The first North Midlands League cross-country fixture for eighteen months took place on a lovely sunny Autumn afternoon at Marketon Park,  Derby.  Five young club athletes were up for the challenge and all did well on their debut runs over the  country. New team manager Chris Rigby was delighted with his squad and even had sweet treats for the young ‘harriers’ at the finish. Club coaches Rich Prothero and Chris Aikman were also on hand, supporting and encouraging the athletes during their races.

Congratulations this time are due to Alfie Ray  who finished in 17th place in the U11 Boys 2km. Both Josh Bailey and Jack Heslop completed the U13 Boy’s 3.5km while  Jamie-Lee Scott and Eleanor Rigby had fine runs in the U13 Girls 3km race finishing 15th and 21st. Chris Rigby, who as well as looking after the athletes, completed the Senior Men’s 10km in a field of over 200 runners.

The club would like to encourage more young athletes who are training regularly to have a go at cross-country running.  The benefits of cross-county are well established. It is excellent for developing strength. The terrain forces you to run with your whole body. Ankle, leg, stomach and overall core strength will improve massively. Mental strength and determination are also developed which will lead to athletes racing better on the track during the Summer season. 

If interested in taking part in cross-country contact Chris Rigby at the track on Saturday mornings or Geoff Lowry on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Words - @jmccolgan
Thanks to Sarah McGraw for the photos and summary of the races.
More photos have been posted on the Club’s Facebook Page by Chris Kirby

It was great to see the Derbyshire Sports Hall Mini League for young athletes take place again at Queen’s Park Leisure Centre, Chesterfield on Sunday, having been cancelled last year due to the Pandemic. Twenty three AVEAC athletes took part in the fixture across the three age groups - Under 11, Under 13 and Under 15.  The Under 13 Girls narrowly won their age category scoring 90 points ahead of Chesterfield on 88.5.  As was the case in 2019 Chesterfield were convincing winners overall on  498 points, with Derby second on 369 and AVEAC on 343.  High Peak AC and new club Cannon Events finished 4th and 5th.

Under 11s
Lois Driver was the Club's highest scorer in the Girl's match contributing 24.5 points. Lois won the Chest Push Throw, finished 2nd in the Standing Triple Jump and completed a busy afternoon as 5th  fastest out of twenty two competitors the One Lap sprint.  Isobel Weller was also in good form scoring 21 points with a  3rd place in the 2 Lap Sprint, a 4th place in the Standing Triple Jump and 5th in the Vertical Jump. Lily Robshaw placed 4th in both the One and Two Lap sprints while Emily Bamford ended up 5th in the Shot. Other fine performances were recorded by Mamie Skipper in the sprints and Standing Triple Jump and Ruby Shore in the Chest Push Throw.

In the Boy's match Joe Moss excelled in his three events scoring 27 points with victories in the 2 Lap sprint and Chest Push Throw and a 4th place in the Vertical Jump. Our only other Under 11 Boy in action was Marcus Parsons-Loades who did well ending up in 4th place in the Chest Push Throw and 6th in the short sprint.

An excellent turn out of nine Under 13 Girls reaped rewards with the team winning overall in their age group. Isla Hiscocks was top scorer with two winning performances in the Standing Triple Jump and Vertical Jump and a second place in the sprint. Ellie Travis,  Freya Kirby and Jasmine Shore made it a one, two and three in the Shot while Isobelle Prothero and Madeleine Turner finished in 2nd and 3rd places behind Isla in the Triple Jump. Jamie-Lee Scott showed her endurance capabilities with a solid run and second place in the 6 Lap Run,  Jasmine Shore was also 2nd in the Vertical Jump and Amelia Whittaker put together two pleasing performances in the Sprint and Triple Jump finishing just outside a top three position in both.  

Corey Fisher was the Club's best placed athlete in the Boy's Under 13 contest finishing 2nd in the sprint and also gained 3rd spot in the 6 Lap Run. Nicholas Driver did well with two 3rd places in the Standing Triple Jump and Sprint while Jack Heslop competing in his first competition placed 6th in the Shot. 

AVEAC had three Under 15 Boys in action with all of them contributing points to an overall second place behind Derby. Newcomer Archie Bamford had a fine debut with a second place finish in the 4 Lap Sprint just ahead of Sebastian Banks in 3rd.  Archie placed 4th in the 2 Lap Sprint and 5th in the Triple Jump. Sebastian also took 4th place in the Triple Jump and 5th in the Shot. Kian Whittaker, the final member of the team, did well in the 2 Lap, 4 Lap and Shot with 6th places in all three.

​Daisy Kaye was our only U15 Girl in action and feeling slightly under the weather limited her participation to the Shot  where she finished 3rd.   With a few more Under 15 Girls taking part in future fixtures, the team would add substantially to their overall points total and, although it seems already that Chesterfield will take some catching in the overall standings, AVEAC could certainly be pushing for 2nd place.  The next fixture will take place on Sunday 14th November at Queens's Park Leisure Centre, Chesterfield from 1pm. Thanks are due to Team Managers Sarah Kaye and Rich Woodward. 

This Saturday 16th October, the first cross country fixture of the year will take place at Markeaton Park, Derby.  The event is part of the North Midlands Cross Country League and caters for all age groups from Under 11 to Senior and Masters runners. The first race for Under 11 Girls will start at 12:30. 

Words and collages - @jmccolgan
Thanks to Sarah and Daisy Kaye for the individual photos and Rich Woodward for the Team photo.

The AVEAC Club Championships returned to Rutland Track after an absence of two years and provided a fitting finale to the season. Blessed with glorious sunny weather, the community ethos of the club was there to be seen through the huge amount of voluntary effort from parents, coaches and club officials, ensuring that the event ran smoothly and successfully.  Our first ever Olympic athlete Jess Turner was on hand to present the winners with their prizes, as well handing over a perpetual cup in her name to the athlete producing the outstanding performance of the championship.

​Fifty one competitors took part in the competition which catered for athletes from nine years old up to Under 17. The younger athletes in the Club’s Recreation group took part in a four event Quadkids contest comprising of a 75m sprint, a Long Jump, a Howler Javelin throw and a 600m run. Older athletes in the Under 13 to 17 age groups participated in a ‘Run, Jump, Throw’ competition, choosing one event from each of these categories, gaining points along the way, based on their performances, with the highest points scorer in each age group being crowned club champion. 

In a very close and high standard Under 17 Men’s competition, Ryan Rawlinson emerged as the winner by a mere two points from George Reynolds; Ryan scored 279 points to George’s 277. Ryan scored the maximum number of 100 points for his 6.57m Long Jump, an exceptional effort for a fifteen year old. The distance would have propelled him to top of the rankings  in the U.K. as a Year 1 Under 17 had the meeting been officially licensed. George  Reynolds was also in good form in the Long Jump and exceeded the 6m mark for the second time this year, leaping 6.03m.  Both athletes produced excellent efforts in their Sprint and Shot Put events with George returning a PB of 11.7 in the 100m. In third place was Ben Pitts who opted for the High Jump, Javelin and 800m as his three scoring events. Ben finished on 258 points with the High Jump being the highlight of the three disciplines where he equaled his personal best of 1.80m.  In fourth place was Archie Protheroe on 241 points, Corey Tatum was fifth on 227 points and Joe Bennett scored 162 points in 6th despite not registering a distance in the Long Jump.

By virtue of his performance in the Long Jump, Ryan Rawlinson became the first holder of the Jessica Turner Perpetual Cup for the outstanding performance of the Championship. 

In the Under 17 Women’s competition Nicole Bonser was the victor scoring 226 points. Her best scoring event on the day was the 100m clocking a personal best time of 13.6. Having trouble with her Long Jump run up she still managed to register a distance of 4.37m despite taking off half a metre behind the board. In second place was Grace Young while Isabelle Hays and Maddie Fahey finished third and fourth.

There were only two athletes competing in the Under 15 Boy’s event and the title went to  Kian Whittaker who scored 156 points ahead of Freddie Haddock on 148. Both boys are relatively new to athletics competition and did well across their three events. Competing as a guest in this age group was Ewan Collier from Rushcliffe AC who is a second claim member of AVEAC. Ewan scored an impressive 236 points with his highest scoring event of the three, being the 800m where he recorded a time of 2:27:5.

With several of the club's U15 Girls taking a well earned rest after a lengthy season, there were only two athletes participating on the day.  The title went to Imogen Laugharne, who despite having competed in the English School’s Pentathlon, the previous Sunday, still managed to put together three pleasing performances in the 75m Hurdles, High Jump and Shot. Her final score was 233 points and her best scoring event was the sprint hurdles with a time of 12:1. In second place was first year U15, Poppy Weller, on 194 points. Poppy’s best event was her 18.07 Javelin throw.

Ellie Travis lifted the Under 13 Girl's title on 188 points. The event provided the biggest field  of the day with eleven athletes taking part. Ellie put together consistent performances across her three events with the highlight being a 4.13m Long Jump. The silver medalist was Madeleine Turner on 156 points and not far behind in third place was Jasmine Shore with a final score of 151.  The highest scoring individual event performance came from Freya Kirby in the Javelin with another excellent throw of 27.51m which earned her 75 points.  As well as Ellie, Madeleine, Jasmine and Freya, the other competitors taking part were; Naiya Starbucks, Amelia Whittaker, Lucy Rowcroft, Jaime-Lee Scott, Eleanor Rigby, Isobel Protheroe and Phoebe Manning.

Gino Franco took the gold in the Boy's Under 13 Championship with a score of 194 points. His best event was the Javelin, throwing 25.70m to earn 73 points. In second place was Nicholas Driver on 155 points with third place going to Corey Fisher on 153.

Twenty two of our under 11's lined up for the Quadkids competition; 13 in the Girl's event and 9 in the Boy's. Isobel Weller took the Girl's title on 178 points with Silver and Bronze going to Lily Robshaw who scored 178 points and Summer Biggs with a total of 158.

The Boy's  Gold medalist was Alfie Ray with an excellent overall tally of 205 points, followed in second and third positions by Joe Moss with 191 points and Finlay Bacon on 175. The other competitors in the Girl's and Boy's competition, many of them competing for the first time, are to be congratulated on their efforts. They included; Sienna Peel, Mamie Skipper, Lois Driver, Olivia Irvine, Lily Romans, Ruby Shore, Rosie Boyer, Bethany Wardle, Neve Sturt, Teagan Wilkinson, Harvey Glover, Seb Taylor, Kyran McCrellis, Alfie Stevens, Marcus Parsons-Loades and Ethan Ray. 

At the conclusion of the event, Bob Boyd, Club Chair congratulated all the athletes on their fine performances and thanked all the volunteers for their sterling workload. Bob commented:

"Your positive attitude and cheerful demeanour, not to mention professional way of working, went a long way to make everything run smoothly, which was, I am certain the main reason why the youngsters got so much out of the day"

Bob went on to thank Jess Turner for presenting the prizes and reminded all the young athletes present, that in the early days of the Club, Jess had started off competing in the Club Championships and Mini League and through hard work and dedication to training had got to the highest level in the sport.  

The club is now looking forward to as many youngsters as possible turning out for the Sports Hall and Cross Country fixtures starting in October.

Words and pictures - @jmccolgan
For a fantastic array of pictures of the day's action taken by Chris Kirby, visit the clubs Facebook Page

An end of season 'Field Fest' at Burton on Monday evening organised by Derby Athletics Development Association (DADA) saw some outstanding Javelin throws by  the club’s athletes including two new club records. 

Jessie Brown who has been throwing consistently over the 40m mark of late and was edging closer to breaking her own Senior Women’s club record, finally managed to unleash a mighty throw of 43.49m. The distance beat her previous record that stood at 42.02m, set at the Midland Senior Championships earlier in the season.  Jessie has now moved  up to  eighth position in the U.K. Under 23 rankings and will be looking to edge closer to the head of the rankings next season after a good Winter’s training behind her. Her final competitive throw of this season was a fitting reward for all her hard work under the watchful eye of Javelin coach Scott Knighton. 

The second club record was set by 12 year old Freya Kirby who managed to launch the 400 gram Javelin out to 29.13m, breaking the existing mark of 28.74m set by Daisy Kaye in 2019. Freya has thrown consistently this year and in all her seven Javelin competitions that she has competed in, she has set AAA Grade 1 performances in each of them. She now is ranked 6th in the U.K. at Under 13 level.

Three of the club’s other ‘spear chuckers’ were also in action. Joe Bennett threw 33.37m in the 700 gram class, a throw not far behind his  34.05m personal best. Older sibling Grace in only her second competition this year, following a foot injury, had a best of 26.82m in the Women’s category while another younger member of the Javelin group, Gino Franco’s best effort on the night was 29.69m just under a metre behind his recent PB set at the Charnwood Open a few weeks ago. All in all a good nights work for the throwers.

On Tuesday, the final DADA Track meeting was held at Moorways. Only two AVEAC athletes were in action with Lucy Fitzpatrick winning her graded 200m race in 29:13 and Isla Hiscocks finishing 3rd in the 75m U13 sprint in a time of 10:69. 

Words - @jmccolgan
Photos - @chriskirby Athletic Photography

Ella Rush created her own piece of athletics history on Sunday when she became the youngest athlete to won the 'Triple Crown' of English School's Combined Events titles in the thirty three year running of the Championship. Seventeen year old Ella  comfortably carried off the Senior Heptathlon title to add to her previous two gold medals when winning the Junior Girl's Pentathlon in 2018 and the Intermediate Girl's 'seven eventer' in 2019. Only Meghan Beesley, the Olympic 400m hurdler, who in her earlier career concentrated on combined events, has won all three titles in the past, her third one coming as an eighteen year old back in 2008. Ella's overall winning score of 5370 points  consolidated her  position as the top Under 18 year old in the U.K. and elevated her to eleventh in the U.K. Senior rankings.

She couldn't have asked for a better start to the competition on Saturday morning knocking an impressive four-tenths of a second off her previous best in the 100m Hurdles recording 14:36, the fastest time of the five heats. Going into the High Jump in a buoyant mood, Ella was hoping to clear at least 1.70m when an unfortunate collision with the upright at 1.65m dazed her slightly and she was unable to go any higher. Nevertheless a clearance at 1.62m kept her in front of the thirty seven strong chasing pack and a throw of 11.37m in the Shot extended her lead even further. Going into the 200m, the last event of the first day, she soon put the disappointment of the High Jump behind her to run another personal best of 25:15. Finishing the first day with a score of 3179 points, she had a commanding lead of 251 points going into final three events on Day 2.

A very strong Long Jump of 5.91m on Sunday morning was forty five centimetres in front of the second best placed jump and set the tone for her final two events. Ella’s Javelin throwing has been steadily improving of late and she was delighted with another best ever performance of 32.49m in her final effort. Looking for a finishing time of around her previous best of 2:23 in the 800m, she not only achieved that but in the process simply annihilated it, with a exceptional run of 2:18:42. The quick 800m run boosted her final tally to 5370, a new personal best by 204 points.  At the end of the competition Ella had a winning margin of over seven hundred points from Kate Chapman (Devon), the runner up and Rhiana Burrell (West Midlands) who finished third.

She was delighted with her performance and reflecting on the two days competition she said: 

“I am really happy to finish the season on such a high and want to thank everyone who has helped me achieve this milestone of three Championship titles”

”I will now take a few weeks rest before starting Winter training in preparation for what I hope will be another good season next year”

AVEAC had two other athletes, Imogen Laugharne and Mae Jones in action representing Derbyshire in the Junior Girl’s Pentathlon.  Forty two athletes took part in the competition and Imogen finished a highly respectable 11th scoring 2745 points, beating her previous best score by 104 points. Personal bests came in the 75m Hurdles where she sped to a time of 11:76 and in the Long Jump with a distance of 4.85m. Her 7.94m Shot Put and 1.56m clearance in the  High Jump were marginally behind her previous bests and she finished a lengthy competitive  day running the 800m  in 2:47:35.

Mae finished in 36th position overall on 2288 points, just over twenty points behind her previous Pentathlon outing in June. She too, started the day very well, reducing her 75m Hurdles time from 12.53 to 12:22 and added a centimetre to her Shot PB with a throw of 7.63m.  Disappointed with her High and Long Jump performances, Mae finished the day with a solid 800m run in 2:56:82.

Words and photos - @jmccolgan 

Our September issue is out now - trackupdate_september

Last weekend's Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire County Athletics Championships resulted in a huge medal haul for AVEAC athletes. Over the course of the two day event held at Harvey Hadden Sports Village, our athletes bagged a total of 53 championship medals including 21 Gold, 18 Silver and 14 Bronze. Medals were  won in each of the age groups from Under 13 to Senior level and it was also good to see some of our very youngest athletes in the the Under 11 age group contest, the four event, Quadrathlon.  The Championships which normally take place in May were delayed this year due to COVID and several months of planning by officials at Derbyshire Athletics and Nottinghamshire Athletics Association ensured that the event ran smoothly and successfully.  All the officials and volunteers who were involved in the championships are to be congratulated on their sterling efforts.

In the Derbyshire Championships,  the Club had four County Champions at Under 13 level with Isla Hiscocks taking the 70m Hurdles title, Ellie Travis won the Shot while Freya Kirby was ahead of the field in the Javelin. In the Boy's section Gino Franco also took the Javelin title.  Imogen Laugharne lifted the High Jump and 75m Hurdles titles in the Under 15 age group while Mae Jones was best in the Long Jump. 

In the Under 17 age group, Ryan Rawlinson produced three gold medal winning performances in the 100m Hurdles, Long Jump and Triple Jump. Ben Pitts became the High Jump and Discus Champion and Nicole Bonser won the 200m title.  At Under 20 Level Charlie Yates produced double winning performances with victories in the High and Triple Jumps and there was a High Jump first place as well for Henry Knighton in the Under 20 Men's championship.

Decathlete Scott Ram had a busy weekend contesting seven events over the two days in the Senior Men's Derbyshire championship.  He ended his gruelling schedule  lifting four titles in the 400m, 110m Hurdles, Long Jump and Pole Vault. Jessie Brown took the Nottinghamshire Senior Women's Javelin title.

In the Derbyshire Under 11 Quadkids,  Elodie Flanaghan finished 4th on 197 points in the Girls contest closely followed by Sienna Peel in 6th with 192 points and Mamie Skipper, 7th with a total of 178 . Marcus Parson - Loades was 8th in the Boy's competition scoring 165 points. In the Nottinghamshire event, Lily Robshaw completed two of the four events and scored 67 points.

Roll of Honour - 2021 County Medalists

Derbyshire 

Under 13 Girls
🥇Isla Hiscocks - 70m H - 12.93
🥇Freya Kirby - Javelin- 25.12m
🥇Ellie Travis - Shot - 7.34m
🥈Ellie Travis - Long Jump - 4.07m
🥈Ellie Travis - High Jump - 1.20m
🥈Jasmine Shore - Shot - 6.00m
🥉Isla Hiscocks - 100m - 13.95
🥉Isla Hiscocks - Long Jump - 3.70m
🥉Jasmine Shore - Javelin - 17.07m

Under 13 Boys
🥇Gino Franco - Javelin - 30.39m

Under 15 Girls
🥇Imogen Laugharne - 75m Hurdles - 11.83
🥇Imogen Laugharne - High Jump - 1.55
🥇Mae Jones - Long Jump - 4.93m
🥈Alexa Gordon - Long Jump - 4.91m
🥈Mae Jones - High Jump - 1.35m
🥉Imogen Laugharne - 100m - 13.80
🥉Mae Jones - 75m Hurdles - 12.55
🥉Imogen Laugharne - Long Jump - 4.63m
🥉Imogen Laugharne - Shot - 7.60m

Under 15 Boys
🥈Hugo Thomas - Long Jump - 5.73m

Under 17 Women 
🥇Nicole Bonser - 200m - 28.70
🥈Katie Potts - Long Jump - 4.97m
🥈Nicole Bonser - 100m - 13.93
🥉Isabelle Hays - 80m Hurdles - 18.84
🥉Nicole Bonser - Long Jump - 4.82m
🥉Nicole Bonser - Shot - 8.40m

Under 17 Men
🥇Ryan Rawlinson - 100m Hurdles - 16.13
🥇Ryan Rawlinson - Long Jump - 5.94m
🥇Ryan Rawlinson - Triple Jump - 11.84m
🥇Ben Pitts - High Jump - 1.80m
🥇Ben Pitts - Discus - 29.06m
🥈Ryan Rawlinson - 200m - 23.71
🥈Ben Pitts -  Javelin - 36.42m
🥉Ryan Rawlinson - 100m - 11.84
🥉Joe Bennett - Javelin - 30.38m

Under 20 Women
🥇Charlie Yates - High Jump - 1.55m
🥇Charlie Yates - Triple Jump - 10.60m
🥈Charlie Yates - 100m - 13.61
🥈Fran Howett - 1500m - 5.55.92
🥉Grace Bennett - Javelin - 26.72m

Under 20 Men
🥇Henry Knighton - High Jump - 1.80m

Senior Men
🥇Scott Ram - 400m - 51.49
🥇Scott Ram - 110m Hurdles - 15.90
​🥇Scott Ram - Long Jump - 6.27m
🥇Scott Ram - Pole Vault - 3.30m
🥈Scott Ram -  200m - 23.46
🥉Scott Ram - 100m - 11.71

Nottinghamshire 

Under 15 Girls
🥈Daisy Kaye - 300m - 44.30
🥈Daisy Kaye - High Jump - 1.45m
🥈Daisy Kaye - Shot - 9.07m

Under 17 Women
🥈Lucy Fitzpatrick - Triple Jump - 9.74m
🥈Millie Walster - Javelin - 30.23m

Senior Women
🥇Jessie Brown - Javelin - 41.01m

Words - @jmccolgan
Photos of the championships will be available at: www.athletic.photography courtesy of Chris Kirby in the next few days.

The final Upper Youth Development League Match at the Harvey Hadden Stadium on Sunday 5th September resulted in a fine third place finish overall for our Under 17 and 20 athletes.  Notts AC and Charnwood finished first and second and AVEAC managed to hold on to third place ahead of Derby and Burton,  clinched by a victory in one of the final events of the day, the Under 20 Women's 4 x 100m Relay.  Ella Rush and Charlie Yates were joined by Under 17 athletes Nicole Bonser and Katie Potts, with the quartet completing the one lap circuit in 51:6, ahead of Notts who were half a second behind. 

Henry Knighton was our sole Under 20 male athlete in action and like the previous fixtures he  scored valuable points placing second in the Triple Jump, edging his PB by one centimeter with a 11.91m performance. He also finished 2nd in the Javelin and 3rd in the High Jump. 

As well as winning the 4 x 100m Relay there were some excellent individual performances by the Under 20 Women athletes.  Ella Rush ran a commanding race in the 400m winning in 57:8 and in the process improved her previous best run over the one lap distance  by just over a second.  Charlie Yates, as she has done in the earlier matches, won the Triple Jump with a best effort of 10.56m. Alex Arbon clinched victory in the Javelin with a fine throw of 37.08m while Fran Howett ran 2:40.3 in the 800m, a season's best, which placed her 2nd in the two lap race. Katie Potts moved up an age group and ended up in third place in the Under 20 Long Jump; her best effort was 4.74m. 

In the Under 17 Men's match George Reynolds had a busy afternoon winning the Long Jump on 5.94m, finishing 2nd in the Shot with a 'put' of 9:40m and breaking 12 seconds for the first time in the 'A' 100m in 2nd place with a 11:9 clocking. Ryan Rawlinson also sprinted to a new best ever 100m; his time of 11:6 ensured maximum points in the 'B' race. He also was runner up in the Triple Jump with a best of 11.41m. Corey Tatum was 2nd in the 'B' Long Jump edging his previous best by one centimetre with a fine effort of 5.39m. In the 400m he also recorded 56:4 in 4th place; another marginal PB by one tenth of a second. Corey also took maximum points in the 'B' Shot. In the Javelin, Ben Pitts continued his recent spate of 40 metre plus throws with another PB of 41.32m to take the 'A' event. Ben was backed up by Joe Bennett in the 'B' contest who also placed 1st with a distance of 32.83m.

In the Under 17 Women's contest, Millie Walster threw 30.45m to won the Javelin by almost three metres. Nicole Bonser was a valuable points scorer across three events with a second place in the Long Jump and two third paces in the Shot and 200m. Her Shot Put distance of 9.25m and 200m time of 28:1 were both personal bests. Isabelle Hayes equaled her PB of 16 seconds dead in the 80m Hurdles to place 2nd and finished in the same position in the 'B' Long Jump. In the longer 300m Hurdles Maddie Fahey was 3rd with a time of 58:6 while in the Triple Jump Lucy Fitzpatrick claimed another 2nd place, similar to her previous league outing, with a jump of 9.83m.  In the non-scoring Long Jump, it was good to see Elizabeth Collings competing for the first this year and recording a distance of 4.06m.

Finally, congratulations is due to all the athletes who competed this year for their sterling efforts and on their behalf the Club would like to extend a big thank you to Jayesh Dave and Karen Yates for managing the teams at the four fixtures. 

Words and photos - @jmccolgan
Editor’s note: the final results of this fixture are not yet published on the Power of Ten so the blog was written from a draft of the results on the YDL website. Any performances not included or amendments will be added later. 

The final Lower Youth Development League fixture took place on Saturday 4th September at Moorways Stadium, Derby and although the team was low in numbers due to holidays, there were nonetheless some exceptional performances by our  younger athletes. Pride of place must go to Hugo Thomas and Freya Kirby who both recorded England Athletics Grade One performances when winning their respective events. 14 year old Hugo, moved himself up to seventh in the U.K. rankings in the Boy's Under 15 Long Jump with an exceptional leap of 6.02m.  In the Girls's Under 13 Javelin, Freya Kirby's winning throw of 26.65m was also a Grade One and was the fifth time this season that the youngster has achieved this milestone.

There were many other fine performances as well across the run, jump and throw disciplines. The Carter brothers, Ellis and Lewis recorded PBs in the 100m; Ellis returned a time of 12:72 to finish third in the Under15 'B' race while Lewis's winning time in the non-scoring sprint was 13:29. Hugo Thomas followed up his excellent Long Jump with a fourth place finish in a very close 'A' 100m recording a time of 12:32. The team's two other Under 15 scoring competitors were  Charlie Halford, 5th in the 1500m and Owen Siddall, 2nd in the ‘B’ Long Jump and 4th in the 80m Hurdles.  The 4 x 100m relay team made up of the Carter brothers, Owen Siddall and Hugo Thomas completed the afternoon with a good third place  finish behind  Charnwood and Derby. 

Mae Jones and Poppy Weller were our only athletes taking part in the Girls Under 15 match and both scored valuable points in the six events they contested between them. Mae won the ‘A’ Long Jump, placed second in the ‘A’ High Jump and recorded a personal best in the ‘A’ Shot to finish 3rd adding over 60 centimetres to her previous best with a good effort of 7.62m. Poppy won the ‘B’ Shot, placed 5th in the ‘A’ 200m and finished the day with a throw of 21.72m to claim third place in the ‘A’ Javelin. 

At Under 13 Level, as well as Freya Kirby's victory in the Javelin, there was also a first place finish for Ellie Travis in the 'A' Shot with an excellent winning throw of 7.11m with Freya also adding maximum points in the 'B' event 'putting' 5.46m.  Eleanor Rigby jumped 1.10m to won the 'B' High Jump while in the 'A' event Ellie Travis taking part for the first time in this event cleared 1.20m to claim third place. In the 'B' Javelin Jasmine Shore threw 16.46m to add another maximum score for the team. Isla Hiscocks scored valuable points with second place finishes in the 70m Hurdles recording 12:73 and Long Jump with a fine effort of 3.96m.  In the 800m Jamie Lee Scott recorded a time 2:55:63 to take third spot while the final member of the Girl's squad, Lucy Rowcroft's distance of 3.20m in the 'B' Long Jump was a personal best and gained her fourth place.

In the Under 13 Boy's match, Nicholas Driver and Corey Fisher were first in the 'A' and 'B' Shot.  Nicholas's  best throw was 5.92m while Corey managed 4.30m. Gino Franco finished 3rd in the Javelin on 24.44m while Joshua Bailey's best performance on the day was in the Long Jump placing second with a leap of  3.34m.

Overall the team finished 5th in the six team contest and thanks is due to Nigel Hiscocks who managed both age groups on the day.

Photos and words - @jmccolgan
For more photos of the day’s action, visit the club’s Facebook page for Chris Kirby’s excellent images. 

The club champs organisation is coming along well - we have lined up a number of stands, and are currently producing our publicity material - in the meantime, the entry form is available below, or the eagle eyed among you would also have noticed it in the header info! - please download and return with payment!

​The club has put together a quick online shop to purchase some club kit which will be going live shortly:
http://shop.aveac.club/
Once the site is live you will be able to view the items on offer and order accordingly - at the moment we are asking that any orders you make are to be paid for on collection (cash or cheque) from the admin desk on Saturdays, beginning 18th September (after County Champs weekend!) Eventually we will offer a full electronic order/payment facility.

Hugo Thomas earned his first regional medal when he secured third place in the Boy's Under 15 Long Jump at last weekend's Midland Championships held at the Pingles Stadium, Nuneaton.  In not too favourable conditions, Hugo's best effort was 5.42m,  just seven centimetres behind the silver medalist Ramadan Noah (Coventry). The gold medalist Harry Carrott (Charnwood) jumped 5.59m.  This was a great achievement by Hugo who only joined the club earlier this year and adds to his fifth placing in the English School's finals in July.

The club had two other long jumpers in action, both of whom were unlucky not to get on the podium. Mae Jones finished fourth in the Girl's Under 15 event in a large field of 14 competitors; jumping 4.87m she was a mere two centimetres off the bronze medalist.  In the Women's Under 17 competition, Katie Potts finished fifth, leaping 4.98m, just one centimetre behind the fourth placed athlete and only ten behind the bronze medalist.

This Saturday a number of our athletes will be in action at the Charnwood 'Stars of the Future' meeting in Loughborough although for a few of them it was disappointing to learn on Tuesday that both the Triple Jump and Javelin events were cancelled due to lack of officials. The following weekend both Lower and Upper YDL teams will take part in their final fixtures of this year's campaign. The Under 13 and 15 team will be in action on Saturday 4th September at Moorways while on Sunday 5th, the Under 17 and 20 team will complete their last fixture at the Harvey Hadden Stadium.

Words - @jmccolgan
Photo - Peter Thomas 

It was a successful day for Ella Rush on her GB debut at the Manchester International last Wednesday. Competing in the Long Jump for the GB Under 18 team she finished second in a five way match against Under 20 teams from England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland.

The match took place in fairly gloomy conditions  but that didn't stop Ella from putting together an excellent series of jumps with three of her six efforts over 5.90m. Her best of 5.93m was an outdoor personal best and was only four centimetres behind Abigail Pawlett (England U20). Ella finished ahead of Wales's Jessica Lee who had a best effort of 5.86m; Scottish jumper Molly Reville was 4th on 5.67m and N. Ireland's Lauren Callaghan finished fifth with a best of 5.35m.

The Long Jump competition also included athletes taking part in the  International Senior match and it was a great experience for Ella to  jump alongside GB Olympian and 2019 World Championship finalist Abigail Irozuru and European Under 23 bronze medalist Lucy Hadaway. 

Speaking after the competition Ella said: "I am delighted with the consistency of my jumps today and was pleased to get an outdoor PB. It was a great honour to compete for GB and to give of my best on the day."

She is now looking forward to her final competition of the year, the English School's Heptathlon on the 18th and 19th September. Ella is in good form at the moment  having recently set personal bests in the Shot and Javelin at competitions in Loughborough as well as the Long Jump in Manchester and will be looking to improve on her Heptathlon best score of 5166 points.

Words and photo - @jmccolgan 

AVEAC Under 17 athletes, Ryan Rawlison and Millie Walster came away with silver medals at two prestigious athletics meetings at the weekend. Ryan travelled to Hull to take part in the Northern under-age championships on Saturday and Sunday and finished runner up in the Boys's Under 17 Triple Jump. He jumped 11.76m, his second furthest ever and was delighted to get on the podium. He will be in the same age group next year and will be looking to  improve even further. On Sunday Ryan took part in the Long Jump and finished a respectable 6th jumping 5.60m.

On Sunday the Loughborough Javelin Festival took place at the Paula Radcliffe track and Millie Walster produced a throw of 30.24m to finish in second place in the Under 17 age group. This was another consistent performance by the AVEAC  thrower who only joined the club this year. Like Ryan, Millie is also a first year Under 17 and no doubt will be adding longer distances to her throwing repertoire next year following a good winter's training. 

Competing in the under 13 age group at the Northern Championships, Isla Hiscocks qualified for the final of the 100m after finishing second in her heat in a  time of 14:11. In the final she was involved in a blanket finish and ended up in sixth place, just missing the bronze medal by one-tenth of a second. Despite sprinting  into a 2.2 metre head wind Isla was rewarded with a new personal best of 14:06. 

Back at the Loughborough Throws Festival, Jessie Brown finished sixth in a very high quality field in the senior competition. A throw of 41.17m was just under a metre behind her lifetime best. Ella Rush, got some Javelin throwing practice in for the English School's Heptathlon Championships next month and recorded a PB of 30.32m in the Under 20 event. University of Nottingham student Joss Foot who regularly trains with the AVEAC squad finished fourth in the Senior Men's competition  with an excellent  63.18m throw.

Virtual Award for Daisy
On Saturday there was a nice surprise in the post for Daisy Kaye. The Under 15 multi-eventer received the good news that during Lockdown she had won a virtual Quadrathlon organised by Stockport Track and Field. The event included a 10 x 10m Shuttle Run, a Ball Throw, a 3 minute run and a Standing Long Jump.  Daisy scored 286 points and her individual performances in the novel event were; 22.5 for the Shuttle Run,  33.70m in the Ball Throw, a Standing Long Jump of 2.19m and a distance of 810m for the three minute run. 

This weekend a small number of  AVEAC athletes will be heading to the Pringles Stadium, Nuneaton for the Midland Under 15 and 17 Championships. 

Photos
Ryan Rawlinson - @CatrionaLucas
Millie Walster - @ChrisKirby
Isla Hiscocks - @JMcColgan
Daisy Kaye - @SarahKaye

On Wednesday next, Ella Rush will gain her first GB vest when she competes in the Manchester International.  A five way match will see the GB Under 18 team take on Under 20 teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  Ella will compete in the Long Jump and her selection is a fitting reward for the talented athlete who as well as being outstanding in the Heptathlon, has also been the most consistent long jumper in her age group nationally since 2018. 

Delighted with her GB call up, Ella who twice previously competed for the English School’s team, in the Pentathlon,  in 2018 and 2019 commented:

”I am so pleased to have been selected and would like to thank everyone who has helped me on the way. I am in really good condition at the moment and want to be competitive on my GB debut and put in a strong performance”

”I have jumped in Manchester on several occasions and like the long jump facilities there, so hopefully I’ll jump well”

Her personal best in the Long Jump is 5.97m and she will be hoping to push over the 6 metre mark for the first time on Wednesday. It should be an excellent competition and will also include several older and more experienced jumpers competing in a Home Countries senior match  taking place alongside the Under 18 and Under 20  one. 

The Manchester International will give Ella the opportunity to gain experience in pursuit of further international age group competition in 2022. After the announcement of the team selection, GB Team Leader, Sharon Morris said, "we have a very strong U18 team and Under 20 team and I look forward to seeing them perform. I'd like to acknowledge the hard work coaches have put in supporting these young athletes to achieve their goals."

The action kicks off around 1pm on Wednesday with Ella's  Long Jump scheduled for 6:05pm. Tickets for the international are available on line at Eventbrite and cost only five pounds for adults and are free for Under 16s and Over 65s. 

A flare up of an achilles tendon injury severely affected Jess Turner's progress over the 400m hurdles at the Olympics.  Jess reached the semi-final, where she finished seventh after qualifying in fourth place in the Round 1 heats. 

Jess who has had a remarkable season leading up to the games, recording personal best performances on four occasions and winning the British title, ran 56:83  in one of the faster opening qualifying races, holding off Australian hurdler, Sarah Carli to gain automatic progression to the semi-final. In an interview with British Athletics after the heat, it became apparent that Jess's training had been curtailed during her final preparations  for Tokyo.

"I've had a tough run-up to this race, so I've not been able to train properly due to injury but I'm just happy to get round in one piece and to get the automatic spot."

In Monday's semi-final, it was clear to see that Jess was struggling from the start. To make matters worse the race took place during  torrential rain and she ended up in seventh place in a time of 60:36.

Jess was naturally gutted and in her post race interview with British Athletics media she said:

“I am proud to be here and happy I made the semi-finals but sad it had to end this way,” 

“I genuinely thought I had a shot at the final if I had run like I have been running all season.”

“I went to plan B and it was going OK but then my achilles massively flared up and it never usually does.”

“I’ve had such a dream season running fast times all throughout then when it mattered the most, I couldn’t manage it.”

Everyone at AVEAC is extremely proud of Jess’s achievement.  She is an Olympian and history maker and that can’t be taken away from her.  She will now focus on getting her Achilles injury sorted out and come back even stronger. Next year is another big one in the athletics calendar with the Commonwealth, European and World Championships taking place and Jess’s mind will now be focused towards those major events.  We wish you well Jess!

Picture: @jessturner Instagram
​Words: @jmccolgan

George Reynolds showed his athletic versatility at the third Upper YDL fixture held at Burton last Sunday recording three personal bests in the Long Jump, 200m and Shot.  He added 24 centimetres to his previous Long Jump best with a magnificent effort of 6.19m. The mark now ranks him just inside the top 30 in the UK in the Under 17 rankings and tenth best as a first year in this age group. His two other personal bests came in the 200m where he won  the 'B' race in 24:1, an improvement of 0:7 seconds and in the Shot, where he ‘put’ the 5kg metal ball 9.80m to finish second. 

George was not the only AVEAC athlete on PB form with several members of the team breaking new ground across a variety of events.  Ben Pitts, another talented all rounder, equaled his previous best in the Under 17  'A' High Jump clearing 1.75m and then went on to exceed all expectations by launching the Javelin 40.79m to record a fantastic double victory.  With limited Javelin coaching behind him, Ben who had previously only competed in the event once before, over two years ago, certainly showed that the potential is there to go a lot further. 

Ryan Rawlinson and Corey Tatum also returned PBs. Ryan stepped up to the Under 20 age group in the Long Jump and  went over six metres as well, jumping 6.01m to won the 'A' competition. Later in the afternoon he turned his attention to the Triple Jump winning the 'A' event with a second PB of 11.97m moving him up to fourteenth in the UK as a first year Under 17.  Corey Tatum was also in good form with a personal best of 5.34m to won the 'B' Long Jump and secured a second all time best performance of  24.7 in the 200m to finish third. Joe Bennett claimed maximum points winning the 'B' Javelin throwing 28.26m. 

In the Under 20 match Henry Knighton scored valuable points with top three finishes in the High Jump , Triple Jump and Javelin including PBs of 11.91m in the Hop, Step and Jump and 31.62m in the throw.  In the Women's match Amelia Banks finished second in the 'A' 100m timed at 13.1 seconds, a fraction behind her previous best. She also finished 2nd in the Javelin and 4th in the Discus. Charlie Yates bounded out to a season's best of 10.73m to won the Triple Jump; she also won the 'B' 100m in 13.6. Ella Rush was untroubled in the Long Jump winning the 'A' competition with a 5.72m leap, Fran Howett had another fine run in the 800m finishing 3rd in 2:43:0 and Sienna Grant stepped up to tackle the 400m to finish 3rd in 71 seconds dead.

In the Under 17 Women's contest, Isabelle Hays won the 80m Hurdles in 16.1 and recorded a new best  of 3.94m in the non-scoring Long Jump. Millie Walster took maximum points in the 'A' Javelin with another consistent throw of 30.52m,  Katie Potts jumped 4.93m in the 'A' Long Jump to finish 2nd, while Maddy Fahey finished 2nd as well in the 300m Hurdles and 3rd in the 'B' Long Jump. In the Triple Jump, Lucy Fitzpatrick was 2nd with a distance of 9.74m. 

The fourth and final Upper YDL fixture will take place at Nottingham on Sunday 5th September.  Team Managers, Karen Yates and Jyesh Dave will  be contacting athletes about their availability later in August.  

Acknowledgements
Photos: Roy Reynolds and Joe McColgan

There was a good turn out of our younger athletes at the second Mini League fixture on Saturday last with several of them gaining their first experience of competitive athletics.   The weather was a lot better than the first match, three weeks ago, ensuring that many fine performances were recorded with several  personal bests being the order of the day. The team spirit was excellent and was no more evident than in the final ‘mixed’ relays which saw our U11 and U13 combined team winning and the U13 and U15 joint team finishing a close second.

In the Girl’s Under 15 age group, Mae Jones was in terrific form recording a treble. She started off the morning winning the 75m Hurdles ahead of team team mate Alexa Gordon, recording a new best of 12:53. Both girls finished in the same positions in the 100m (Race 2) with just a metre separating them at the finish with times of 13:74 and 13:80.  Mae then went on to won the Long Jump; jumping into a slight head wind, her best effort was 4.69m.

Esme Aikman, running her first ever 300m produced a storming finish to cross the finish line in 49:47 to take first place. She also had another fine Shot  performance placing second, throwing 7.87m. In 100m (Race 1), Katie Fitzpatrick was runner up in 14:24 and in the same sprint there was a personal best for Cam Cammack, recording a time of 14:80.  Imogen Laugharne produced decent performances in the Long Jump and Shot finishing second behind Mae Jones in the former jumping 4.40m and then claimed the third spot in the throw  with a ‘put’ of 7.33m. Poppy Weller continued her recent improvement in the Javelin to finish third with a PB of 21.75m, adding almost half a metre to her previous best set at last weekend’s YDL fixture.

Hugo Thomas continued to impress with two second places in the U15 Boy’s 100m (Race1) and 80m Hurdles. His 100m time was 12:30 while debuting at the short hurdles he recorded 14:87. Recent new recruit to the club, Ellis Carter had a successful first appearance winning the 100m (Race 2) in 13:21 and placing third in the 300m in 44:61. In the 100m Race 3, Sebastian Banks placed third in 14:54 and finished in the same position in the High Jump. 

In the Under 13 age category, Isla Hiscocks sped to a time of 14:09 in the 100m in second place after starting the morning finishing second as well in the 70m hurdles. Portia Gordon finished half a second behind Isla placing third in the 100m and had it not been for an unfortunate slip around the 60m mark, she may have been even closer to the top two at the finish. Eleanor Rigby improved her High Jump best again clearing 1.18m to claim another third spot. In a mixed Under 13 and 15 Boy's and Girl's 1500m, Jamie Lee Scott was the fourth best placed Under 13 Girl, Eleanor Rigby was sixth best placed and Charlie Halford was the fourth best placed Under 15 Boy.

In the Under 13 Boy’s match, Gino Franco produced another fine effort in the Javelin with a 28.09m throw to finish first. Joshua Bailey’s best performance of the day was in the Long Jump where he finished second with a good effort of 3.56m. Corey Fisher sprinted well to take second place in the 200m in 31:34 following his third place in the 100m earlier in the day where his time of 14:85  was a new PB.  
​

In the Under 11 match, Lily Robshaw competing for the first time recorded two victories in the 80m (Race 1) and Long Jump. Her time in the sprint was 13:29 and a long jump of 3.07m was also good enough for first place. Another newcomer, Sienna Peel finished second in the 150m and was the  top placed  Girl in a mixed Boy's and Girl's 600m. A third new debutant, Elodie Flannaghan finished second behind Lily in the Long Jump leaping 2.92m and then went on to place third in the Howler Javelin.

Alfie Ray, also recorded a double in the Boy's Under 11 events winning the 150m in 23:93 and the Mixed Boy's and Girls 600m with a fine display of front running in 2:03:2.  Isobel Weller came second in the 80m less than half a metre behind Lily crossing the finish in 13:35 and was the third best placed Under 11 girl in the mixed 600m. Other fine efforts were achieved by Ethan Ray, Alfie's younger brother, in the 80m and 150m sprints and by Jack Heslop in the 150m and mixed 600m. 

This was the final Mini League match this season. The normal four match programme was reduced to two due to Covid restrictions. A big thank you is due to the hard working Derbyshire Athletics officials who pulled out all the stops to ensure that the counties younger athletes, especially Under 11s, could engage in some competitive athletics this year. A big thank you as well on behalf of athletes and parents to AVEAC Mini League Team Manager Anna Fitzpatrick for her sterling work over the two matches.  

The next Derbyshire Athletics promotion will be the County Championships in conjunction with Nottinghamshire Athletics at the Harvey Haddon Stadium on   Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September. The event caters for all ages from Under 13 to Masters and includes a Quadkids, four event competition,  for Under 11s.  Entry details are on the Club’s Facebook Page and the Derbyshire Athletics Facebook page. 

Words and photos - J McColgan 

The second Lower YDL fixture took place on Saturday last at the Harvey Hadden Stadium, Nottingham. The hottest day of the year so far, did not deter our younger athletes from producing some excellent performances with twelve first place finishes and several personal bests recorded. AVEAC finished fifth overall out of the six competing teams scoring 265 points and were only 12 points behind Mansfield Harriers in 3rd. Derby AC finished fourth on 268 points while the home team scored 382 points and managed to hold on to overall victory, ten points ahead of Charnwood.

Under 13 Boys
Gino Franco produced his second furthest throw so far in the Javelin with a fine effort of 28.50m securing maximum points with a first place finish. This was another excellent performance by Gino who has a PB of 29.75m set recently at the Moorways DADA competition. His distance on Saturday was almost 9 meters ahead of the second placed athlete. Gino also took part in the ' A' 150m and recorded a time of 23 seconds dead to finish fifth.

Joshua Bailey had a busy afternoon scoring valuable points in the 75m sprint, 800m and Long Jump.  A time of 11:7 placed him fifth in the short sprint, a new PB of 2:49:50 in the 800m was good enough for  fourth while  his 3.73m Long Jump ensured third place. Corey Fisher had two fourth place finishes in the 'B' string 150m and 800m and took third as well in the Shot.  Nicholas Driver, in his first ever competition on the track, had an excellent debut with two third places in the 'B' 75m in 11:3 and Long Jump with a distance of 3.65m. In the 1200m Max Houlton was 5th in a time of 4:44:8. To finish the day the 4 x 100m relay team of Joshua, Nicholas, Gino and Corey placed third behind Mansfield and Charnwood.

Under 13 Girls
Freya Kirby continued her excellent progress in the Javelin and like Gino Franco in the Boy's event won her competition by a considerable margin of almost eight metres. Freya's distance of 26.74m was just short of her recent 28:67m personal best also set at the DADA meeting earlier in the month. Both marks are English Athletics Grade 1 standards and rank her fifth  in the UK at Under 13 level. For good measure Freya took second spot in the Shot as well with a new best of 6:08m.

In the sprints, Isla Hiscocks was third in the 'A'  75 in 10:5 and repeated the same placing in 70m Hurdles with a time of 14:4, Naiya Starbuck was fourth in the 'B' 75 in 11.5 and 6th in the 'A'  150m in 23.4.  Ellie Travis won the 'B'  150m recording an excellent time of 21:4 and also won the non-scoring 75m in 10:80.

Eleanor Rigby placed 5th in the 800m; her time of 2:55:90 improved her personal best set at the first fixture by almost four seconds.  She also recorded PBs and scored valuable points in the  'A' High Jump  clearing 1.15m and 'B' Long Jump, with a leap of 3.32m. In the 'A' Long Jump, Ellie Travis added another PB to her 75m and 150m with a fine distance of 3:65m improving  by nineteen centimetres on her previous distance at the first Mini League match.

In the 4 x 100m Relay, Naiya, Eleanor, Ellie and Isla ran 58:3 to finish second behind a very fast Notts team.

Under 15 Boys
Hugo Thomas showed excellent form  in the Boy's 100m, 200m and Long Jump where the standard in all three events was exceptionally high.  Personal bests of 11:9 in the 100m and 24:8 in the 200m earned him second places while a distance of 5:57m in the Long Jump placed him third.  Our only other Under 15 Boy was Charlie Halford who finished fifth in both the 'A' 800m and 'B' 200m returning times of 2:46:0 in the two lap event and 31:2 in the shorter race.

Under 15 Girls
Our Under 15 Girl's squad is exceptionally strong and this was reflected with ten victories in total across the 'A' and 'B' events. Imogen Laugharne, Poppy Weller, Mae Jones and Daisy Kaye ended a great afternoon for the team winning the 4 x 100m Relay in 54:4.  Individually there were nine other first place finishes.  Daisy Kaye set her second personal best in the 200m in a week winning the 'A' event in 27:2 and also took maximum points in the Shot with a solid throw of 8.63m. Mae Jones won the 'A' Long Jump with another consistent jump of 4.96m. Alexa Gordon, returning to competition after injury made a welcome comeback and jumped the exact same distance as Mae to won the 'B' event.

Imogen Laugharne won the 75m Hurdles in 12:3 while Mae Jones did likewise in the 'B' event with a PB of 12:8. Other first places in the 'B' events were recorded by Katie Fitzpartick in the High Jump with a 1.40m clearance, Esme Aikman in the ‘B’ Shot throwing 7.51m  and Daisy Kaye in the Javelin on 21.05m.

Poppy Weller taking part in only her second Javelin competition improved by over four metres on her previous outing throwing 21:34m to finish third in the 'A' competition. She claimed third as well in the 'B' 200m with another best performance of 30:4. There were more PBs in the 100m for Katie Fitzpatrick and Mae Jones; both were timed at 13:7 with Katie finishing third in the 'A' race and Mae taking second in the 'B' sprint. Esme Aikman threw the Discus 15.04m to finish second in the 'A' event while Imogen Laugharne  cleared 1:50m in the 'A' High Jump to also take the runner up spot.

All in all it was a fine afternoon's athletics for the AVEAC team and had it not been for a few athletes missing the event due to Covid self isolation, they would have pushed for a third place finish in the overall standings. Thanks are due again to Sarah Kaye who looked after the Under 15 team and Nigel Hiscocks who team managed the Under 13s. The final Lower YDL fixture will take place at Derby on  Saturday 4th September. This weekend the Under 13s and Under 15s will be joined by our Under 11s at the final Mini League match of the season at Moorways on Saturday while our older Under 17 and 20 athletes will be in action at the third Upper YDL fixture on Sunday at Burton.

Photo acknowledgement: 
Chris Kirby - Athletic Photography 
For more of Chris’s images of the fixture, visit the Club’s Facebook Page.

Ella Rush added another national medal to her growing collection this year by finishing 2nd in the Girl's Senior Long Jump at the English School's Championships held over the weekend at the Regional Athletics Centre in Manchester.  This years championships were run over three days rather than the normal two due to Covid restrictions with Seniors competing on Friday, Intermediates on Saturday and Juniors on Sunday. During Sunday's Junior events three of our younger athletes, Mae Jones, Imogen Laugharne and new recruit to the Club Hugo Thomas were also in action.  Although not getting on the podium in their events, the three juniors all gained valuable experience taking part in one of the biggest youth athletics championships in the world.

The Senior Girl's Long Jump attracted fourteen of the countries top jumpers. Ella jumped very consistently throughout  the competition  with a best distance of 5.86m, her second furthest effort this season. The winner was Cleo Martin-Evans (Warwickshire) who finished eight centimetres in front of Ella on 5.94m. Taking the Bronze medal was Lucy Robinson (Greater Manchester) with a best of 5.70m.  Ella who is eligible for this age group next year gained her fourth English School’s medal having previously won the Silver in the Junior Long Jump and Gold in the Junior Pentathlon in 2018 and Gold in the Intermediate Heptathlon in 2019.

Repton student Hugo Thomas who has recently joined AVEAC following the County School’s Championships in June excelled himself by finishing 5th in the Junior Boy’s Long Jump in only his third competitive outing at the event. His 5.71m distance beat his previous best mark by five centimetres.  With limited coaching behind him Hugo is certainly one young athlete to look out for in the future.

In the Girl’s Junior Long Jump, Mae Jones had another consistent jump of 4.97m to finish 10th, not that far behind her season’s best standing at 5.11m.  

Imogen Laugharne finished in 13th place in the Junior Girl’s High Jump. She cleared the same height, 1.51m,  as the 8th placed  athlete, losing out on count back due to having a greater number of failures at a lower height. 

The experience gained by Hugo, Mae and Imogen will stand them in good stead for further championship events in the future. Understandably all three athletes were extremely nervous and credit is due to them  for their excellent performances.

​Both Mae and Imogen along with Ella Rush can now look forward to the the English School’s Combined Events Championships on 18th and 19th September in Bedford. 

Alex Knibbs ran his best 400m Hurdles race to date on Saturday when he finished fourth in the final at the European Under 23 Championships held in Talinn, Estonia. Just missing the bronze medal by three tenths of a second the Loughborough student had the satisfaction of running a new personal best of 49:37. His time was the seventh fastest all time by an Under 23 athlete in the U.K. and also ensured that he beat the 49:60 qualifying standard set by England Athletics for next Summer's Commonwealth Games.

Alex had to contend with a heat and semi-final to ensure his passage to the final. He won his first round race on Thursday in a time of 50:27 ahead of German athlete, Emil Agyekum.  Introducing a new stride pattern for the first 200m of Friday’s Semi Final, he ran a controlled race, conserving energy to finish 2nd in 50 seconds dead behind Alessandro Sibilio (Italy), the pre-race favourite.

Alex’s second place ensured a favourable Lane draw for the final. The race proved  to be very quick with the first five finishers all running personal bests. Sibilio dominated and took the Gold medal in a new championship record of 48:42, ahead of Agyekum, who had upped his game from the previous rounds returning a time of 48:96. Dutch athlete Ramsey Angela took the bronze a couple of metres ahead of Alex while Alistair Chalmers, the other British athlete in the final,  finished 6th in a season’s best time of 49:84.

Alex improved upon his eighth place finish at the 2019 Championships and in an interview with British Athletics after the event he commented, “That race was fast. I am amazed with that PB. I gave it my best , so I am happy with the PB”

Now coached by Nick Dakin at Loughborough, Alex’s potential was first nurtured over the long hurdles by Club Coach, Julie Feeney.  That potential began to be realised when as a fifteen year old he finished fourth in the U.K. School Games in 2015 and two years later went on to won the English School’s Senior title. The games in Tallinn were Alex’s third major European Championship at Under20 and 23 level. He has also appeared in the World Junior Championships in 2018 gaining a bronze medal in 4 x400 Relay.  He will now take a well earned rest before turning his attention to gaining selection for the Commonwealth Games next August in Birmingham.  

There was a positive start for AVEAC athletes at the first Mini League match in almost two years at Moorways Stadium, Derby on Saturday. Despite the atrocious wet weather, there were excellent performances all round with several of the young athletes experiencing their first ever outdoor competition and thoroughly enjoying the experience in the process. The fixture catering for athletes Under 11 to Under 15, has always been seen as first step into competitive athletics and down the years the fixtures have provided a platform for many to go on to won regional and national titles as well as competing internationally.  Our first ever Olympic athlete and British Champion Jessica  Turner and World Under 20 Heptathlon Champion, Niamh Emerson both started their athletic journeys at the Mini League.

Under 11s
Five of our youngest athletes took part in their first ever competition and performed exceptionally well. Pride of place must go to Isobel Weller who won one of the three 80m sprints in 13:61 and then went on to run an outstanding race in the longer 600m, recording her second victory of the day. Her time of 2:12:37 was over 13 seconds faster than the next best placed athlete.  Young Suri Ghai also took part in the 80m and recorded a time of 15:61.

Three of our Under 11 Boys competed with Alfie Ray winning the 150m in a time of 24:89 and Jack Heslop also doing well in the same race finishing in 26:47. Alfie also ran the 600m in 2:14:24  while Jack recorded 2:17:36. Alfie's brother Ethan recorded times of 15:30 in the 80m and 2:36:76 in the 600m. 

Under 13s
Five Boys and seven Girls took part in the Under 13 match. In the Boy's events Ryan Ghai showed good sprint speed with two  2nd places in the 75m Hurdles in a time of 15:02 and then in one of the 100m races crossed the finish line in 14:72. Joshua Bailey was also runner up the second 100m race timed at 14:95. Corey Fisher's time in his 100m was 15:50. In the 200m Joshua and Corey returned times of 31:61 and 32:66. Joshua then went on to complete a busy morning running the 800m in 2:50:89; Max Houlton also ran well in the 800m with a 2:54:68 clocking.  Corey taking part in his first ever  High Jump cleared 1m.

In the Girl's match Isla Hiscocks recorded a double winning her 100m race in a super time of 14:43 and having never attempted  the 70m Hurdles in competition before also finished in pole position in 14:59. Ellie Travis and Jasmine Shore were both 2nd in their 100m sprints with times of 14:88 and 14:84. Both girls repeated the same placings in the 200m races with almost identical times again of 30:98 and 30:90. Lucy Rowcroft also showed good form in the short sprint finishing in 15:75. In the 800m Eleanor Rigby broke the 3 minute barrier for the first time running 2:59:25.

Freya Kirby who so far this season has shown excellent progress in the Javelin turned her attention this time to the Shot and her debut throw with the round ball of 5:78m was good enough to claim 2nd spot. In the Long Jump AVEAC had six girl's in action in a large field of 23 competitors. Isla Hiscocks finished 3rd leaping 3.60m, Ellie Travis was 4th with 3.46m. Naiya Starbuck placed 5th on 3.38m. The three other girls taking part and their distances were; Eleanor Rigby (3.19m), Jasmine Shore (3.09m) and Lucy Rowcroft (2.97m)

Under 15s
In the Under 15 category, there were excellent victories in the 100m sprints for Daisy Kaye and Katie Fitzpatrick. Daisy's time in her race was 14:03 while Katie was marginally slower in Race 2 with a new best ever time of  14:27. Cam Cammack finished 2nd to Katie and also recorded a new personal best of 14:74.  In the 200m, Poppy Weller was our sole representative and showed good form with a 2nd place finish and another PB of 30:60. 

In the Field, Imogen Laugharne cleared 1.50m to won the High Jump ahead of Katie Fitzpatrick on 1:40m. All rounder Daisy Kaye taking part in her first Discus competition this season threw a personal best of 18.14m for second place. In the Shot Imogen Laugharne added two centimetres on to her previous best throwing 7.36m to place 3rd. Other Shot performances were recorded by Esme Aikman (7.14m), Poppy Weller (6.67m) and Katie Fitzpatrick (3.91m)
 
Sebastian Banks was our only Under 15 Boy in action and he came away with three personal bests in the 200m (30:28), Long Jump (3.66m) and 80m Hurdles (17:32).
​
Relays
The club fielded three Relay teams with the Under 13 Girls finishing 3rd, the Under 11 Boy's placing 2nd and the U15 Girls winning their race ahead of Chesterfield.

A big thank you is due to Team Managers, Anna Fitzpatrick, Damian Banks and Andrew Shore and all the officials for turning out and allowing the event to take place. The next Mini League match will be on Saturday 24th July at Moorways. Watch out on the Club’s Facebook Page for programme details. 

A small group of our Under 17 and 20 athletes took part in the second upper Youth Development League fixture at the Paula Radcliffe Stadium, Loughborough last Sunday, hosted by Charnwood Athletic Club. Like the first fixture, the programme of events was restricted due to Covid guidelines issued by the League. Several athletes recorded personal bests and stepped outside of their comfort zone to tackle events which hitherto, they had limited experience of, ensuring that as many points as possible could be achieved. The team finished with a score of 99, finishing fifth overall, not that far behind near neighbours Derby who scored 110 points; Charnwood scored 212 points to won the match, consolidating their top spot in the league following both opening rounds. 

Under 20s
Amelia Banks made a welcome return to competitive athletics scoring valuable points in the Hammer and Discus. Finishing 2nd in the A Discus, her 20.83m throw was a PB. In the Hammer a distance of  32.34m left her 3rd and was not that far behind her previous best from two years ago.  Sienna Grant was fourth in the A 100m in a time of 13:8 while Charlie Yates's second place in the B sprint was marginally quicker in 13:7. Charlie was second, as well , in the Long Jump with an effort of 4.60m. In the 800m, Fran Howett ran a season's best time of 2:41:60 to finish fourth.  The 4 x 100m relay team of Charlie, Sienna, Amelia and Under 17  athlete, Katie Potts ran Derby close, finishing second in 52.5 just a tenth of a second behind their local rivals. 

Our two male representatives  were Stan Dickenson and Henry Knighton. Stan finished 3rd in the 1500m in a respectable time of 4:37:4 which also was a new personal best while Henry cleared 1.80m in the High Jump placing 3rd as well. 

Under 17s
Nicole Bonser continued to show improvement in the A Long Jump with a second place finish, jumping a new best effort of 4.71m and adding 5 centimetres to her previous mark set at the recent Derbyshire School's Championships.  She also came 3rd in the B  100m returning a time of 14:5.  Katie Potts, struggled with her Long Jump run up, however she did enough to won the B event with a distance of 4.59m. 

Cecilia Smyth faced a strong head wind in the 80m Hurdles and a time of 14 seconds dead meant that she took maximum points; she also ran 13:8 in the 100m in fifth pace. In the B hurdles race victory went to Isabelle Hays in her second ever run over the barriers in a time of 16 seconds. In the longer 300m Hurdles Maddy Fahy  finished 2nd with a personal best of 57:6. In the non-scoring events, Grace Robinson had a fine effort of 4.32m in the Long Jump and 14:7 in the 100m.  Grace  joined Cecilia,  Nicole and Maddy to finish fourth in the 4 x 100m relay in a time of 55:2.

In the Under 17 Men's match Joe Bennett continued his recent fine form in the Javelin winning  the A event with another good throw of 33.15m. George Reynolds ran a personal best in the 200m  finishing 3rd in 24:8 seconds and running the 400m for the first time, he clocked 58 seconds for a fifth place finish. Completing a busy afternoon, there was a further PB in the Shot for George; his 9.36m throw ensured third place.  Corey Tatum attempting his first 400m paced himself exceptionally well and was rewarded with a good time of 56:5 in fourth place in the B race. For good measure he also returned a season's best of 25:9 in the 200m  placing fifth.

Overall those athletes who turned out for the club on the day are to be commended for their efforts.  A big thank you is due to Team Managers Jayesh Dave and Karen Yates for their continued support of the athletes. The next fixture will take place on Sunday 25th July at Burton and will return to a full programme of events. 

Imogen Laugharne put together an excellent set of performances at the Midland School's Combined Events Championships, held at the Pingles Stadium, Nuneaton on Sunday last. Her overall points score of  2693 across the five disciplines that make up the Pentathlon resulted in a well earned silver medal for the Queen Elizabeth's student. Imogen representing Derbyshire was joined by Mae Jones who finished sixth overall on 2311 points and Daisy Kaye, representing Nottinghamshire was ninth scoring 2205. Jasmine Ellis had also been selected for the Derbyshire team and unfortunately missed the competition due to a Covid incident in her bubble at school.

The three young athletes were taking part in the Junior Girl's section and between them put together some  fantastic  performances including several personal bests.  The 75m Hurdles started the morning’s proceedings and Imogen got a fantastic start recording the fastest time overall; her hand timed 11:9 was a new best performance. Mae also recorded a PB in 12:9 while Daisy didn't get the best of starts having difficulty with her rhythm between the hurdles and returned a time of 16:3. 

The Shot was next up and Daisy bounced back from her hurdles with an exceptional throw of 9.41m, beating her previous best by over 70 centimetres while Imogen and Mae also broke new ground with throws of 7.34m and 6.96m. On to the High Jump and there was a real treat in store for Imogen who sailed over 1.59m adding 4 centimetres to her previous best. Daisy taking part in her first High Jump for almost two years was also in excellent form and added 9 centimetres to her personal best with an excellent leap of 1.50m; Mae cleared 1.35m.

Performances in the  penultimate event, the Long Jump were affected by a strong head wind. Mae was the best of the trio jumping 4.86m, Imogen's distance was 4.54m while Daisy ended up with 3.85m. In the final 800m, the three athletes ran consistently despite feeling tired after completing the four previous events in just under three hours. Daisy was the fastest of the three crossing the finish in 2:45:2, Imogen's time was 2:47:7 and Mae ended up on 2:54:4.

The Pentathlon also included a team event and Imogen and Mae along with Alicia Wells from north Derbyshire who finished fifth overall took the gold medal ahead of Oxfordshire and will now go on to represent the county at the English Schools Combined Events Championships at Bedford in September. 

It was a good week for the two young AVEAC Derbyshire athletes with confirmation on Monday that they both had been selected along with Ella Rush for the County School’s team to take part in this years English Schools Championships in Manchester on the weekend of the 9th to 12th July.  Imogen will take part in the Junior Girl’s High Jump, Mae in the Junior Girl’s Long Jump and Ella, taking part in her fourth English Schools will go in the Senior Girl’s Long Jump.  It is indeed a great honour for the three athletes to gain selection as the entry qualification in each event this year is restricted to sixteen athletes due to Covid protocol. 

As we go to publication our Upper YDL team performed well at last Sunday's second league fixture in Loughborough. The results have not been confirmed yet, however, the Team Managers report that several personal bests were recorded by our Under 17 and 20 athletes.  A  fuller report on the fixture will follow in due course.

This Saturday the first Mini League fixture for almost two years will take place at Moorways, Derby. Team Managers, Anna Fitzpatrick, Andrew Shore and Damian Banks are hoping for a good turn out. Some of our younger athletes will be  taking part in their first ever outdoor competition and we wish them well. The action kicks off at 10.00 am and those taking part should try to arrive at the Stadium in good time and report to the Team Managers.

Photo acknowledgement - @jmccolgan

The latest edition of the newsletter is available to download HERE For our younger athletes, in both recreation and transition groups - you should be aware we are starting our Wednesday evening sessions on 7th July! - full details in the newsletter, along with a competition to win one of our brand new style Track Jackets in the size of your choice (hint-some of the answers are hidden on the website)