Punching above our weight. Again!

Warwickshire County Championships

Report – Paul Bearman

What seems like an age ago……actually  it was 10 weeks ago….the Warwickshire County Championships, which is the only external Track & Field competition when the whole of the club can be involved together, were held. 

A plethora of 57 medals, our best number for a few years, were shared by the 110 Stratford upon Avon AC athletes, across the age groups, who competed against the other clubs within the old Warwickshire County boundary, including Birmingham, Rugby, Solihull and Coventry. Nearly 700 athletes competed in over 1000 events over the 2 days.

Against the stiff opposition, as always it was the 4^th to 8^th positions for athletes reaching the finals that massively helped towards the club’s total points ,as we tried to regain the Warwick Vase.

We thought a top 3 place would be recognised as a successful championship but against the odds the club actually came out on top and not only won but won by a huge margin of 111 points!!.

What is particularly satisfying, from a club point of view, is that the points were accumulated right across the age groups and events; sprints, sprint and long hurdles, middle and long distance, all the jumps including Pole Vault, all the throws and Racewalking.

Overall, there were many outstanding individual performances in the championships, although it is the contribution from all the athletes that was so impressive and it’s thanks to the coaches who mastermind the training that made the champs such a great event and successful for the club.

Midland League T&F

Gloucester
 

It was a hot day in Gloucester for ur Midland League T&F team last Sunday.

Team Manager Mike Sheppard commented “ It turned out to be another long day under the broiling sun, although I’m sure we’ll all miss it when wet autumn returns!.

The provisional results show we finished 6th on the day, just behind Birchfield but ahead of Stoke. Overall it was a creditable showing against a strong group of teams. We can certainly rest in the knowledge that our squad did everything they could on the day. With strong performances across the board it seems wrong to single out individuals. However, special mention this time goes to our endurance runners, Emma Bexson, Kathryn Woodcock, Emma and Wayne Vickers & Matt Burdus-Cook, who battled through the 3k &/or 3k steeplechase at the very hottest point of the afternoon.

I continue to grumble about the unsatisfactory DQ in the Women’s relay!   

Onward and upward. 

Our final match of the year is at Stoke on Saturday 29 August”.