Bad weather….what bad weather ?

Under 11, 13 & 15 Sportshall Trials

Stratford upon Avon AC and Rugby & Northampton put a group together for a Sportshall training/selection session at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Centre, Rugby, last Sunday.

The aim was to select a squad for each age group from the Stratford and Rugby athletes to have the honour of representing Warwickshire at the West Midlands Regional Finals on Sunday 22nd February 2026 at the North Solihull Sports Centre, against all the other West Midlands counties.

Our juniors’ were competing as individuals but also competing against their fellow Stratford and Rugby athletes to try and achieve a place in the county squad of 12/15 athletes that will be selected following these trials.

They were competing in similar events to those they do in their regular training sessions:

Under 11s – 1 lap, 2 lap, Speed Bounce, Standing Long Jump, Triple Jump, Vertical Jump, Javelin and Chest Push.

Under 13s & 15s –  2 lap, 4 lap, Speed Bounce, Standing Long Jump, Triple Jump, Vertical Jump and shot. 

Carolyne Johnston reported that on the day our athletes did extremely well and were all very enthusiastic and determined to compete at their best, adding that parents and volunteer Coaches and Officials helped make it all come together, with all doing a grand job. Without their help the children would not have had such a successful day.

Paul Bearman reported that it was very busy, noisy and a lot of fun, stating that we had 66 U11,13 and 15s entered, with Rugby and a few Leamington AA athletes doubling the numbers, so his voice was somewhat strained as the starter. Carolyne organised the field officials with many parents supporting.

Michelle Bartlett and Lucy Edwards organised our teams with Lucy reporting that she had lost her voice by 2pm. Danny Tolhurst and Sue Mothershaw were timekeepers.

It was truly a full SUAAC family affair.

The trials were designed to help us select the squads for the regional final next month and Paul is now working his way through the tedious process of sorting out the results. Watch this space!

Warwickshire Cross Country County School Championships.

January 17th 2026  

Princethorpe College, Rugby.

Report  – David Jones

34 of our junior members’ competed in these Championships. The top 8 finishers in each  of the Junior, Senior and Inter races will be considered for selection for the Warwickshire team at the English Schools’ National Championships in March. The top 10 finishers in the Minor Boys and Girls races will be selected to run at the National Primary Schools/Year 7 Championships. Medals were awarded to the top 3 in each race.

The results show that no fewer than 22 of these 34 finished in top 10 places. A superb performance.

In the opening Minor Boys’ race both Dexter Sharpe (8th – 9:38) and Henry Pike (9th – 9:39) were top 10 finishers out of the 36 runners who completed the course, while in a field of 40 runners in the Minor Girls race, Elsie Pipitone finished in 3rd place with a time of 9:58. Apparently Elsie surprised herself with her run, loving both the course and the mud. Elsie’s parents were very impressed with the whole set up and felt that Gwil Price and his team did a marvellous job in organising the event. Poppy West (7th – 10:27) and Imogen Brooks (9th – 10:38) also managed a top 10 finishes. They were followed by Annabel Ryan-Gill (16th – 11:11) and Sara Clewer (18th – 11:26).

In the Junior Boys’ Race, with 51 completing the course, the largest field of the day, Harry Coulson (9th – 10:04) was followed by Charlie Jay -Cassells (11th – 10:07), Alistair Durance (21st – 10:47), Toby Wilkinson (24th – 10:58) and Toby Ledgard (33rd – 11:24). In the Junior Girls’ race all 6 of our runners’ finished in the top 12. Lucia Ogilvie-Putt claimed top spot in a time of 10:27, followed by Maggie Silvers in 2nd place in 10:45. It was then Eliza Mcleod (6th – 10:59), Isabella Marriott (8th – 11:13), Jasmine Mothershaw (10th – 11:22) and Amelie Marshall (12th 11:36).

The Inter Boys saw Will Hovell run an excellent race, finishing in 3rd place in 13:30. He was followed by Joel Ledgard, also enjoying a good race (4th – 13:57). Arthur Williamson (6th – 14:14) had a strong finish, despite only just having come back from a nasty cold. Arran Cooper, who continues to improve with each race despite a very lengthy period of injury in 2025, finished 16th in 15:46. He was followed by Morgan Nabney (19th – 16:46).

Marijke Tear-Verweij comfortably won her Inter Girls race with a time of 11:02, 38 seconds clear of the 2nd placed runner. Despite being Year 11 she beat all but one of the Y12 and Y13 girls. Marijke kept it sensible and even managed a good kick at the end. Eve Ashley was in 3rd place in 12:37, followed by Portia Nabney (7th – 13:26), Rachel Sparrow (9th – 14:00) and Georgia Sharpe (12th – 19:33).

The Senior Boys race was dominated by our members, with Zak Lambert finishing in 2nd place in 12:26, 13 seconds behind Archie Lane. Zak felt that had the course been longer he may well have been able to catch Lane, the course being just 3.8k, unusually short for the Senior Boys’ race. Zak was followed by the in-form Tom Fisher (3rd – 13:03). It was then Will Mayes (8th – 13.33), James Day (12th – 14:33) and James Mayes (15th – 14:47). In the Senior Girls, race our sole representative Annie Silvers was 7th in a time of 12:12.

All in all it was a very successful day for our runners.

For the full results please follow the link below:

https://wsaa.org.uk/content/uploads/2026/01/WSAA-XC-County-champs-Results-2026-web.pdf