Laura McDonald launches a new personal best of 36.14m at the SEAA Championships on 25 May 2008
L to R CoNAC hammer trio Callum Brown, Jenna Cannell & Michael Painter at the SEAA Championships on 24 May 2008
Victoria Mitchell, Laura McDonald, Vicky Williamson and Imogen Gibbs won gold in the U15 girls 4 x 200m relay at the Norfolk County AAA champs on 12 May 2008
Georgina Culling won the U15 girls' pole vault at the Norfolk County AAA champs on 10 May 2008 with this vault of 1.85m
Holly Slater cleared 1.52m in the NYAL at Woodford Green on 4 May 2008
Laura McDonald and Goldie Sayers at the South Norfolk Community Sport Achiever Awards on 11 March 2008
Tim & Pauline Ash at the National Indoor Arena on 24 February with (L to R) Rick Ward, James Senior, Rachel Stringer, Joel Taylor & Connor Darby
Clieo Stephenson races to her first National medal in the U15 Girls 200m on 24 February 2008
Mike Utting and the CoNAC girls at the National Indoor Arena 16 February 2008
Rick Ward & Rachel Stringer proudly show off their first England vests in Cardiff on 2 February 2008
Track & Field News
Success and medals at SEAA U15 & U17 Championships
24 & 25 May 2008
Blessed with fantastic weather on the Saturday, a contingent of U15 and U17 CoNAC-ers made their way to the Julie Rose Stadium at Ashford, Kent to compete in this year's SEAA Championships.
First off was Laura McDonald in the shot who managed a throw of 9.73m finishing in 5th place overall. At the opposite side of the stadium, Callum Brown and Michael Painter took part in the U15 hammer with Michael ultimately taking the Gold with a throw of 49.66m and Callum finishing in 5th place with a new personal best of 41.63m. In the U17 women’s hammer Jenna Cannell managed an excellent throw of 37.18m.
On the track, CoNAC started the day with Clieo Stephenson and Victoria Mitchell both competing in the U15 girls 100m. First off, Clieo running in the same heat against UK number one Jodie Williams, recorded a time of 13.0 seconds, with the timekeepers resorting to hand timing as the electronic system gave up the ghost. Vicky, running in heat 3, recorded exactly the same time and lo and behold so did the same Bedford athlete that both Girls had raced at Norman Park less than a week before! These three unfortunate athletes then faced run-off less than half an hour later, with Clieo just edging ahead of her team mate and securing the last place in the final with 12.87s to Vicky’s 12.93s. This extra race proved to be a real burden, with the final only half an hour later, Clieo managed a spirited run of 12.88s but missed out on the medals.
Laura McDonald, now switching to the 75m hurdles ran in heat 1, finishing in 3rd place in her heat and taking 0.32s off her pb with a time of 11.58s. Moving on to the final a little later, Laura finished fourth in the race in a time of 11.6 after the officials reverted back to hand timing.
Following torrential overnight rain, bright sunshine greeted the competitors on the Sunday as the temperature rocketed to 24°C. Joined by Chloe Smith, Laura Green, James Senior and Megan Thomas, the CoNAC red & gold was becoming more conspicuous around the stadium.
Clieo Stephenson and Victoria Mitchell were first to take to the track for the heats of the 200m sprints; however, the three races on Saturday had taken their toll. Despite both girls putting their heart and soul into their races, returning times of 27.31s and 27.58s respectively, neither managed to qualify for the final.
Megan Thomas was well on form with the U15 hammer, throwing a fantastic 44.38 to take the well deserved Silver medal. Later Chloe Smith competing in the U17 high jump managed 1.55m, with 1.60m just out of reach.
James Senior ran the U17M 1500m Steeplechase from the front, easily taking gold with a time of 4:25.27. Connor Darby in the U17 1500m finished in tenth place in the final with a time of 4:13.06. Laura Green, competing in the U17W hurdles made it through her heat with a time of 12.32s, and finishing 5th overall in the final with 12.12s
To finish off the day Laura McDonald competed in the U15 Javelin, her second throw reaching 36.14m adding just over a metre to her pb and enough to secure the bronze medal.
CoNAC misses second place by one point at second National Young Athletes League meeting
18 May 2008
A day of tough competition saw our young athletes taking on some of the stiffest opposition in the league at Norman Park. Despite the best efforts of all concerned, we had to yield second place by just one point when the final points were tallied.
Performances of particular note include the following:
U17 Men 1500m 1st (A) Joel Taylor 04:08.7 & James Senior 1st (B) 04:10.1
U17 Men 3000m 1st (A) Tom Crawshaw 09:07.8 & Damian Rogers (B)10:09.6
U17 Men 400mh 1st (A) James Senior 57.1s Grade 1
U17 Men LJ 1st (A) 5.58m
U17 Women 80mh 1st (A) Laura Green 12.0s & 1st (B) Jenny Milligan 13.6s
U17 Women Hammer (A) 35.37m
U15 Boys 800m 1st (A) Callum McLean 02:08.4
U15 Boys Hammer (A) Michael Painter 40.51
U15 Boys LJ 1st (A) Danny Clayton 51.8s
U15 Girls 75mh 1st (A) Laura McDonald 11.9 Grade 1
U15 Girls Javelin 1st (A) Laura McDonald 29.95 Grade 1
U13 Boys 800m (A) Scott Greeves 02:31.3
U13 Boys LJ (A) Bradley Aldous 4.5m
Once again the U15 Girls 4 x 100 relay team ran yet another fantastic race to record 50.8 seconds to shave another half a second off the County record.
Overall result - 1st Blackheath & Bromley Harriers 480 points, 2nd Bedford & County AC 348 points, 3rd CITY OF NORWICH AC 347 points, 4th Team Southampton 310 points.
Club’s youngsters make their mark at Loughborough International Meet.
18May 2008
Endurance athletes from the Club were given the opportunity to compete against the best in the prestigious Loughborough International Track & Field Meet on Sunday. Rick Ward for the first time representing Great Britain Juniors had a baptism of fire in the 800m being pitched in against some very experienced two-lap athletes that included Britain’s No 1 Richard Hill. Despite always playing catch-up he still produced an excellent time of 1min 50.53secs but was left reflecting on what might have been had he displayed a little more self-belief. Without doubt he will have learned a valuable lesson from his first GB international appearance.
Mitch Goose, also representing Great Britain Juniors created a new personal best time in the 5000m.despite the fact that the pace over the first four laps was a little too fast. To his credit he stuck to the task in hand, lapping consistently, to come home in 4th place in a pleasing time of 14min 43.97sec. As the summer progresses, in his own words, he is determined to reduce his 5000m time quite considerably!
800m athlete Rachel Stringer, after Sunday, is still looking to gain the 2min 06secs qualifying time for the World Junior Track & Field Championships being staged in Poland in mid July. Competing, in spite of suffering from a troublesome chesty cough she still managed a 5th place in 2min 07.74secs, a time somewhat below her expectations but nevertheless commendable under the circumstance. Ruth Senior for many months past has struggled with injury so it pleasing to see her back on the track. Representing Loughborough University and in pretty good shape, her effort in the 5000m was rewarded with a new personal best time recorded at 16min 54.76sec - the first time she has dipped under the 17 minute barrier.
In the early part of last week Ashley Harrell broke new ground when recording 9min 21.5secs for the 3000m Steeplechase and was hoping to improve on that time at Loughborough. With that race perhaps still in his legs sadly it was not be; but nevertheless he still managed to record a very creditable 9min 29.51secs.
Successes at Watford British Milers Club Grand Prix
17 May 2008
James Senior journeyed to Watford on Saturday evening to compete in the British Milers Club Grand Prix and was rewarded with a personal best time for 800m. This multi-talented athlete scorched round the two-lap race in a very fast 1min 54.72secs securing him a place near the top of the UK Under 17 rankings. Samantha Jacks when crossing the line in 2min 16.73sec in the 800m was delighted to improve on her previous best by over two seconds while in the 1500m Carl Goose dipped under 4minutes for the first time when recording 3min 59.25secs.
Senior Men back into winning ways
17 May 2008
The Club’s senior men’s track and field team are back into winning ways after their disappointing 2007 summer season. Competing on home ground on Saturday at the UEA Sportspark in the Southern Men’s League they scored a fine team victory winning by a comfortable margin.
Mark Suokal and veteran Tim Newenham picked up valuable points in the throws. Suokal scored a notable double in the “A” Shot and “A” Discus with winning efforts of 11.07m and 35.46m while Newenham placed the javelin right on the button at 50.00m to take maximum points in the “A” event. Following in his master’s footsteps young Alex Jewkes displayed excellent potential when winning the “B” Javelin with an effort of 45.85m.
Long time member Jon French was another to double up and take maximum points in the “A” Long Jump and “A” Triple Jump with efforts of 6.43m and 12.81m respectively. It was up and coming youngster Chris Marshall who maximised in the “B” Triple Jump when moving out to 12.18m.
On the track Paul Goodall broke the 50second barrier to take the “A” 400m in 49.6secs while in the “B” race Michael Fraser took the honours when crossing the line in 50.1secs. Joel Taylor produced a new personal best 1min 56.6secs when winning the “A” 800m. James Jackson ploughed a lonely furrow when winning the “B” 800m in a comfortable 2min 01.8sec.
It was good to see Steve Cannell back in action and displaying improving form. He took the “A” 1500m in 4min 08.2 and then cruised to victory in the 3000m Steeplechase in a modest 10min 36secs. Tom Crawshaw was another youngster to record a personal best. This was achieved in the “B” 1500m when he recorded a winning 4min 8.6secs.
To round off a successful day victory was secured with wins in the 4 x 100m relay (Tom Pegg, Paul Goodall, Michael Fraser, Andy Thornton) in a time of 44.1secs and the 4 x 400m relay (Paul Goodall, Daryl Martin, Michael Fraser and Andy Thornton) in 3min 29secs.
Overall the team proved to be too strong for the opposition the final points score being: 1st CITY OF NORWICH AC 139.5 points; 2nd Thurrock Harriers 112 points; 3rd Victoria Park AC 99.5 points; 4th Dartford Harriers 94 points; 5th Bexley AC 90 points.
Barbara Parker still seeking qualifying time for Beijing Olympics
17 May 2008
Club member Barbara Parker currently based at Florida State University is still seeking to gain the qualifying time for the 3000m Steeplechase that will take her to Beijing for the Olympic Games. The Great Britain international was looking to go under the 9min 44sec qualifying time at the GT Invitational Meet held in Atlanta at the weekend. She reports that the windy conditions and a lack of opposition conspired against her and she had to settle for a somewhat disappointing 9min 55.07sec. Nevertheless she is very confident that she will make the grade and gain selection for the GB Olympic team.
Records fall at County championships for CoNAC juniors
10 & 12 May 2008
The Norfolk County AAA track & field championships was held at the Sportspark on 10 & 12 May and proved to be incredibly successful two days for the Junior section of our club.
The majority of individual track and field events took place on the very hot sunny Saturday. In the U11 Girls young Megan Bird took first place in the 600m with a time of 2:05.7, a great talent coming on well on the track having competed with CoNAC in Sportshall athletics during the last winter season.
In the U11 Boys, Toby Price also showed the opposition a clean pair of heels in winning the 600m in 1:58.10, a new championship record. In the same age group Daniel Griffin managed 4.15m in the long jump, also a new Championship record.
The U13 Boys also had more than their share of the honours, in particular Scott Greeves who won the 200m sprint in 28.1s and the 800m in a very promising 2:31.4.
Leading the way in the U13 Girls was Ella Stephenson, winning the 100m in 14.1s, with CoNAC girls qualifying through the heats and taking 7 out of the 8 places in the final. Ella also won the 200m sprint in 28.5s. Jessica Hamilton ran a very good 70m hurdles in 12.8s; she’s the latest in a long line of very successful and nationally recognised hurdlers trained by CoNAC’s Keith Yellop. A special mention must go to Katie Vickery - she is proving to be a very good long jumper, winning the event with a jump of 4.23. Gemma Vickery threw the hammer to 14.13m which is also a new championship record.
In the U15 Boys Callum Brown was on a roll too, winning the 200m in 25.8s and then taking gold in the long jump in 5.50m and triple jump with 10.51m. Michael Painter continued his steady progress by winning the discus with 32.18m and the shot with 10.37m.
Our very strong U15 Girls team did not disappoint either - Clieo Stephenson taking gold in the 100m with Victoria Mitchell taking the silver medal. The same pair finished in the same order in the 200m sprint later in the day. Victoria also won the long jump with a new pb of 4.69m. Laura McDonald and Victoria Williamson both turned in the same time of 11.9s in the 75m hurdles, with Laura being awarded first place by the line judges. Megan Thomas took gold in both the discus (25.46m) and hammer (42.33m) which is a new U15 championship record.
A special mention should go to Sasha Bernard who with 9.07m won the triple jump having taken up the event this season. While on the subject of ’new events’, Georgina Culling won the gold in the Pole vault with 1.85m, a new championship record and Imogen Gibbs picked up the silver in the same event. It is encouraging to see CoNAC competing in this discipline once again, helped by the timely arrival of the new pole vault equipment at the Sportspark.
The second part of the championships was on the Monday evening and - with a light cooling breeze blowing across the stadium - it was the turn of the middle distance runners as well as the remaining throws and relays.
In the U13 boys Scott Greeves returned to the championships to top up his medal tally when he dominated the 1500m race to collect a new championship record time of 4:57.7s.
Emily Hoogkamer took the gold in the U13 Girls Javelin with 16.56m and Jessica Hamilton won the high jump with 1.30m. Combined with her hurdles, is Jess another potential combined eventer coming up through our ranks ....
Callum McLaren won gold in the U15 Boys 1500m with 4:23.0 and Callum Brown threw an excellent 36.62m to win the javelin in the same age group. In the U15 Girls, Esme Salmon ran a good race to win the 1500m in 5:01.40, followed by Juliet Broster in 2nd, Kiera Mooney in 3rd with Mimi Barr finishing in 4th place. Anna Hoogkamer followed her sister’s example in the U13 Girls by taking a gold medal in the 3000m.
The last events of the championships were the relays and CoNAC dominated the junior sprint relays with some excellent performances:
U13 Boys relays - gold in both the 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m in 57.9 and 2:11 respectively.
U13 Girls - gold in the 4 x 100m in 57.5s
U15 Boys - gold in the 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m in 54.5 and 1:46.7
In the relay races, the ‘star of the evening’ was Imogen Gibbs. Imogen had run with the U13 Girls relay team a few seasons ago and with Clieo Stephenson calling in sick for the Monday relay races, it left a big gap in the unbeaten U15 Girls relay team which Imogen volunteered to fill. In the 4 x 100m relay, although dropping the baton on one changeover, all the Girls pulled together to recover the race and took the gold. Then in the 4 x 200m relay, the team was firing on all cylinders with devastating performance, at each baton change the lead increased which meant that as the last CoNAC runner crossed the finishing line, not only had they won by 60m, they had smashed the Norfolk county record by a clear five seconds recording a time of 1:48.4.
GB honours for Mitch Goose & Rick Ward
8 May 2008
CoNAC’s young endurance athletes continue to have their hard work and discipline to training acknowledged at the highest level.
Following on from his successful winter’s indoor season when he gained his first international vest competing over 800m and winning for England in the Celtic Cup in Cardiff, Rick Ward now finds himself selected to compete for Great Britain Juniors.
At Millfield on Sunday, in his first outdoor 800m race of the summer season, Ward posted a time of 1min 50.31sec - a new personal best and a performance that places him on top of the UK rankings. As a reward for his fine effort he will now don a GB vest for the first time in the prestigious Loughborough International in a fortnight’s time.
Not to be outdone, Ward’s club mate and training partner Mitch Goose, already a seasoned international over cross-country, has now gained his first international vest on the track. Goose will join Ward in the GB team for Loughborough where he will contest the 5,000m. Goose is following in the footsteps of Norfolk’s Ruth Proctor who also had the distinction of competing for GB as a junior at both cross-country and on the track.
CoNAC go so close at Woodford Green
4 May 2008
The first fixture in the Southern Premier division of the National Young Athletes League took place at Woodford Green on the northern outskirts of London. The result was in the balance all the way to the last event before Reading just edged home ahead of CoNAC by 2.5 points
Some photos taken at this meeting now appear in the Gallery. Pick of the CoNAC performances were the following Grade 1 performances:
U13B 800m - Scott Greeves, 2:21.7
U15B Hammer - Michael Painter 47.52m
U15G 75m hurdles - Victoria Williamson 11.8s
U15G 75m hurdles - Laura McDonald 11.9s
U15G Javelin - Laura McDonald 33.6m
U15G 4 x100m - Laura McDonald, Victoria Williamson, Victoria Mitchell, Clieo Stephenson 51.3s
U17B 1,500m steeplechase - James Senior 4:25.6
Match result - 1 Reading AC 377.5 points, 2 City of Norwich AC 375 points, 3 Croydon & District AC 358 points, 4 Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 341.5
Both “Athlete of the Match” titles went to CoNAC courtesy of excellent efforts from James Senior in the 1,500m steeplechase and Laura McDonald with the javelin, each achieving an ESAA national standard on the way.
Your team needs your support!! The next NYAL fixture is at Blackheath on 18 May where additional support is required in the following events in particular - U13G 800m & 1,200m, U13B hurdles, U17G 800m, U17G shot, discus & hammer. Please speak to your coach, Jacqui Green, Sue Pring or Jean Senior
Short on numbers but huge in heart as CoNAC win National Junior League meet at Ipswich
27 April 2008
Absences and injuries left CoNAC’s National Junior League squad looking rather depleted as it left for its first challenge of the season at Ipswich last Sunday. Competing against 5 other teams that all looked strong on paper, none of us expected how the drama of the day would unfold - both on and off the track!
The day kicked off strongly in the 400m hurdles with Daryl Martin, returning from injury, running close to his personal best and James Senior, beating his in 59.80s taking 2nd and 1st across the “A” and “B” string races. Their performances were then matched by the women with Becky Pike running a personal best of 66.2s and Laura Warman also a pb of 69.1s.
With athletes competing in events they wouldn’t normally consider such as the hammer, shot, long jump and high jump, CoNAC began to pick up points all around the stadium. Ashley Christianson threw the hammer to 15.31m to grab extremely valuable 2nd place points, while in the 100m James MacLachlan produced an 11.7s pb and - in the 800m - fine runs by James Jackson (pb of 2m 01.8s) and Joel Taylor kept the points ticking over for the men. And for the women Sam Jacks ran 2m 18s also for a pb.
Back in the field, Jenna Cannell was performing brilliantly with personal bests in the hammer at 37.13m (a national standard) discus at 28m and javelin at 19.15m. Then a sensational run by Rachel Stringer in the 400m in 56.6s would lead to her being presented with the Women’s Athlete of the Match Award and the following men’s 3,000m produced some of the finest performances of the day - first, James Jackson took over 15 seconds off his pb with 9m 11.9s; then Tom Francis, looking to gain experience, took 18 seconds off his pb to record 10m 01.1s and Sam Cheverton took a massive 43 seconds off his pb to record 9m.29.3s.
No-one worked harder all day than Chris Marshall who turned out in the 100m, 200m, 400, hammer, triple jump and the 4 x 100m relay. And Daryl Martin ran a pb of 16.8 in the hurdles to put more points of the board. And now CoNAC had moved into the lead on by 3 points with only a handful of events outstanding.
However all the hard work and growing expectation that we could conceivably win the match was shattered when it transpired that one of our athletes had failed to report on time for one of her events and then completely missed her next one. The result of this indiscretion was that CoNAC was now trailing by 3 points.
Fortunately, some strong performances in both the men’s and women’s 1,500m followed with Juliette Knights running a personal best in 5m 0.8s all helped to keep the points total ticking over. However, our makeshift men’s and women’s 4 x 100m relay teams, although managing to get the baton all the way round, didn’t score highly. And now we were trailing by 8 points and with only the 2,000m steeplechase and the two 4 x 400m relays remaining it was going to be some challenge to overturn this deficit.
So it was a huge surprise when only two athletes reported for the 2,000m steeplechase and both were in the red & gold of CoNAC! With maximum points from both “A” and “B” strings guaranteed you might have expected them to have jogged around the track. But they didn’t - they raced each other resulting in James Senior knocking over 20 seconds off his pb in 6m 33.6s and Sam Cheverton running an excellent 6m 35.5s. Now we were leading by 10 points….
And victory was assured when the women’s 4 x 400m won in a highly respectable 4m 04.6s thanks to fine runs from Sam Jacks, Laura Warman, Becky Pike and Rachel Stringer. This was followed by the men who picked up a gutsy 2nd place in 3m 35.7s with splendid runs from James Jackson, Darly Martin, James Senior (his 3rd one lap event of the day) and Joel Taylor.
This team victory was truly a remarkable achievement, one that was totally unexpected and all who contributed can feel justifiably pleased with themselves. By all pulling together and showing excellent team spirit it really does demonstrate what huge amounts of heart and determination can achieve.
Barbara Parker presses on in the States
23 April 2008
CoNAC exile Barbara Parker is running into form in the USA. She opened her season with 4min 16secs for 1,500m on 12 April in Tallahassee, Florida and has followed that up with 15min 42secs for 5,000m in Walnut, California on 18 April.
Next on the radar is the 3,000m steeplechase with one eye on an Olympic qualifying time. Good luck Barbara - an Olympic CoNAC-er in 2008 would be a very welcome first!
East Anglian League gets underway at Peterborough
20 April 2008
This was the first team outing of the season for the club’s junior squads with many athletes from our junior academy competing in their first ever competition. The club’s new flags were on display and - with a full compliment of officials eager & ready to go - everyone was looking forward to a good day’s competition.
Amongst the many good CoNAC performances on the day, special note goes to:
Daniel Griffin (U11B) - LJ 3.89m PB
Kate Vickery (U13G) - LJ 4.23m Grade 2
Clieo Stephenson (U15G) - 100m 12.9secs Grade 2; long jump 4.67m Grade 2
Victoria Mitchell (U15G) - long Jump 4.49m PB
Vicky Williamson (U15G) - 75m hurdles 11.6secs ESAA qualifying standard Grade 1
Laura McDonald (U15G) - 75m hurdles 12.1secs PB Grade 2; Javelin 30.05m Grade1 ESAA qualifying standard
Megan Thomas (U15G) - Hammer 39m
U15G 4 x 100m relay - Clieo Stephenson, Laura McDonald, Victoria Mitchell & Vicky Williamson, 51.7secs - a new club and county record
Callum Brown (U15B) - TJ 10.48m PB, Javelin 36.98m, Hammer 40.6m PB, ESAA qualifying standard
Michael Painter (U15B) - hammer 47.12 PB and ESAA qualifying standard
Accompanying their younger team-mates at Peterborough, the Senior Ladies did particularly well on the track with Dani Nimmock recording 4.37.4 for the 1500m, Sam Jacks 2.22.4 for 800m and Ruth Senior 2.22.7 for the same distance.
Under 17 Men also returned some good performances, with James Senior taking the 800m with 1.59.6. James McLachlan managed 6.19m for the long jump and then pulled off a massive 13.35m for the triple jump. A special mention must also go to Adam Howard, who jumped 5.66m in the long jump.
Match result - Peterborough AC 895, Nene Valley Harriers 764, CITY OF NORWICH AC 713, Luton AC 445.5, West Norfolk AC 329.5, Ryston Runners AC 218.
Young CoNAC throwers progressing nicely
17 March 2008
Five CoNAC throwers braved the elements on Sunday at Cambridge for what was at least posted as a 'pre-season warm up'. Driving rain and a biting gale-force proved too much for some, but the intrepid five from CoNAC - Megan Thomas, Laura McDonald, Callum Brown, Michael Painter and Jon Painter all produced some very credible throws to show that their preparations for the coming outdoor season are progressing well.
Results: Megan Thomas (U15) - hammer 38m, shot 8.96m, discus 19.08m; Laura McDonald (U15) - shot 9.09m, javelin 28.98m; Callum Brown (U15) - hammer 38.43m, discus 23.90m; Michael Painter (U15) - hammer 43.29m, discus 30.04m, shot 8.95m; and Jon Painter (V40) - shot 10.19m.
Callum and Michael both achieved the coveted ESAA qualifying standards for hammer; and with Megan not far away in the shot and Laura only requiring another 20mm for the javelin it looks like these young throwers are in for another exciting outdoor throws season.
L to R - Callum Brown, Megan Thomas, Laura McDonald & Michael Painter
A final word for three CoNAC trainee officials who did there bit on Sunday in order to get three more ticks in their level two field official's logbooks. Lorraine Brown, Stephen Thomas and Ian McDonald all spent the day dodging implements blown off course by the wind. And with the 'field' resembling a peat bog, conditions were so bad that at one point two officials were seen trying to pull a hammer out of the ground after it had completely disappeared from sight, with only the remains of the handle giving its position away. Well done all!
When Laura met Goldie
11 March 2008
Laura McDonald, CoNAC's U13 county javelin record holder and last season’s age group UK number one, met the person she admires more than any other at the annual South Norfolk Community Sport Achiever Awards this evening.
UK javelin record holder Goldie Sayers presented Laura with her award at Dunston Hall to recognise her outstanding athletic achievements during the 2007 season. Laura was the only winner from athletics at the awards ceremony which encompassed 26 different sports.
Accompanied by Tim Newenham, himself a former Olympian and GB javelin coach, the three soon started talking tactics and training schedules. Laura will now compete on Goldie's home ground in Cambridge in the first throws meeting of the season this Sunday. As for Goldie, she's off to Croatia with the GB squad.
Record medal haul at National Indoor Track & Field Championships
23 February 2008
You could compare the club’s medal haul at the Norwich Union sponsored England Athletics U20, U17 and U15 Indoor Track & Field Championships with waiting for a bus - nothing for ages and then six come along in succession. The championships, staged in Birmingham’s impressive National Indoor Arena, attracted the country’s most talented young athletes who over the two-day meeting gave their all in pursuit of medals.
Not yet 13-years-old, Clieo Stephenson had a very busy and successful weekend. Saturday saw her finish just out of the medals in the U15 Girls 60m Sprint when finishing 4th in 7.96secs while on Sunday she set the medal haul rolling for the city club with a bronze in the 200m. Having successfully negotiated a heat and semi final she carried a niggling hip injury into the final. Undaunted she ran the race of her young life, to the delight of her coach Mike Utting, to secure her first national championship medal in a time of 26.40secs.
Soon after Connor Darby doubled the medal haul in the U17 Boys 1500m. Despite his best efforts to front run and shake of the opposition he was out sprinted over the final 200m and had to settle for silver in a time of 4min 12.41secs.
The final three races of the weekend saw the stripes of the City club dominate. In the U17 Boys 800m final James Senior – fresh from competing at the National Cross Country Championships the day before - lined up against training partner Joel Taylor. A wonderful battle ensued with Senior and Taylor vying for major honours. In the end it was Senior’s gutsy determination that prevailed taking him to gold in 1min 56.56secs. Taylor despite his best efforts and a personal best time of 1min 57.25secs was edged into bronze medal position in the final few strides.
Next up saw Rick Ward in the U20 Men’s 800m final. England international Ward was determined to dominate and led from the gun controlling the race from the front. He was never headed and confidently secured the second gold of the day for the City club in a time of 1min 54.69sec.
The icing on the cake came in the final race of weekend when GB junior international Rachel Stringer stepped onto the track for the U20 Ladies 800m. Defending her title won last year she produced her best ever 800m run, indoor and outdoor and created a new championship best performance of 2min 6.91secs when striding to victory, leaving the opposition trailing in her slipstream.
U15 Girl Victoria Williamson made the final of the 60m Hurdles and finished in a creditable 6th place when recording 9.27secs while in the U20 Men’s 400m Michael Fraser produced a personal best 50.23sec to move into the semi-final stage but sadly just missed out on a place in the final.
CoNAC girls show fantastic form at Midland Open
16 February 2008
A strong CoNAC presence attended the Midland Open indoor athletic meeting at the NIA in Birmingham. Chloe Smith, Sophie Poyner, Victoria Williamson, Clieo Stephenson, Laura McDonald and Vicky Mitchell all braved the freezing weather and made their way to Birmingham. Accompanied by coaches Mike Utting and Clive Poyner, the sprinters in particular were there as part of their warm up preparations for the England Open indoor championships held next weekend. And how well they did too, with many new personal best performances against some seriously strong competition!
Field
Chloe Smith - High Jump 1.45m
Laura McDonald - Shot 9.43m
Track (all events were time trials)
Sophie Poyner - 60m 8.4s
Victoria Williamson - 60m 8.30s, 200m 27.76s, 60mh 9.34s
Clieo Stephenson - 60m 8.06s, 200m 26.24s
Laura McDonald - 60m 8.17s, 200m 26.72s
Vicky Mitchell - 60m 8.51s, 200m 28.36s
Not a bad day out for the girls, competing against some of their rivals for the first time. Let’s wish them all the best for the big event next Saturday & Sunday.
Rachel Stringer shines indoors but falls short of expectations
10 February 2008
International 17-year-old Rachel Stringer set her sights high in Sheffield at the weekend. For the first time she moved up a notch to senior competition at 800metres in the England Athletes Indoor Track & Field Championships. Competing against Marilyn Okoro, a sub 2min 800m athlete in her heat, she literally cruised into the final when finishing second in a new personal best indoor time of 2min 6.96secs, only a tad short of her 2007 outdoor best. Confidently expecting to podium in Sunday’s final, Rachel’s form of the previous day deserted her and she had to settle for fourth place in a time of 2min 8.99secs.
On the plus side, twelve months ago she would have pleased with her time in the final but by her own current high standards it was a disappointing end to her weekend. However, she will have learned a lot from the experience of competing against the UK’s top 800metre athletes such as Jenny Meadows and Okoro.
Stringer & Ward don their first England vests
2 February 2008
Rachel Stringer and Rick Ward were selected to represent England Juniors and travelled to Cardiff to compete in the Celtic Cup, an indoor Track & Field International. Both contested the 4 lap 800 metres and both proved to be winners in this their first England representative outings. Stringer found herself in a tough battle and had to produce a new indoor personal best 2min 08.7secs to secure a hard fought victory while Ward had an easy passage. Controlling his race from the front he resisted all challenges to cross the finishing line a comfortable victor in 1min 56.7secs.
Both of these young athletes are finding the indoor circuit to their liking and look to further impress as the short season progresses with a long term aim of qualifying for the Great Britain track team that will compete in the World Junior Track & Field Championships in Poland this coming August.
Triple international honours for the club’s junior endurance star
23 January 2008
International honours are coming the way of the club’s endurance athletes in threes. Following their gold winning performances in the South of England Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre over the weekend both Rachel Stringer and Rick Ward have now been selected to represent England in the Celtic Cup at Cardiff on Saturday 2 February. This will be the first time they have pulled on an England vest and both who will be competing over their favoured distance, 800 metres.
The weekend before, their training partner Mitch Goose, following his silver success in the European cross-country championships will again be competing for the Great Britain junior team. He will be travelling to Lisbon to compete in the tri-country international against Spain and host country Portugal.
All three have come through ranks of the club’s endurance group and look to have a very bright future in the sport.
Medals galore for CoNAC at the South of England Indoor Championships
19-20 January 2008
Rick Ward produced two top drawer performances at the weekend when winning the Under 20 Men’s 800m and 1500m titles in the South of England Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The championships - staged in the impressive Lee Valley Athletics Centre, Edmonton - proved to be a happy hunting ground for Ward (below left) and his fellow City club athletes. A comfortable but nevertheless impressive 1min 56.23secs was good enough to give him the 800m title on Saturday. Sunday saw him double his gold medal tally when creating a new championship best performance 4min 04.55secs in the 1500m.
17 year-old international Rachel Stringer (above right) tested herself to great effect in the Senior Ladies 800m. Qualifying comfortably for the final that provided one the most competitive races of the weekend, she was always in contention coming off the final bend to snatch a fine victory in 2min 8.84secs.
Cleo Stephenson should be nicknamed the “pocket rocket”. The diminutive first year Under 15 athlete produced a super 8.10sec personal best performance in the 60m-sprint final to take silver. Victoria Williamson was another Under 15 athlete to take her place on the victory podium. After missing out in the semi-final of 60m sprint she went on to secure a silver medal in the 60m Hurdles in a personal best of time of 9.27sec. In the same race Laura McDonald just missed out on the medals when finishing in 4th place in a time of 9.46secs. It was Victoria Mitchell’s first time on the indoor scene at Lee Valley and she acquitted herself very well when making it to the semi-final of the Under 15 Girls 60m sprint in which she recorded a personal best of 8.48sec.
Joel Taylor and James Senior safely negotiated heats and semi-final in the Under 17 Boys 800m to set up a cracking final. From the gun Taylor (below centre) wound up the pace with Senior (below left) close at hand. Leaving the rest of the field trailing the duo pushed on with Taylor refusing to relinquish his lead, a position held to the line. His fine effort established a new championship best performance of 1min 59.80secs with Senior also breaking the previous best as he finished second in 2min 00.97secs.
Connor Darby had a battle royal with Aldershot’s Rikkie Letch in the Under 17 Boys 1500m final. On the day Letch proved to have the better finish but Darby can be pleased with his silver medal performance timed at 4min 11.97sec. Juliette Knights’ first experience on the boards produced a bronze medal for her in the Under 17 Girls 1500m in which she clocked 5min 16.47secs. Samantha Jacks made a bold bid for a medal in the Under 20 Ladies 800m leading for much of the race but with 150m to go she hit the “lactic zone” and had to content herself with 4th place in 2min 20.41sec. Under 20 athlete Michael Fraser made his mark in the 400m when finishing in a creditable 5th place in the final being timed at 51.80secs.
The accolade of unluckiest athlete of the weekend must go to Carl Goose. Goose having cruised into Senior Men’s 800m final and looked to be a certain medallist was accidentally tripped from behind mid-race and ended up on his backside. It was a dejected and bitterly disappointed Goose who departed the track empty handed through no fault of his own.
Laura McDonald flying high
7 January 2008
Laura McDonald, the young CONAC Pentathlete who finished last season ranked as UK No2 in the under 13 age group in that discipline, competed this weekend in the South of England Pentathlon championships held at Lee valley Athletic stadium.
Laura McDonald winner of U15 South of England Pentathlon competition with Bronze medal winner& friend, Hayley McLean (Thurrock.)
The New Year means Laura moves up to the U15 age group, so new challenges, older competition, higher hurdles and heavier throwing weights all formed part of the unknown. A feeling that every Athlete can connect with as they move into the next level of competition.
The philosophical youngster remarked that “All I can do is try my best” as she walked out to take her place in heat 2 of the 60m hurdles, the first event of the day. Following three false starts, two of which were caused by the starter’s gun jamming, the race was on. Laura’s hard work which she had put in the previous day, again at Lee valley, training with the regional hurdles squad, meant she had already left the ground for the second hurdle as some of the competitors landed from the first. The large electronic timing board and the commentary over the PA system announced that not only had the youngster broken her own P.B with a time of 9.66 seconds, she had also won her first U15 event.
In little over an hour later, nursing a slight ligament strain Laura attempted the high jump. I.33 me was no where near her best performance, but Laura considered that slipping back to 4th place, whilst still staying in the competition was a price worth paying. During the interval, one of the performance centres physiotherapists worked on Laura and David Rice, East of England Multi-event development coach, helped her regarding additional stretches and warm up techniques.
Her next event was the shot. It was Laura’s first competition with the 3.25Kg weight. Not to be out-phased by the older competition, she threw an explosive 9.39 me which brought her back to second place and in striking distance of the lead. David and Laura worked hard again in the interval ready for the penultimate event, the long jump.
Laura jumped 4.29 me, well down from her PB, but good enough to hold her position awaiting the final event, the 800 Metres.
Drawn in heat 2, Laura paced her close rival and good friend Hayley McLean from Thurrock Harriers for most of the race. Hayley had finished only one place down in the U13 rankings from Laura in both Pentathlon and hurdles last season.
Finishing overall in fourth place out of the two heats, Laura had to wait until the final scores were announced before she knew her position. Both Laura and Hayley were called up to the presentation rostrum; the result of this had to be seen. Both had started at the bottom of the pack, both had concerns over their first U15 competition and now both knew they would get a medal. It didn’t matter which one, they were absolutely over the moon that against all odds they had come through.
In the end Hayley took the Bronze home to Essex and Laura stepped up to receive the Gold, and the title of South of England Indoor Pentathlon champion. What a confidence builder for the forthcoming season.
This is only a good start for Laura, but a fantastic start to the New Year for CONAC. With so many of incredibly strong U13 squad moving up to U15 this year, who knows what will happen – and of course, they are all now old enough to compete at some of the major UK championships, as well as English Schools!