual there were six races on the programme catering for the under 11, 13 and 15 age groups. The increased numbers of AVEAC athletes meant that in the under 11 and 13 events the club was able to ensure full scoring teams in both the boys's and girls's races. Numbers taking part at under 15 level were very low compared to a few years ago, so much so, that no club had a full complement of scoring runners in the team races. Unfortunately this is a trend that is happening in many areas of the country! Under 11s A great turn out of ten AVEAC young athletes in the girl's race, several of them running over the country for the first time, saw Summer Biggs finish in eighth place over an approximate distance of 1km recording a time 4.51 minutes. She was ably supported by Katherine Turner, a second behind, in ninth with Ruby Arnold placing tenth, a further second behind. The close packing of the three AVEAC runners ensured second place in the team race with a combined score of 27 points (the team scorings are based on the best three finishing athletes in each club). Derby AC with their top three completing the race in third, fourth and sixth places placed first overall and, High Peak were third, a point behind the AVEAC trio. The other AVEAC placings in the race were; Florence Sibley (12th), Florence Protheroe (15th), Isla Grace (17th), Sophie Humphrey (18th), Claudia Sangster (19th), Amy Brackenbury (20th) and Amber Smith (21st). In the boy's race we had five athletes in action with Kyran McCrellis running with great determination to place third overall. His time of 6:43 over the 1500m course was within striking distance of Derby's Jenson Payne and High Peaks's Alfred Pritchard who finished a few seconds ahead in first and second. Vincent Smith and George Whittleton making their crross country debuts did well to finish in 10th and 11th places with times of 7:18 and 7:28. The scoring three placed third in the team match on 24 points, a point behind High Peak in second with Derby again packing well to take the honours on 12 points. Further down the field were Jasper Sangster in 14th place (7:43) and Jack Ewart, 15th (7:54). Under 13s AVEAC had a team of three in the girl's under 13 race over 1500m. Isla Douglas was our highest placer finishing fifth in 9:24, in sixth was another debutee, Bibi Mulholland who returned a time of 10:20 and the AVEAC team was complete with Olivia Irvine coming home in 10th. A combined score of 21 points saw the three girls finish second overall. Six AVEAC boys raced over a approximate 3km course. Charlie Davies led the group finishing fifth in 12:44. Two seconds adrift in sixth place was Harvey Glover. Lucas Sangster made up the third team scoring place in ninth place, giving a total score of 20 points, which ensured the runner up spot behind an excellent Derby team whose three scoring athletes finish first, second and third. The three non-scoring AVEAC runners were Alfie Ray in 10th, Isacc Smith -13th and Gabriel Parr - 14th. Under 15 With Erin Colebrook (Buxton AC) not contesting this race, AVEAC's Madeleine Turner totally dominated proceedings and had a huge winning margin over the 3km course. Her time of 12:58 was well over a minute ahead of runner up Emily Whitehead (Derby AC). AVEAC newcomer Jessica Dickenson did well and completed her first club cross country race in fourth. In a very small field, the boy's race over 4.5km saw our only representative Sam Davies, get round the course in 21:45 to finish third. Hopefully at the final fixture in a few weeks time a few more under 15s will turn out to support Sam, Madeleine and Jessica to ensure a full complement in the team proceedings. A big thank you to the organising team for setting up the course and team managers and course marshalls for their hard work on the day. Report - Joe McColgan Photos - Sarah Turner Derbyshire Mini League Sports Hall Match 2, Chesterfield - Sunday 19th November
Saturday 18th November - get home from the mini league cross country, clean your kit and get ready for the next Sports Hall meeting tomorrow - no pressure then! Following the first match, we upped our number of athletes attending from 27 to 30 and hope this trend will continue to rise. U11 Girls Eight young athletes turned out here and despite all their efforts they were just pipped into third place overall. Summer Biggs, had another good day, as she opted for the three lap run where she placed third in 44.5, won the standing long jump with 2.11m and placed equal first in the speed bounce recording a score of 51. She was well supported by Ruby Arnold who recorded 14.8s to place seventh in the one lap, leapt out to 1.97 in the long jump and recorded 48 ‘bounces’ in the speed bounce. More points were recorded by Aimee Brackenbury who placed fifth in the one lap in 14.5, second in the long jump with 2 metres exactly and recorded a total of 47 in the speed bounce. Not to be outdone, Katherine Turner placed fourth in the speed bounce with 49, jumped out to 1.79m in the long jump and placed seventh in the three lap in 47.4s.Further support came from Sophie Humphrey who recorded 1.53 in the long jump, placed sixth in the hi stepper in 16.7 and recorded 15.4 in the one lap. Florence Protheroe weighed in with 16.8 in the one lap, recorded 16.2 for fifth place in the hi stepper and 1.37 in the long jump. Florence Sibley recorded 15.7 in the one lap, 16.7 in the hi stepper and 1.63 in the long jump. Francesca Parsons-Loades scored 1.37 in the long jump, 29 in the speed bounce and ran the one lap in 15.7. The girls then combined to put out two relay teams, placing third and eighth. Under 11 Boys Oscar Ashmore continued his improvement as he came second in the speed bounce recording 47, third in the long jump with 1.97 and fifth in the three lap in 47.1s. Kyran McCrellis scored more points as he came fourth in the three lap in 46.6, jumped 1.87 in the long jump and placed fourth in the speed bounce with 46. Jack Biggs did well to come second the long jump with 1.97, placed seventh in the one lap in 16.0 seconds flat and recorded 49.5 in the three lap. The boys also placed third in the relay. U 13 Girls Seven young girls turned out here and placed second in their section. Erin Beresford showed the rest of the sprinters a clean pair of heels as she won the two lap in 26.0 and then leapt out to 2.02 in the long jump for fourth place. Betsy Wilton edged Erin by 1cm to gain third in the long jump, bounded to 76 in the speed bounce for second and sped to 27.5 in the two lap for fifth place. Isabella Parsons-Loades improved her personal best putting the shot out to 8.34m for second place and in the process set a new AVEAC sports hall record. She also scored 67 in the speed bounce and 1.82 in the long jump. Olivia Irvine also managed a PB in the shot, placing fourth with 7.02m, recorded 70 in the speed bounce for sixth place and finished with a time of 27.8s in the two lap. Isla Douglas raced to 62.7 in the four lap for fifth place, 27.9 in the two lap and scored 67 in the speed bounce. Mamie Skipper achieved 6.08m in the shot, 1.74m in the long jump and recorded 28.3 in the two lap. Ruby Shore supported the team with 34 in the speed bounce, 1.30m in the long jump and 4.10m in the shot. The girls finished with a commendable second place in the relay. U13 Boys A team of seven athletes were in action and improved on their second place in the first fixture by taking the team match by over 20 points. Leading the way was Joe Moss with a trio of top class performances, winning the two lap in 24.9, the long jump in 2.54 and the shot with 11-08 and finished the action with a leg in the winning relay team, to round off an excellent afternoon. His shot and standing long jump performances were AVEAC club records. Joe was very well supported by Charlie Davis who put together good all round performances winning the four lap run in 56.2, placing second in the two lap in 25.9 and second as well in the long jump with 2.24m. Harvey Glover scored more points with third place in the speed bounce, scoring 72, fourth in the four lap in 58.6 and he also long jumped 2.05. Marcus Parson-Loades pushed the shot out to 6-50 for fourth place, recorded 63 for fifth in the speed bounce and 1.85 in the long jump to add to the points total. Archie Kerton recorded 65.01 in the four lap and 61 in the speed bounce, Ethan Barnett got out to 1.93 in the long jump and recorded 61 in the speed bounce, whilst Gabriel Parr managed 54 in the speed bounce, 5-01 in the shot and 1.92 in the long jump. U15 Girls Three AVEAC girls combined to place second in this section! Isla Hiscocks produced two excellent wins, recording 25.6 in the two lap and 2.22 in the long jump, whilst Madeleine Turner was a few metres behind her team mate in the two lap timed at 26.2s. Madeleine got close to Isla as well in the long jump for second place just two centimetres behind the winning distance. She then combined with Jasmine Shore to take victory in the eight lap parlauf in 1:11.1, only 0.2 seconds outside the county record! Jasmine had already placed fourth in the shot with 7-58 and recorded 2.07 in the long jump. A couple more athletes here would see us challenge for the lead overall! U15 Boys The ‘team’ here was all-rounder Riley Jones, who came second in the shot with a personal best 10.20m, fourth in the long jump with 2.44m and fifth in the two lap in 26.3 seconds. The final match result resulted in a victory for Chesterfield on 520 points. AVEAC claimed second overall on 387 points with Derby not far behind on 343.5 points and finally the small High Peak team scoring 159.5 points in fourth. With many of our athletes scoring highly, it only needs a few more to turn up to see us overcome Chesterfield and gain top spot. As before, we very much hope to see more athletes at the next match, on Sunday 3rd December - YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU! Finally, thanks to everyone, the athletes attending, coaches, team managers, officials, helpers, supporters and results team! Report - Bob Boyd Photos - Sarah Turner Current members with birthdays in November - Happy Birthday to all from AVEAC!
Athletes: Turning 10: ● Katherine Turner Turning 11: ● Ruby Arnold ● Summer Biggs ● Jack Ewart ● Kyran McCrellis Turning 12: ● Edan Brown ● Maggie Flinders Turning 13: ● Alfie Ray ● Betsy Wilton Turning 14: ● Jessica Dickinson ● Jasmine Shore Turning 15: ● Freya Kirby ● Eleanor Rigby ● William Stimson Turning 16: ● Neve Delap Turning 17: ● Mae Jones ● Daisy Kaye Turning 18: ● Ryan Rawlinson Other members celebrating a birthday this month are: ● Jessie Brown ● Sarah Kaye ● Andy McMillan Derbyshire Mini League Cross Country, Buxton - 28 October Report by Joe McColgan - Photos by Sarah Turner AVEAC's talented middle distance runner Madeleine Turner began her cross country season in fine style by winning the under 15 girls race at the first of three mini league fixtures on Saturday at Buxton Rugby Club. She was one of seven AVEAC athletes in action across the six races held on the day. Madeleine's race was over an approximate distance of 3 kilometres in which she renewed her rivalry with Erin Colebrook (Buxton AC). Last year both girls dominated the U13 age group with two victories going to Madeleine and one to Erin. Both athletes tracked each other for most of the race, but it was the AVEAC runner's superior strength over the closing stages which gave her a winning margin of ten seconds as she ran through the finish chute in a time of 11:39 minutes. Madeleine's team mate Eleanor Rigby also completed the race finishing a commendable seventh. The team race went to Derby AC with their runners packing well in 3rd, 4th and 5th positions.
Meanwhile earlier in the day Madeleine's younger sister Katherine, our only runner in the under 11 race, ran well and finished 6th out of the twelve starters recording a time of 5:12 minutes over the 1km distance. Isobel Weller and Isla Douglas lined up for the under 13 girls 1.5km race. Both girls ran together throughout the race and were rewarded for their excellent tactics by coming home in 4th and 5th positions. Isobel's time was 7:36 with Isla two seconds adrift in 7:38. Alice Lincoln (Derby AC) ran an accomplished race to place first in 6:47. A measure of the two AVEAC runners performances was that they were within shouting distance of the second and third placed athletes who finished a few seconds ahead of them. Both will now be looking at pushing further up the places at the next match. In the U13 boy's race Harvey Glover finished third overall in the 3km race behind Derby duo Osniel Segal and Charlie Pearch; Harvey's time was 11:40 minutes. Making his competitive for AVEAC in the same race, Isacc Smith did well and finished a creditable sixth. The next fixture will take place at Rutland Sports Park on Saturday 18th November and being a home tie it is hoped that more of our younger athletes will take up the challenge. For whatever reasons cross country running doesn't appear to be as popular as it once was and this is reflected among other clubs in the county and indeed nationally. At the corresponding Mini League match in 2019, prior to Covid, AVEAC had twenty young athletes in action across all the races on the programme. As mentioned in the previous blog cross country running has got many advantages for young developing athletes helping to build strength, endurance and resilience. It is particular useful for track middle distance runners providing a good solid foundation as they progress towards the summer season. Last weekend saw the start of the Winter season for AVEAC young athletes with the sports hall mini-league taking place at Chesterfield on Sunday while the day before saw action in the North Midlands cross country league at Markeaton Park, Derby.
Derbyshire Mini-League Sports Hall Match 1, Chesterfield - 15 October Bob Boyd reports Left the house at 11.30, having grabbed a sandwich in lieu of a Sunday roast and headed for Chesterfield sports centre (coincidentally built on the site of the former Chesterfield athletics track where I competed in my first English Schools Championships in 1961!) Arrived at the same time as team manager, Rich Woodward, and we handed out numbers and pins to the athletes - 27 in total (of which more later!) The young athletes warmed up and parents settled down to watch from the bleachers. It transpired that the club were to judge the vertical jump and thus Becky Moss and I took up station. Meanwhile Rich was finishing up giving out numbers and collecting smartie tubes, whilst Sarah Turner was fund raising which a stick pick! Under 11s Six girls represented the club in the U11 section and finished second, 14 points ahead of Derby, and only three points behind leader’s Chesterfield. Summer Biggs had a very good day as she placed second in the one lap sprint with a time of 14.2 seconds. Shethen proceeded to win the standing triple jump with 6.06m and the chest push with 7.70m; a new county and AVEAC club record! Summer was ably supported by Ruby Arnold who came seventh in the one lap in 14.9 seconds, third in the triple jump with 5.50 metres and a good second in the chest push with 5.80m. Aimee Brackenbury produced a 44cm standing vertical jump to claim another victory for the club, as well as placing fourth in the two lap in 29.50 seconds and finished with a 4.84 standing triple jump. Katherine Turner placed fifth in the two lap in 30.80 seconds, got out to 4.56m in the standing triple jump and recorded 4.80 in the chest push. Florence Protheroe claimed valuable points in the vertical jump in sixth place with 23cm and finished the two lap in 34.40 seconds. Finally Sophie Humphrey gained great experience competing in the one lap in 16 seconds dead, the vertical jump with 22cm and 3.79m in the standing triple jump on her debut appearance. The first named four young athletes then combined to produce an exciting end to their day by finishing second in the relay just behind Chesterfield. The other two young ladies, not to be out done, combined with the two U11 boys in a non scoring relay as well - well done! There were only two U11 boys in attendance and they performed really well. Kyran McCrellis had a very good day winning the chest push with 5.10m and then recorded two third places, with 30.20 seconds in the two lap and 5.06m in the standing triple jump. The experienced Oscar Ashmore placed fourth in the one lap in exactly 15 seconds, produced a throw of 4.70m in the chest push and leapt up 33cm in the vertical jump to place fifth. Under 13s Five girls competed across the events here, with Erin Beresford leading the way with first places in the two lap sprint in a storming 26.4 seconds and 5.82m in the standing triple jump, whilst she also pushed the shot out to a first ever 6.00m. Olivia Irvine similarly upped her shot best to 6.28 to place fourth and then finished sixth in both the two lap sprint in 28.60s and in the standing triple jump with 5.14m. Isabella Parsons-Loades, in her first sports hall event won the shot with a pb of 8.20m, placed sixth in the vertical jump with 37cm and achieved 4.80m in the standing triple jump. Isla Douglas recorded the same time as Olivia in the two lap sprint and then placed a fine second in the six lap in 98.70s, before finishing eighth in the vertical jump with 33cm. In her first year in the age group Ruby Shore, gained great experience recording 4.73m in the standing triple jump, 27cm in the vertical jump and 4.06m in the shot, to show her range of skills. Four of the girls combined to place third in the relay. Six boys turned out in this age group, with Joe Moss once again exhibiting his range of talent by winning the vertical jump with 63cm, followed by the standing triple jump with 7.70, just short of the county record, but had the satisfaction of setting a new clunb record. Joe then set a PB in shot 'putting' 11.14m which did re-write the record books. Ethan Barnett copied Erin, winning the two lap in 26.6s and showed versatility with 43cm vertical jump and 5.52m standing triple jump. Alfie Ray placed fourth in both the two lap with 27.3s and the vertical jump with 44cm and then added a fifth place with 5.81m in the standing triple jump. Sebastian Taylor recorded a PB in the shot in placing fourth with 7.2m. He also recorded 5.25m in the standing triple jump and 34cm in the vertical jump. Archie Kirton placed a fine sixth in the six lap with 1:48 mins, recorded 28.7s in the two lap and 4.82m in the standing triple jump. Marcus Parson-Loades produced a 5.15m standing triple jump and a respectable 5.99m shot put. Four of the boys combined to race to third place in the relay. Under 15s Five girls competed here, Hallie Balncheon and Sasha Fleming making their debuts. The talented Isla Hiscocks produced two wins, firstly the two lap sprint in 25.9s and then headed the vertical jump with 55cm. Our upcoming middle distance star, Madeleine Turner, stormed away with the four lap run, showing good pace judgement to win in 57.7s She then came fifth in the shot with 6.38m and also showed a turn of speed with 27.3s in the two lap sprint. Jasmine Shore chased Isla hard to record 26.7s, placed second in the two lap sprint and later came fourth in the shot with 7.54m. Hallie Blancheon recorded two good marks with 28.0s in the two lap sprint and 39cm in the vertical jump, as well as contributing an excellent leg to the girls winning relay team. Not to be outdone Sasha Fleming produced 29.5s in the two lap sprint and a good 43cm in the vertical jump. Three boys represented the club in this first match of the season. Riley Jones produced a PB in the shot to place second, going over 10 metres for the first time with 10.08M, then leapt out to 6.46m in the triple jump for fourth place and finally came fifth in the four lap run with 55.5s. Corey Fisher powered to fourth place in both the two lap, 25.4s, and four lap with 54.5s. He then stretched out to 6.02m to place fifth in the triple jump. Coen Fagg raced to 30.5s for sixth in the two lap sprint and gained another sixth in the shot with 4.45m. At the end of the competition the final results were:
Interestingly Chesterfield had 57 athletes, Derby 39, AVEAC 27 and High Peak 13, which meant that AVEAC averaged 14.76 points per athlete, High Peak 13.23, Derby 9.88 and Chesterfield 8.73. To my mind this reflects some interesting points - entering every event helps, our athletes are talented and our coaches must know what they are doing! Finally, thanks to our officials for helping the programme to run so smoothly, team managers for getting the athletes organised and parents for transporting the athletes to the event and supporting them throughout the afternoon. And a final final messaage to all our young athletes - this is a good break from training, great fun and allows you to enter whichever events you want. With a few more attending we can WIN this competition outright! The next fixture will take place at Queen's Park Leisure Centre on Sunday 19th November at 12.30pm. North Midlands Cross Country League, Derby - 14 October Joe McColgan reports The first cross country fixture of the season involving AVEAC athletes took place at Markeaton Park on Saturday last. Five of our young athletes and team manager/coach Chris Rigby took part in the event. In the under 11 girls 1km race Claudia Sangster making her debut over the country finished in 20th place recording a time of 8:49 minutes while our only other female in action Eleanor Rigby also came home in 20th position at under 15 level. Eleanor's race was over a 4km course and she ran a respectable time of 17:28 minutes. Four boys took part in the under age male races. Jasper Sangster ran well to complete the 1km under 11 run in 19th place timed at 7:47 minutes. In the under 13, 4km race, Harvey Glover was first home for AVEAC in 20th place crossing the line in 15:18 minutes. He was ably supported by Alfie Ray in 37th place who recorded 16:59 mins and Lucas Sangster one place behind recording 17:20 mins. The three young 'harriers' combined to score 93 points finishing eight overall in the team event. Meanwhile a big shout out to club coach Chris Rigby who donned the AVEAC vest in the senior men's 10km. Chris managed to get round the gruelling course in a time of 62:15 minutes. Well done Chris! It would be great to see more of our young athletes take up the challenge of cross country running. It provides alot of benefits for young athletes. Running over uneven terrain and uphills sometimes on muddy courses helps develop strength, power and resilience in your calves, hamstrings and quads. The uneven ground strengthens feet and ankles. The challenging surfaces will make you lift your knees, deal with twists and turns and help overall with your balance and core strength. There is also a great social aspect and camaraderie to cross country running and a feeling of satisfaction when finishing the races. If you are up for the challenge in giving cross country a go talk to our distance coaches, Geoff Lowry, Chris Rigby and Chris Aikman for more details. As well as the North Midlands League, the club also take part in the more locally based Derbyshire mini league cross country. Current members with Birthdays in October - Happy Birthday to all from AVEAC !
Athletes: Turning 8 ● Joseph Brackenbury Turning 9 ● Jack Biggs Turning 10 ● Ellise Rogers ● Elliott Wright Turning 11 ● Oscar Ashmore Turning 13 ● Harvey Glover Turning 15 ● Ailsa McMillan ● Isabella Higgins ● Gino Franco ● Lily Osvath Turning 17 ● Ellis Carter ● Lewis Carter ● Scarlett Beddoe European Masters Athletics Championships, Prescara, Italy - 21 September to 1st October Club coach Nisha Desai celebrated thirty years in competitive athletics by bagging a silver medal at the European Masters Championships on Friday last. The coveted silver came in the 400m hurdles, her specialist event, which she first took up in 2005 having had a successful career up to that point over middle distance and cross-country. Nisha is in her last year in the 35-39 masters age group and lined up for the race as defending champion having secured the title in 2019 when the championships were also held in Italy. It was a close call with Nisha leading up to the ninth hurdle when fellow GB team mate Emily Bonnett overhauled her in the final run in to take the gold medal in 61.22 seconds. Sonja Keil (Germany) took the bronze medal in a time of 62.02 seconds. Nisha was rewarded with a season's best of 61.55 and had narrowed the gap on Bonnett when both athletes finishised in the same positions at the recent U.K. Masters event in Derby. Nisha has had a string of injuries this year and did well to make the start line. Nevertheless under the watchful eye of coach Bob Boyd, she managed to put together some good quality sessions over the past month in the lead up to the championships. She said: "This season has been tough, one of the toughest. Despite spending many months hobbling around and being told not to run or hurdle, this journey has been completed with a smile" "It may not have been a win, but the silver on this occasion felt like gold to me and losing to such a lovely person who I've raced for many years and running my best time of the season was no downfall" Achieving the silver was a great way to celebrate her thirty years in the sport. Having first taken up athletics in her native north east she joined Morpeth Harriers and still competes for them regularly in Northern League matches. She also competes for Trafford AC, Manchester in the National Premier League. Having attended the University of Nottingham and qualified as a Pharmacist, she settled in the Erewash area and thus became involved with AVEAC where she regularly assists in coaching with the club's older athletes. Nisha's career has had many high points with a vast array of Nothern titles to her name over 400m, 800m and 400m hurdles. She is a former English Schools runner up in the senior 800m back in 2002 and has gone on to represent England at under 20 level on three occasions in the 800m and cross-country and at senior level twice over the 400m hurdles at the Manchester and Welsh International games. She has also competed in the UK Senior Championships on no less than fourteen occassions since 2005 and has ranked in the UK top ten during many of those years. Next season Nisha will move into the 40-44 masters age category and her goal along with coach Bob, will be to do well at the 25th World Championships which will take place in Gothenberg, Sweden between 13-25 August. With a good solid block of winter training behind her, you would not rule her out on gaining another podium finish! GEOFF RETAINS GOLDEN GATES GALLOP RACE
Elvaston Castle, Derby, 25 September Another club coach and masters's athlete in action last weekend was Geoff Lowry who took part in the Golden Gates Gallop 5 mile race around the grounds of Elvaston Castle. Geoff placed first in a time of 32:29 minutes to retain the title he won last year as well. He had over half a minute to spare on runner up Dominc Muskos. On the Wednesday before the Elvaston run Geoff had also taken part in the first of the Derby Midweek road races at Raynesway. He finished tenth overall in the Men's 5km and was the second placed finisher in the M60 class recording a time of 20:04 minutes. Also taking part in the mid week event was AVEAC's Isabelle Szczepanski who finished thirteenth overall and was the second fastest junior in a mixed mile race. Her time of 7:05 minutes was a new personal best! Report - Joe McColgan Photos - Nisha Desai and Geoff Lowry Junior Inter-Counties Match, Cudworth - September 9th Freya Kirby retained her under 15 javelin title while Joe Moss picked up two gold medals in the long jump and 200m at the recent junior inter-counties match on Saturday 9th September. As well as Freya and Joe, AVEAC had ten other young athletes in action representing Derbyshire against six more counties in the region including; Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, Humberside and Warwickshire. With two athletes per county in each event, run on a A and B basis, the competition ensured quality fields throughout. Freya who is the current under 15 Midland Counties champion threw 32.92m to retain the A title she won last year when the match was held in Derby. She had over four metres to spare over Rubie Slater-Rowley (Nottinghamshire) in second place. Freya also competed in the B discus and finished a creditable third with a best effort of 16.43m. Joe Moss's victories came in the under 13 A long jump and A 200m. He sailed out to 4.99m in the long jump ahead of Edward Wilkinson (South Yorkshire) on 4.83m. In the 200m he clocked 26.76 seconds to finish five metres ahead of Cruz Francis (Leicestershire and Rutland). Joe also picked up a silver medal in the A shot with a personal best throw of 10.46m, a centimtere behind Logan Cowling (Humberside). Madeleine Turner finished just outside the medals in the girl's under 15 A 800m. In a hotly contested race which was won by Maya Schofield (South Yorkshire) in a very quick time of 2:12.53, Madeleine was pulled round to a new personal best of 2:18.69 to finish fourth, missing the bronze position by a mere three tenths of a second.
Also competing in the under 15 girls team were Isla Hiscocks and Jasmine Shore. Isla placed third in the B long jump with a best of 4.43m and fourth in the B 75m hurdles dipping under 13 seconds yet again this season with a respectable 12.93 seconds while Jasmine also had a third place spot in the B javelin throwing 18.41m and then went on to take fifth in the B high jump clearing 1.30m. In the girls under 13 match, Isabella Parsons-Loades in only her second ever shot put competition finished with a bronze medal in the A pool. She added forty four centimetres on to her debut throw at the Mini League fixture in July. Other fine performances in the under 13 girls age group were recorded by Betsy Wilton, third in the B 200m with a personal best of 29.20 seconds and eighth in the A long jump on 3.81m and, Isla Douglas sixth in the B long jump with a best of 3.53m. Sebastian Taylor had a fine run in the boy's under 13 B 75m hurdles finishing third in a time of 15.16 seconds while Alfie Ray and Charlie Davies put together pleasing performances in the sprints. Alfie placed fourth in the B 200m in a time of 30.53 seconds with Charlie coming sixth in the B 100m recording 14.10. In the under 15 boy's competition Corey Fisher was our sole representative. He finished third in the B 300m in 42.20 seconds and earlier in the meeting returned a time of 12.93 to place 6th in the B 100m. Disappointment for Ben at English School's Combined Events Championships Bedford, 16-17 September Ben Pitts pulled on his Derbyshire School's vest last weekend hoping to finish highly in the senior boy's decathlon at the English School's finals. Unfortunately things did not go to plan for Ben with a reoccurence of a back strain during the high jump. He had started the competition well with solid performances in the first three events, the 100m, long jump and shot put. In the high jump, however, he could feel that things were not right and only managed to clear 1.77m, well below his personal best. He gallantly carried on to complete the 400m at the end of day 1 and even began day 2 with the 110m hurdles. Event seven of the ten was the discus and although Ben produced a fine effort of 32.38m, his back was continuing to hamper his movement, so he made the sensible decision to pull out of the contest. Despite the disappointment Ben has had a great season in which he has won the Midland School's decathlon title and had his first ever international call up in the high jump for the England Junior under 20 team. He now heads off to Sheffield Hallam University to undertake his degree and will avail of the excellent training facilities at the EIS Arena. Everyone at AVEAC wishes Ben the best of luck as he undertakes his next journey academically and athletically. Report - Joe McColgan Photos - Chris Kirby and Becky Moss Fourth Trafford Combined Events Classic, Stretford - 9&10 September
AVEAC senior athlete Alice Robinson competed in the Trafford combined events classic recently. A former part time javelin thrower, originally from Ipswich, Alice joined the club in the winter of 2021/2 with the intent of becoming a multi eventer! She quickly set her marker down by attending a coaching course, which has seen her being able help out at many club sessions, as well as training for the full range of athletics events. The Trafford heptathlon started with the 100m hurdles and Alice recorded a respectable 19.00 seconds flat. (With a short stride she has had to learn to hurdle with either leg, because she needed four strides between the hurdles, although hard work has recently seen her now very close to three strides, which will lead to much improvement next year.) A good high jump of 1.33m followed, before she pushed the shot out to 9.82m, before completing the 200m in a slightly disappointing 29.76 to end the first day. She then retired to a nearby auntie’s house and pizza (more of this later!) The second day started with the long jump, where despite a good run through Alice only managed 4.39m despite some good recent training jumps. Then on to her original event, the javelin which she hurled out to a respectable 34.07m. The final event, the 800, saw Alice pull herself round the two laps to clock 2:43.55. A total score of 3334 points was just short of her personal best earning her a silver medal behind Nia Rutter (Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde). During the season Alice has competed for Burton as a higher claim member and scored a whole pile of points helping them to win their league - and has hopes of doing so for AVEAC in the near future. An atomic physicist engineer at Rolls Royce, Alice, has a passion for pizzas and pancakes and has proved a popular member of the coaching team at the club, helping out with various events, along with her training partner Nisha Desai, who is also a valued coach, and who is currently training to defend her W35 400m hurdles title at the European Masters Championships in Italy at the end of the month. Report: Bob Boyd Welsh Under 20 International Games, Cardiff - 26 August Ben Pitts (Coach - Julie Feeney) had the honour of being selected for the England under 20 team at the recent Welsh International games in Cardiff. Ben was picked in the high jump because of his consistent displays this year around the 2 metre mark. As well as the under 20 England team and the host nation Wales, there were additional teams taking part representing England under 18, Scotland, N.Ireland, the Islands (Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey), and the Welsh Schools. Going into the competition Ben suffered a slight back strain in training and this did hamper him during the event. He ended up clearing 1.86m to finish fourth behind winner Cameron Forbes (Scotland). Although not the result he was hoping for he found the experience invaluable. Ben now looks forward to the English Schools Combined Events championships next weekend. He will take part in the senior boy's decathlon and goes into the competition as the current Midland School's champion.
England Athletics U15/17 Open Championships, Birmingham - 26-27 August Javelin specialist Daisy Kaye was the club's sole representative at the England under age championships. Having achieved the tough qualification standard to take part in the event and, going into the championships having recently won the Midlands title with a personal best of 44.34m, Daisy had high hopes of a top six finish! Unfortunately things don't always go to plan at major events and she ended up in eleventh place with a best of 36.80m. A repeat of her performance at the regional event would have seen her finish fifth. Even so, one cannot take away from Daisy's achievements this year which as well as winning the Midlands crown saw her place seventh at the English School's finals while earlier in the season she also set a new under 17 best ever performance at the Nottinghamshire championships. Charnwood 'Stars of the Future' Meeting, Loughborough - 27th August Several AVEAC younger athletes took part in the popular 'Stars of the Future' Meeting at the Paula Radcliffe Track, Loughborough recently and put together some pleasing performances. The highlights for AVEAC included;
Northern Senior League Division East 1S, Doncaster - 19 August Congratulations to senior athlete Charlie Yates on adding three centimetres to her Senior Women's club record in the triple jump while competing for Chesterfield in this Northern Senior league fixture. Charlie finished second in the competition and her 10.50m hop, step and jump beat her previuos mark of 10.47m set earlier in the season also at Doncaster. Charlie also cleared 1.45m in the high jump to take maximum points. In the same meeting Ben Pitts cleared 3.50m when winning the pole vault while Grace Young placed third in the long jump with a best of 4.85m. Midland Counties League Division 4NE, Newark - 19 August The club's senior heptathlete, Alice Robinson, competing for her higher claim club Burton AC contributed a huge number of points to the team's overall total at this final league fixture which led to the Staffordshire club becoming league champions allowing them to compete in Division 3 next year. Alice took part in seven individual events during the day's competition. She won the A long jump with a personal best of 4.77m, placed first in the B javelin with a throw of 33.82m and A 100m hurdles recording 20.6 seconds. A debut run over the longer A 400m hurdles saw her finish second in 77.8 seconds. Another second place followed in the B shot and finally she finished a very busy day scoring more points in the discus. Credits Report - Joe McColgan Photos - Ian Pitts Current members with Birthdays in September - Happy Birthday to all from AVEAC !
Athletes: Turning 9: ● Amber Smith Turning 11: ● Marley Wisdom Turning 13: ● Sebastian Taylor Turning 14: ● Hallie Blancheon ● Ryan Ghai ● Amelia Whittaker Turning 15: ● Louis Szczepanski ● Elliott Wood Turning 16: ● Eden Klugman Turning 17: ● Luca Maniadakis ● Isabelle Szczepanski ● Hugo Thomas Turning 18: ● George Reynolds ● Corey Tatum Other members celebrating a birthday are: ● Ben Pitts ● Katie Potts ● Mitchell Palmer ● Claire Brackenbury ● James Wilton Treble for Joe Moss at North of England Championships Midland Javelin golds for Daisy Kaye and Freya Kirby in Nuneaton Alice Robinson lifts Midland Heptathlon title North of England Under Age Championships, Middlesbrough - August 12-13 Joe Moss has dominated his age group in Derbyshire this season across a range of events so entering the North of England underage championships was felt appropriate where he could test his mettle in a more competitive environment. Unphased by the stricter protocol set by the organisers, twelve year old Joe showed the potential he has by completing an outstanding day in his first major championship, coming away with three gold medals in the long jump, 100m and shot put. First up on the Sunday morning was the long jump in which he put together a consistent set of jumps, recording a best of 5.09m to take gold ahead of Federick Strong (Border Harriers) who had a best of 4.58m. Joe had hardly time to draw breath when the heats of the 100m were called and he duly obliged winning heat 1 by a metre in a slightly windy time of 12.50 seconds. The final beckoned an hour later and in a very close finish with Charlie Reilly (Sheffield and Dearn), the AVEAC starlet emerged the winner by just three one-hundreths of a second. Joe's time of 12.49s was marginally quicker than his heat time with the wind reading once again being just over the 2 metres per second legal limit. The shot competition in the afternoon session was also a very close affair! Joe set a PB getting over 10 metres for the first time with a best of 10.28m. It was nip and tuck right up to the very last round with Logan Cowling (Scunthorpe Harriers) getting close with an effort of 10.25m. Joe can feel justly proud of his achievements and to come away with a trio of gold medals in his first major championships is quite outstanding. Credit is due to his coaches for the preparation involved to get him ready to compete at this level. Midland Counties AA U17/U15 Championships, Senior Combined Events & U13 Quadrathlon
Nuneaton - August 12-13 It was gold all round for the three AVEAC athletes in action at the Midland Counties Championships last weekend. Senior athlete Alice Robinson competed over 2 days in the Heptathlon competition, finishing in first position with an impressive PB of 3454 points, adding over 300 points to her previous best set last year. Alice performed consistently well, winning 4 out of the 7 events, including a shot put of 9.27m, a 200m time of 28.72 and long jump of 4.54m. Her 100m hurdles time of 18.14 would have been a personal best as well, but the blustery weather unfortunately meant the time was wind assisted. Alice completed the event with a fantastic run in the 800m to beat her previous best time by 5 seconds, finishing in a time of 2:38.19 and taking the gold medal. On Sunday afternoon it was the turn of Javelin throwers Freya Kirby and Daisy Kaye, who competed in very windy conditions under the watchful eye of coach, Scott Knighton. The girls had to continually adapt their approach due to the ever changing wind conditions, but managed themselves exceptionally well throughout, both achieving their furthest throw in the sixth and final round. Freya’s best of 34.33m took the top podium spot in the U15 competition, whilst Daisy launched the javelin out to a PB of 44.34m to take gold in the U17s. Daisy’s throw also extends her club record set at the Nottinghamshire County Championships earlier this year. Both girls have had a slight dip in form over the middle part of the season, but will be hoping for a strong finish based on these performances at the England Athletics Champinships in Birmingham on the 26-27 August. Also included at the Midlands Championships was a Quadrathlon event for U13 athletes, which one of our younger athletes, Isla Douglas, took part in. Isla rose to the challenge of completing 4 events in one day and finished in a very creditable 8th place out of 15 athletes from across the Midlands. Isla ran times of 14.9 in the 100m and 2.06.22 in the 600m, whilst in the field events her Howler throw was 17.40m and her long jump of 3.73m was only a few centimetres off her PB. Well done, Isla! Credits North of England Championship report - Joe McColgan Midland Counties report - Sarah Kaye Photos - Becky Moss, Alice Robinson and Chris Kirby Current members with Birthdays in August - Happy Birthday to all from AVEAC !
Athletes: Turning 11: ●Fraser Jones ●Joshua Hunter Turning 12: ● Ellie Ursell Turning 19: ●Francesca Howett Other members celebrating a birthday are: ●Jessica Turner ●Christopher Rigby ●Nisha Desai ●Richard Woodward ●Christopher Aikman |
Archives
February 2024
|