Woking‟s senior mens team produced a fine performance on Saturday at the British Athletics League national 10 in 100 cup semi final in Luton. As the name of cup suggests the competition is of ten events, plus a relay, in 100 minutes even though the competition actually goes on for just over 2 hours which is one of the strange things about this competition. The winner of each of the seven semi finals, plus one other, qualify for the main Gold cup final whilst the best of the non British League team qualifying for the plate final Each team also has to have at least 8 athletes in their team and Woking were up against five other teams with two of the clubs in the league 5 levels higher. The team did so well on the day that they finished 2nd only two points off producing a shock win and qualifying for the Gold Cup final, a feat very rarely achieved by a non British league team. In fact they were beaten by only half a second in the final event, the relay, by Thames Valley Harriers which denied them the final place. However they have comfortably qualified for the plate final which will take place on the 4th September at Copthall.

 

Woking got off to a winning start in the 1st event of the day with Paul Kelly comfortably winning the hammer with 38.56 metre and being over a metre and a half clear of the second place athlete. Their next win came from a very impressive Gary Bradbury in the 800 metres despite carrying an injury that has restricted his training recently. He waited to just around 200 metres to go to kick away from the Thames Valley athlete to win in a classy time of 1min.54.4 seconds. The third win came from Ollie King in the 200 metres which due to having to be run into a strong headwind down the home straight was a little down on his best time but was still good enough to win in 22.5 seconds. Just 15 minutes later Ollie finished a narrow 2nd in the 100 metres in 11.3 seconds which was a great effort with the events being so close together.

 

In the longer sprint, the 400 metres, James Thomas also had to deal with the strong headwind but still had a fine run being just 4 tenths shy of his personal best in finishing 3rd in 52.1 seconds. In the longest event of the day, the 3000 metres, Justin Mitchell who is more use to longer distances such as the marathon held third place until the last lap where he was out sprinted by two other athletes and had to settle for 5th place in a very good time of 9 mins.22.7 seconds.

 

In the other field events Jack Phipps, still on a high from winning the English schools just two weeks previously, was only just short of his best to finish in 2nd place with 4.00 metres after filling in in the triple jump where he finished in fourth. In the Javelin Roy Chambers, who was able to have a quieter day than normal, was just 40 cm short of finishing in second place in finishing third with a throw of 50.56 metres, in a competition that was won with a throw of over 70 metres.

 

In the medley relay, 200m, 200m, 400m, 400m which is only run in this competition Woking‟s team of Roy, Craig Holder, James Thomas and Will Hartley finished a very narrow 4th just behind Thames Valley Harriers who were the team who ended up narrowly beating Woking in the match.

 

Final match score:

1st Thames Valley Harriers 74 points

2nd Woking 72

3rd Blackheath and Bromley 67

4th Stevenage and North Herts 63

5th Epsom and Ewell 44

6th Herne Hill Harriers 38

 

Craig Holder

Woking‟s senior mens team faced their longest journey of the season so far in the final southern league division two fixture of the season at Cambridge. With a win or a second place finish putting them in with a very good chance of promotion straight back to division one they fell just short finishing in third place just six points behind second and therefore probably meaning they will have another season in division two. Next season they will come back fighting fit with hopefully more strength in depth, especially in the middle and longer distance events to cover any injuries and absences.

Saturday‟s fine team performance was based on the backbone of Woking again being very strong in both the throws and jumps and also showing great team spirit with athletes filling in events far from their normal ones on the track.

In the throws Woking got off to a good solid start with Paul Kelly and Nick Phipps both achieving solid second places and no Woking athlete in the throws would fall below that position. In the Javelin there was a double win with the usual combination of Roy Chambers and Tony Norman winning very comfortably, as they very often do. Tony earlier had also won the shot putt for a fine double win with Kaspar Kazemaks 2nd in the B string. Paul and Kaspar then combined in the discus with Paul, as in the hammer, finishing in 2nd place in the A string with Kaspar comfortably winning the B string. Woking‟s throwers have been superb all season and this match confirmed how good they have been all season.

Woking were equally as good in the jumps with a couple of double wins and not one athlete falling below 3rd place. In the Pole Vault English Schools champion Jack Phipps comfortably won with a clearance of 4.00 metres with Roy Chambers, following up his win in the Javelin, winning the B string with a clearance of 3.80 metres. The same two athletes also combined in the long jump for another double win, but with the position reversed with Roy winning the A string for a hat-trick of wins with a season‟s best of 6.59 metres and Jack winning the B string. In the triple jump Jack was just one place short of achieving a hat-trick of wins by finishing 2nd in the B string whilst Will Hartley was third in the A string. Will also filled the same position in the high jump with Kaspar 2nd in the B string.

Earlier on the track Will got Woking‟s first win of the day with a very comfortable win in the 400 metre hurdles to make it 4 wins out of the six matches. In the B race Hrjove Bozic just narrowly missed out on 2nd place on the dip finish and had to settle for third. Hrjove then completed a very hard double in events he doesn‟t normally train for in gaining valuable points in the 5000 metres and 3000 metre steeple-chase. In the A string 5000 Justin Mitchell achieved a fine lifetime best in a time just outside 16 minutes for a very good third place and just missing out on a second place finish. In the A string steeple-chase Matthew Calder produced another fine run, having also done all the other 5 matches of the season, to score good points.

In the sprint, 110 metre, hurdles an event that in the past few years Woking have struggled to pick up points in there was a surprise win to back up a second place. In the A race Kaspars Kazemaks had a fine run for 2nd place in 18.0 seconds whilst in the B race James Thomas, who has been racing over 400 metres all season decided to do it for the first time in many years and ended up in comfortably winning in 17.9 seconds. Earlier James had equalled his personal best in the 100 metres to finish fourth in the B race and filled the same position in the 400 metres after his blocks slipping at the start which made him nearly fall over. In the A string 100 metres Roy Chambers also equalled his lifetime best to finish in 3rd place with 11.3 seconds. In the 200 metres Lee Turner was 4th in the A race, just outside his season‟s best, whilst Will was 3rd in the B race in 23.8 to equal his best ever time.

In the relays Woking were fourth with Roy Chambers, Will Hartley, Jack Phipps and Lee Turner in the 4x100 metres whilst in the 4x400 metres the team of Craig Holder, Kaspars Kazemaks, James Thomas and Will finished 2nd and were only just narrowly beaten with Will producing a superb run on the last leg making up nearly 15 metres to nearly snatch the win on the line.

Woking‟s Young Athletes Open Championships is fast approaching. The championships which are supported by the Woking News and Mail will take place on Sunday 5th September at Woking‟s Sheerwater track. You are able to enter at www.wokingac.com with the closing date for entries fast approaching. If you wish to come and watch entrance is free and you‟ll be able to enjoy a fine day of athletics in what is normally fine sunny weather.

Craig Holder

Results for club members and ex club members - official report/results from those who actually took part or were there can be found on www.esaa.net/2010/tf/national/results/nat10-ib.html.
- Jack Phipps came 1st in Inter Boys pole vault 4.3m (national standard)
- Zak Curran 7th in Inter Boys 800m 2.00.25
- Georgia Peel (ex member) came 1st in Inter Girls 800m 2.07.14 (national standard)
- Rob Hall (son of ex member Chris Hall) came 4th in Junior Boys 800m 2.03.95 (entry standard)

200 mts 2nd Steve Beak V45 category PB 25.9

800 mts 1st Ramona Thevenet-Smith category V50 PB 2.54.6

5000 mts 2nd Ramona Thevenet-Smith category V50 PB 21.08.9

Round 4 – 18 July 2010
1st Place ..... Bracknell ...................... 589 points (Bracknell won our division)
2nd Place .... Woking AC .................. 412 points
3rd Place .... St Mary‟s Richmond..... 406 points

Special mention to the following who achieved national grade 1‟s:-
Amy Binnion u15G – Shot –finally got over elusive 10m (10.28m) she has been trying to do
all season.
Katrina Francis u13G – 75m – 10.4 sec;
150m – 20.4 sec (NEW CLUB RECORD)

National Grades were achieved by the following:-
U13B Rory KELLY ..................... 75m H ................. 13.8 ........1st ....... G3
Rory KELLY ..................... 100m ................... 14.0 ........2nd ...... G4
Andrew LOMAX ............... 800m ................... 2:28.6......1st ....... G3
Andrew LOMAX ............... 200m ................... 27.2 ........2nd ...... G2
Michael CHAPMAN .......... 200m ................... 29.1 ........5th ....... G4
Daniel JOHNSON ............ 1500m ................. 5:13.2......3rd....... G4
Daniel JOHNSON ............ High Jump ........... 1.35 ........2nd ...... G3
Daniel JOHNSON ............ Shot .................... 6.94 ........3rd....... G4
U13G Katrina FRANCIS ............. 150m ................... 20.4 ........2nd ...... G1
Katrina FRANCIS ............. 75m..................... 10.4 ........2nd ...... G1
U15B Jacob RAINIER ................ 800m ................... 2:13.3......2nd ...... G3
Jacob RAINIER ................ 400m ................... 56.6 ........2nd ...... G3
Jake DOWLING ............... 200m ................... 24.9 ........4th ....... G4
Connor WINGHAM .......... 200m ................... 25.1 ........6th ....... G4
Connor WINGHAM .......... 100m ................... 12.2 ........5th ....... G4
Marcus VLASSAK ............ High Jump ........... 1.60 ........2nd ...... G3
U15G Catherine THOMAS ......... 100m ................... 13.4 ........2nd ...... G4
Catherine THOMAS ......... 200m ................... 27.9 ........2nd ...... G4
Nicole DAVIES ................. 100m ................... 13.3 ........1st ....... G3
Nicole DAVIES ................. 200m ................... 27.7 ........1st ....... G4
Ellie LANE ....................... Long Jump .......... 4.51 ........1st ....... G4
Amy BINNION .................. Discus ................. 24.07.......3rd....... G3
Amy BINNION .................. Shot .................... 10.28.......1st ....... G1
Paige CAREY .................. Discus ................. 24.30.......2nd ...... G3
U17M Lee PRINCE .................... Discus ................. 34.11.......1st ....... G4
U17W Sam MORRISON ............. 80m H ................. 12.9 ........1st ....... G3
Rosie MURPHY ............... Triple Jump ......... 9.72 ........1st ....... G4

 

Woking AC Athletes of the Match – the following were voted for by the Woking team managers as athletes of the match – each receiving a NYAL bag and certificate.

Girls
Sam Morrison (u17s)
For consistent improvement
80m hurdles - 1st place, Grade 3 and a new PB*;
Long Jump – 2nd place and a new PB;
100m - 4th;
4x100m relay - 1st
* Sam has improved her 80m Hurdles PB by over 2 seconds since first competing in April. She has improved her PB each of the 6 times time she competed in the 80m Hurdles.

 

Boys
Dan Johnson (u13s)
For team spirit and perseverance.
Despite injury he sustained in the 1500m (where he finished 3rd) he still competed in the high jump (where he achieved a Grade 3 and 2nd place). Due to the HJ over running he had to go between the shot (where he came 3rd and achieved a Grade 4) and high jump. He also ran in the relay even though by then his foot was extremely painful. His attitude is always exemplary and he never complains no matter what event he is asked to do.

 

Tim Page, Team Manager - U17 Men

The Wessex League fixtures concluded for the young athletes in July with matches at Andover on the 4th July and Winchester (which was Southampton's home match) on the 25th July.
The team did excellently on both occasions, finishing second both times.

This means, at the end of the season, we had one win and three seconds, leaving us in a hugely creditable 4th place overall out of the 19 teams.

The individual teams also performed extremely well.

There was also one outstanding performance at the Winchester match that deserves special mention, more of which comes at the end of the report.

U17 men. The U17 men came 13th in their section although this was due to the general lack of available athletes as the lads that competed all performed with great credit.

At Andover, they managed to get 3 lads to compete but were only able to finish 6th (out of 7) – although this was only 3 points behind 5th place. Despite the modest numbers there were several PBs and national standards. Jordan Raymond achieved a G4 with a time of 11.80 in the 100m; Sam Hewitt got new PBs in the discus and 1500m; and Jack Page also set a new PB (and a G4 too) with an 11.80 in the 100m. He also set a new PB in the discus.

There were national grades and PBs as well set by the two athletes who competed at Winchester. Lee Prince set a new PB, with a grade 3 throw, in the discus. He also set a new PB in the javelin; and Jack Page, continuing his good form, set a new PB and a G4 winning performance in the 200m with 23.90 (his season's target!).

U17 women. The U17 women came 10th overall - suffering, like the U17 men, with comparatively few athletes. There were however some good performances at both matches.
U15 boys. The boys came 5th overall, winning one of their 4 matches, second in one and third in the other two.

At Andover, There were some very good performances despite the windy conditions; there were PBs for Christian Beale in the 80m hurdles; Cary Huckerby in the 200m; and Dominic Vlassak in the discus. There were also some impressive first performances - Marcus Vlassak in the javelin; Jacob Rainier in the discus; and Ryan Buckley in the 100m. Jacob's winning performance in the 400m was a G4 performance.

At Winchester, Oliver Jones got a new PB in the 800; Christian Beale got a PB in winning the 80m hurdles and also in the 800m where he came second; Connor Wingham achieved a grade 4 in the long jump, his first time competing in this event this year!, Marcus Vlassak set a new PB in winning the javelin - a G4 performance - and also set a new PB in the shot; he also achieved a G4 in the high jump; not to be outdone, Dominic Vlassak achieved PBs in both the javelin and shot; and Jacob Rainier set a new PB in the discus and achieved G4s in the 400m and 1500m.

U15 girls. The girls in this section had a fantastic season and, in the end, were joint winners, coming second once and winning their three other matches. An excellent performance especially given the quality of the opposition.

Andover saw another impressive match, finishing 21 points over a strong Camberley team despite the absence of their team manager! It was another great team effort but a few performances need special mention.

Paige Carey threw a new PB in Discus of 25.03m, a Grade 3 and the top throw in the County this season; Nicole Davies achieved two PBs and Grades in 100m – 13.1s (Grade 3) and 200m – 28.00s(Grade 4); Ella Jones achieved a Grade 4 in her first 75m hurdles of the season – 13.4s; Kaitlin Howard achieved a great time of 46.00s in her first ever 300m.

Winchester followed a similar theme and despite being school holidays it was a great team turnout. The girls won this time by 16 points over Southampton, the only team who had beaten them all season so good revenge! Performances of particular note were: Grade 4 and 13.4s in 100m from Hannah Lickfold in her first ever match; convincing wins from Megan Brooke and Nicole Davies in 1500m to secure maximum points; a PB in high jump for Megan Brooke of
1.35m; a PB in long jump for Catherine Thomas of 4.22m and the fastest relay of the season in 54.2s for Ellie, Ella, Catherine and Nicole beating the time of U17 girls!

U13 girls. The U13 girls also had a good season, finishing 6th overall.

Andover was a good result for the U13 Girls who finished 2nd and only 8 points behind the winners. Brilliant team spirit again which has really typified the team all season with every team member doing at least 3 events and performing well. The sprints were especially successful for Katrina Francis who achieved a Grade 1 in the 100m and a Grade 2 in the 200m and Chloe Roddy achieved Grade 4s in both sprints. However, it was also a time for 2 team members to try some throws and Becca Blastock (discus) & Rachel Woods (javelin) achieved very creditable debut performances in windy conditions.

Winchester on 25th July was tough for the U13 Girls as we only had 4 in the team. However, they put in some outstanding performances and came 3rd and although we were beaten by the Isle of Wight and Southampton these 2 teams had 6 and 8 girls respectively so this again emphasises how well our girls did with 1st places in both the A & B string for the long jump and javelin and 1st place in the A string for the high jump. Rowan Bavington-Hall (long jump), Becca Blastock (long jump) and Rachel Woods (high jump) also all achieved Grade 4s in these events.

U13 boys. The U13 boys had an outstanding season. They came second in one match but won their others making them outright winners this year!

At Andover, there were national grade performances for Andrew Lomax with G3s in the 100m and 200m; Alex Page with G4s in the shot and discus; and Rory Kelly with a G2 in the 75m hurdles which was a new club record!

At Winchester, there were also several excellent performances and the one outstanding one mentioned earlier.
Andrew Lomax achieved G3 in the 100m and G2s in the 200m and 800m; Dan Johnson achieved a G4 in the javelin and G2 in the high jump which was a new PB; and William Hur achieved a G4 in the discus which was also a new PB.

The stand out performance of the match - and probably the best performance by any Woking young athlete for several years - came from Rory Kelly. He competed in the 75m hurdles, Shot and Discus. He achieved G2 in the hurdles and G1s in the throwing events. He also anchored the relay team to victory. However, the best part about this performance was that he broke three club records! His own hurdles record being one but the shot and discus were records, according to the web-site, that have stood since the 1980's. A fantastic way to finish the season.

Paul Buckland

Virginia wins triple gold in European Masters Championships Nyiregyhaza Hungary July 2010
Virginia competed in 400m hurdles, 400m and 800m and won GOLD in all 3 events in the W45 age group at the European Masters Championships in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary.

“I was delighted with my performances. The pressure was on me as fastest qualifier going into each race so I felt I had to run to the best of my ability to meet expectations. The 400m hurdles was my first win in 66.8s so that success set me up for my next event, the 400m. In the 400m final, I was in the lead coming into the home straight and pushed all the way to the line for a time of 60.1s.
My husband Tony and children Jasmine and Jonty encouraged me to go for a third gold in the 800m even though it would be my 5th race in 6 days. The 800m heat felt comfortable so once again I was favourite going into the final. I went to the front from the gun and had enough left to kick away from the German and Polish girls who were behind me in 2nd and 3rd. I was very pleased with my winning time of 2.18.5mins.
It has been an excellent championship for me so I can look ahead to next year and the World Championships in USA in July 2011”.