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Results are usually posted within 1 week of the event, either by Mendip AC or a link to another clubs website with the results.
Results can be posted each week in the Wells Journal by Ian Humphreys.
JOURNAL 2nd December
Mendip AC proved themselves to be the leading Somerset club at the recent Mike Sully Cross Country races held on Bristol's Clifton Downs, with two second places and a third. After a summer season in which both Mark Bailey and Yeovil's Sam Somerville had remained unbeaten, Clifton Down gave the boys the first opportunity to gain undisputed bragging rights as to who was the best under 13 in the county. After the usual quick start, Mark soon gained the lead and was looking a likely winner as his push for the finish line started to open a lead on his opponents. With the line rapidly approaching Wales' leading youngster, Tyler Pritchard, closed on Mark and grabbed the victory on the line, leaving Somerville isolated in third. Charlie Fraser ran solidly for seventh while James Williams, making a late decision to run after a hard training session the day before, sealed a team victory by finishing ninth. Aiofe Thorogood had a good work-out as preparation for her Irish National debut in the under 17 race, though she had to give way to her Bristol friend and rival Olivia Sadler to finish in second place. Ruby Kelly continues to improve and was rewarded with 10th place, while Amy Reakes ran strongly to finish seventh of the under 15 girls who were running with the under 17's. The meeting had started with the popular Primary School's match. Amy Barlow (Elmhurst School) led home thirteen Mendip girls who made the trip, running well to secure third spot behind athletes from Wales and Birmingham. Alice Davies (Hugh Sexey) finished tenth, one place ahead of Springmead's Lizzie Finch. The revelation of the day was Elena Sidman, also of Springmead, who is currently leading the year 3/4 schools competition. Giving away two years to most of her rivals, finishing in 13th place was a superb performance. One place back was Elmhurst's Olivia Cook, while Rosie Smith (Millfield) just pipped Hugh Sexey pair Kirsty Jenkins and Elloise Darby as the girls filled 17th to 19th, and Sarah Davies (also of Hugh Sexey) was 27th. St Joseph's Madaleine Phillips was the second of the year 4's to finish in 29th place, three ahead of St Aldhelms Kathlene Cox-Thompson. Freya Clark (Oakhill) finished in 37th, while yet another year 4 - Hope Plumly of Chewton Mendip finished 50th with over 20 runners still to come. The team finished second,only five points down on North Somerset, but ahead of Bristol and BANES. The Mendip area's hopes for victory in the boys race were dealt a fatal blow with the non-appearance of the league's leading runner, Joe Engledow. This left Oakhill's Alex Williams to lead the team around, and with Alex looking off his best form William Fuller (Upton Noble) came through on the sprint to gain the honour of finishing first of the Mendip contingent in ninth place, one ahead of Williams. The Hugh Sexey pairing of Sam Blackburn and Oscar Rogers completed the team in 20th and 21st, while James Welborne was 29th, Toby Ross 34th and Kyle Strange 35th (both Elmhurst). St Aldhelm's James Reilly was 40th, Millfield's Ikey Morland 48th and St Benedicts Cain Phillips 49th. Jago Lott (Chewton Mendip) finished 57th, with Oliver Lambert (Upton Noble) 62nd and year four Joe Reilly (St Aldhelms) 64th. With only thirteen points separating the five teams, Mendip were only fourth behind winners Gwent. This Sunday Mendip AC holds its festive Handicap races and xmas social. All runners for the junior 2K and senior 5K events should meet at 10.30 by the gates to Clares Factory on the Wells Relief Road for an 11am start. The social is being held following the run at the EMI club on Chamberlain Street. Along with the usual quiz and party games, the club will be drawing lots for its two places in next years London Marathon. For further details please contact Ian Humphreys on 0798 5160526. JOURNAL REPORT 11th OCTOBER
A dozen Mendip cross country runners attended the first of the winter's Wessex League fixtures, held at Avon Heath Country Park just outside Ringwood in Dorset. This year the league has been revamped, with the seniors and under 17's starting first at noon, with the youngsters races following at their usual times. The opening race thus saw Kathy Williams and under 17 Kieran Young lined up against the senior men that included last year's league champion Nathan Young, Marcus Williams and veteran John Cox. The women and under 17's took on one lap of the fast woodland course, with the men turning off for a second lap before making for the finish. Kieran proved dominant in the one lap races, winning in convincing style in 17:31, while Kathy Williams was not quite back to her usual standard after a recent heavy cold - finishing 12th of the 21 senior ladies in 22:41. After a good opening stretch, Nathan suffered with bad cramps in one of his calfs, forcing him to stop on three or four occasions. Rather amazingly he managed to limp through to the finish having lost and regained fourth spot on each occasion. Nathan crossed the line in a time of 33:48. Marcus Williams enjoyed his run, having a race-long tussle with John Cox, with the pair comfortably in the top half of the field, Marcus prevailing in 14th with 38:45 to John's 16th in 39:03. The team finished in 3rd place, behind Poole AC and Poole Runners, but ahead of Somerset rivals Yeovil Town Road Runners. Next up was the under 11's race, with over 30 runners racing away from the start. Mendip's leading under 11, Alex Williams was pushed hard and had to settle for an excellent second place, running 5:08, just six seconds behind the race winner. The club had a large contingent of under 13 boys out, with Mark Bailey renewing his battles with Wimborne's Piers Copeland. On this occasion Mark took on the lead early to ensure a fast race, and in a repeat of their many battles on the track this summer, Mark romped away at the finish, clocking 9:57. Finley Marsh ran well for fourth, clocking 10:27, while Charlie Fraser suffered after feeling unwell on the drive down to the race and completed in 6th place with 10:46. James Williams ran solidly to finish 8th in exactly 11 minutes, to leave the team victorious over Poole AC. Amy Barlow, still technically an under 11, chose to step up in distance to contest the much tougher under 13 age-group. After an excellent run against girls two years her seniors Amy finished in 6th place in 12:13. With the mostly flat course not suiting Amy's style, she should fare better on the next two league venues, which feature rather more hills. Amy Reakes was the clubs only runner in the under 15 girls race, running well to complete in 13th place in 20:12. JOURNAL REPORT 4th OCTOBER
Last week around fifty members of Mendip Athletics Club attended the club's annual general meeting and award ceremony at Wells' EMI Sports and Social Club. The members heard, during Chairman Shaun Thorogood's address, how the creation of the Somerset Athletics Network, and the funding it has brought, has allowed the club to step up a gear and prepare for an even more successful future. In addition to the club's ever-successful organisation of the Glastonbury Road Runs and the Mendip Junior Schools Cross Country League, this year has seen the creation of the Mendip Junior Athletics Academy. Under national coach Tim Snowdon's guidance, the academy has been a national hpilot for the new "Athletics 365" initiative, and has facilitated the education of a new group of coaches. The club now has over a dozen qualified coaches attending training sessions on a weekly basis, and is offering training at seven different sessions throughout the week. The club heard that the costs involved in qualifying three more coaches would be around £1000 next year. Rather inevitably, the expansion of the training programme and the general increase in venue costs has led to an increase in training fees for the comming year - though at around £2 per week, for up to four sessions a week - the value is possibly better than any other local sports club. The club still has a number of training places available, including Sportshall Athletics at Wells Blue School and the Junior Academy at Street's Crispin School on Thursdays (both held indoors during the winter months), in addition to endurance running on Mondays and Saturdays at Wells. Older athletes are catered for with further sessions on Monday evenings at Wells Blue School, a Tuesday evening strength and conditioning session, and sessions at Millfield track on Thursday's and some weekends. The club is also interested in hearing from anyone who would like to get involved in helping out with coaching, officiating or generally at the club. For further information please contact Graham Norris on 01749 689141. Following the AGM business, the annual club awards were presented. In the under 11 category, the prizes winners were Amy Barlow and Alex Williams; under 13 - Claudia Lavender and Mark Bailey; under 15 - Lottie McCarthy and Connor Linham; under 17 - Alice Grosjean and Dan Robinson; seniors - Kathy Williams and Kurtis Gibson. Two "best newcommer" awards were presented to Charlie Fraser and Finley Marsh, while the "most improved" categories were won by Claudia Lavender and Kurtis Gibson. The Best Performance categories were won by Alice Grosjean for winning the South West School's Discus title with a personal best of 35 metres, and Mark Bailey who maintained an unbeaten string of 1500m races throughout the year including the South West Inter-Counties title. The South West League Trophy, awarded to the club member who scored the most points for the club in the South West Athletics League was won by Jo Callender-Wood. The final award presented by the club's committee is the "Endevour" award, which was shared between Mary-Lou Poore and mum Pippa. Two awards were decided by popular vote on the night, with the adult coach/helper of the year going to Graham Norris, and the "athlete's athlete" award going to Mark Bailey. The remaining fixtures for 2010 are as follows: 21 November - Mike Sully Cross Country, Clifton, Bristol; 28 November - Wessex XC League, Salisbury; 5 December - Club Christmas Handicap Run and Social, Wells; 12 December - Country XC Championships, Bath University. January opens with the South West XC Championships at Bicton College, South Devon on January 9th. For further details on fixtures contact Ian Humphreys on 0798 5160526. Journal report for 28th October SOUTH WEST XC RELAYS The Mendip under 13 boys dominated the South West Cross Country Relays held at Taunton last Sunday. With the club defending the title they won at last years event, Mark Bailey was entrusted with the opening leg. After a steady opening quarter mile Mark started to push on and built a commanding lead to hand over to Dan Solway. Mark's 5:20 clocking, nearly 20 seconds faster than he managed last year, proved to be the quickest of the day. James Williams ran solidly for the "B" team to clock 6:03 in fourth place, while Amy Barlow hung on well to hand over as 3rd under 13 girls team, just a couple of strides down on local rivals North Somerset, Amy clocking the fifth fastest girl's time of 6:17. Dan Solway relished the open fields ahead of him, moving further away from the pack to clock the day's second quickest time of 5:45 to send Finley Marsh out on the glory leg, with Finley only 3 seconds slower as the team romped to a one minute victory over second place North Somerset. Harry Davidson kept the "B" team in the hunt with a solid 6:28, before Alex Williams secured a safe 4th place with a 6:12 clocking. Meanwhile Jade Bateman finished with a huge smile on her face as her 6:22 clocking for the second leg took her within two seconds of the lead in the under 13 girls race, leaving Mary-Lou Poore racing after her Newquay and Par rival. After such a fast start Mary-Lou inevitably slowed, clocking 7:23 to leave the team in third place. In the senior race, Mendip's Young brothers lined up against one another as members of the Bristol & West "A" and "B" teams. With their first leg runners posting identical times, Kieran and Nathan ran side by side for the opening quarter mile, before Nathan pulled away. Nathan went on to clock the fastest time by an under 20 - running 10:13 for his two laps, while Kieran was the fastest under 17 with 10:48. CARDIFF HALF MARATHON - Birgette Timmins made her half marathon debut at Cardiff last weekend, clocking an impressive one hour 51 minutes. The event was marred somewhat for the quicker runners as a last-minute course change meant that the race was several hundred metres under-distance. CRANMORE FUN RUN - Nathan Young was first home in the Cranmore Chase fun run, clocking 34:53 ahead of younger brother Kieran who ran 36:33. Marcus Williams was 18th in a time of 42:31, while Cathy Williams was well pleased with her 49:48 in 45th position. James Williams was the winner of the children's fun run, followed by brother Alex, with Amy Barlow first of the girls. WESSEX LEAGUE The first of the Wessex League cross country events takes place at Avon Heath Country Park near Ringwood this Sunday. This popular venue offers a fast woodland course with a mix of terrain. This year the under 17 and senior races are starting at 12 o'clock, with the under 11's at 12.50, followed by under 13's and under 15's. For further details please contact Ian Easy Runner SW Cross Country Relays 24th October
U13 BOYS A Team - Mark Bailey (5.20), Dan Solway (5.45), Finley Marsh (5.48)
B Team - James Williams (6.03), Harry Davidson (6.28), Alex Williams (6.12)
U13 GIRLS Amy Barlow (6.17), Jade Bateman (6.22), Mary-Lou Poore (7.23)
Fastest leg run by Mark Bailey.
Cranmore Chase 17th October
Junior Run - James Williams 1st, Alex Williams 2nd, Amy Barlow
10km - Nathan Young 1st (34.53), Kieran Young 2nd (36.33), Kathy Williams 45th (49.48)
Street Winter Series (Race 1) 13th October
2km - Alex Williams 1st
5km - Nathan Young 1st (16.29), Kieran Young 3rd (17.07), Josh Timmins 38th (20.28), James Williams 44th (21.08)
Shepton Mallet Runs 3rd October
1km - Mark Bailey 1st, Alex Williams 2nd, Amy Barlow 6th
5km - Kieran Young 2nd (19.00), Amy Reakes 15th (24.59)
10km - Nathan Young 2nd (35.53), Louise Williams 76th (52.13)
Ash Excellent Eight
8 Mile race - Nathan Young 2nd
5 Mile race - Kieran Young 1st
3km race - Amy Reakes 13th
Fun Run - Amy Barlow 5th
Yeovilton 8th September
5km - Kieran Young 7th (16.56), James Williams 48th (19.49), Marcus Williams 56th (20.10), Amy Reakes and Ian Humphries 112th, 113th (25.00)
Fun Run - Alex Williams 1st (2.07), Amy Barlow 2nd (2.09)
SERIES WINNERS - Kieran 1st Junior Male, Alex Winner of Fun Run, Amy first girl Fun run.
Battle of Sedgemoor 10km and Fun Run 29th August
Results can be found online on the Langport Runners website, no official fun run results yet but runners that took part were -
James Williams (3rd overall), Alex Williams (1st U11B), John Young, Amy Reakes (1st U15G), Simone Young.
Main race - Nathan Young 35.18, Kieran Young 41.45, Kathy Williams 51.00 and Louise Williams 53.21.
Journal report 9th September
SOUTH WEST ATHLETICS LEAGUE The final fixture of this year South West Athletics League took place on Sunday at Yeovil. With a number of event clashes, including an Avon league that largely eliminated the senior and under 20 men's squads, and the start of the local soccer and rugby leagues, Mendip AC were forced to field their smallest team of the year. With North Somerset pulling out all the stops to gain victory over south Devon composite team Armada, Mendip found themselves in a tussle with Dorchester for third spot on the day - finally having to give way to the Dorset club. Of the under 13 girls Claudia Lavender was a classy winner of the 70m hurdles, clocking a fast 12.84 seconds, then went on to finish 3rd in the high jump with 1.20m and 4th in the long jump with 4.03m. Cerys Rumley finished 4th in the high jump with 1.15m and gained useful points in the long jump (11th 3.43m) and shot (7th 5.17m). Jade Bateman clocked 15.49 seconds for 6th in the 100m sprint and ran 2:54.5 for 8th in the 800m event. Mary-Lou Poore ran 3:19.9 for 12th in the 800m and threw the shot 4.52m for 10th place. The girls finished 4th in the relay in a time of 64.77 seconds. Ellie Norris won the under 15 girls javelin with a 21.97m throw, with Emma Barlow third with 19.09m. Anicia Skeates, who is also a member of the North Somerset club excelled with wins in the 100m (14.11 seconds) and 75m hurdles (13.08 seconds) and was second in the high jump with 1.40m. In the under 17 women's events Alice Grosjean won the shot with 8.89m, and was second in the 100m with 14.51, while Carlotte Scriven was 3rd in the shot (7.30m) and runner-up in the javelin with a solid 25.35m. Jo Callendar-Wood was busy, winning the 80m hurldes in 14.34 seconds, finishing second in the 300m with 45.82 seconds and 8th in the javelin with 7.53m. Aiofe Thorogood was a clear winner of the 800m with a 2:24.75 clocking. In the senior events Kathy Williams made a unique contribution - contesting no fewer than six events before joining Alice, Jo and Aoife to finish second in the medly relay. Kathy's best finish was a second in the 800m (3:05.86), after finishing third in the 3000m, 4th in the 400m and shot, 5th in the 100m and javelin. Pippa Poore gained some useful points in the shot and javelin, as did Jackie Scriven in the javelin and 100m. Finlay Marsh was the clubs only under 13 boy, finishing third in the 70m hurdles (16.03 seconds) and 5th in the discus (11.65m) and running a new personal best in the 800m - just loosing out after swapping places with the 2nd placed finisher no less than 5 times in the final 200m. Fyn's time was 2:35.81. Another Mendip athlete to run an 800m PB was Ben Millar, who won the under 15 boys event with a great second lap in 2:17.9. Ben had earlier run 60.61 for 4th in a highly competitive 400m. New member Tim Kirkman finished 3rd in the 80m hurdles with 14.74, 4th in the 100m with 14.33 and 5th in the long jump with 4.50m. Jake Cussell was the best of the under 17's, winning the shot with 13.35 and javelin with 34.35 and gaining 4th place in the triple jump with 11.08. Dan Robinson gained many useful points with 2nd in the javelin (25.63m) 4th in the shot (9.51m) and 6th in the triple jump (10.07m). Josh Timmins finished 5th in the 100m hurdles with 19.34, 6th in the 100m (13.26) and 7th in the triple jump (9.61m). The competing senior men were reduced to Paul Lavender (5th in the 800m with 2:38.04) and Andy Rumley (4th hammer,16.91m; and 5th discus 16.38m). This evening (Thursday) the club is holding the first of a number of free "come and try it" taster sessions for their new Athletics Academy. The Academy is the first in the county and is a result of exciting work carried out by international coach Tim Snowdon, made possible by an Athletics Network grant awarded to the club by England Athletics. The session is taking place at Crispin School in Street from 6pm till 7.30pm. Further taster sessions will be held in the comming weeks for those youngsters also interested in distance and cross country running. The first of these will be at Tor woods in Wells at 10am on Saturday 18th September. For further details on the Mendip Athletics Academy contact Graham Norris on 01749 689141. Yeovilton 11th August
5km race - Nathan Young 8th(16.15), Kieran Young 21st(17.34), Ben Millar 47th(18.55), James Williams 84th (20.32) , Ian Humphreys 139th (24.52)
Junior race - Alex Williams 1st, Amy Barlow 2nd
Journal report 22nd July
Last week a team representing the Mendip Area Junior Schools took on South Somerset and North Somerset in a match held at Millfield Track. A number of fine performances were recorded by the Mendip team, including a win for Mica Clarke in the Year 3/4 600m in a fast 2:04.2 with Joel Garratt second in the boys race. Year 5 Amy Barlow produced another personal best time, but was unfortunate to come across some very strong opposition and her 2:43.2 only gained her second as all three medalists in the upper girls 800m broke 2:44. Finlay Marsh came close to winning the boys race, but his 2:42 was a mere 0.2 behind the winner. In the lower boys sprint events Harry Warwick continued his domination, taking the 60m sprint in 9.2 before leading a Mendip 1-2-3 in the 55m hurdles in 9.0 seconds, ahead of Cain Phillips and George Postings. Harry Davidson came within a tenth of winning the upper boys 80m sprint, stopping the clock at 11.6 seconds. In the field events, wins came from Harry Davidson in the javelin, with 20.63 metres; Ricky Turner who threw the hammer 27.65 metres; Abigail Russel who cleared 1.09 metres in the high jump; and Shaun Bateman who jumped an impressive 1.31 metres in the boys high jump.Other notable performances came from Ryan Mcdonnald (1.25m, high jump), Ricky Turner (javelin, 17.79 metres), long jumpers Aiden Nicholls (3.66m); Ely Bentley (3.65m); Finlay Clarke (3.56m) and Abigail Russell (3.32m). The match ended with a victory for South Somerset on 262 points, from Mendip (186) and North Somerset (76). Full results can be found at www.MendipJuniorAthletics.org.uk A number of MAC members contested the July edition of the Yeovil 5K road race series. Nathan Young was first over the line in 6th place with a steady 16:38 clocking with brother Kieran 11th in a personal best 17:20. Youngster James Williams clocked 20:52, being chased hard by coach Ian Humphreys who completed in 21:23. Amy Reakes reached the finish in 24:47. In the accompanying junior races Alex Williams was rewarded with a new course record, while Amy Barlow was first of the girls. Kurtis Gibson travelled to Birmingham to contest the BMC races held at the university track. Kurtis ran a measured race to come through on the second lap to record a new personal best of 1:54.8, frustratingly his first time inside the English School's qualifying standard - but ten days too late to earn himself a place in the Somerset schools team for the event. On Sunday a number of club members contested the final round of the National Young Athlete's League against Yeovil at Yate track. With the club being out-numbered by the Yeovil squad, the match result was a predictable win for Yeovil. Some notable performances were recorded, including fine personal bests from Jake Cussell's 11.89m in the shot and a great 1500m effort from Charlie Fraser - who led the under 13 boys event until the final 100m and crossed the line in 5:03.7 to take a massive six seconds from his previous best. Under 15 Ben Millar also scored a PB in the 1500m, but only did so by a determined second half run after he had torn a calf muscle. He left the arena with a new 4:39.8 best time and heavy strapping to his leg. Wins were recorded by Claudia Lavender (u13g hurdles 12.7, long jump 3.96m, and high jump 1.25m), Jo Callendar-Wood (u17w hurdles 13.5 and 300m hurdles in a PB 49.8). Jo also finished second in the long jump with 4.59m, and Jake second in the javelin with 30.42m and third with 1.60 in the high jump. Dan Robinson ran 56.2 for third in the 400m, while Finlay Clarke was also third in the under 13 boys 800m with 2:41.7 and ran 16.0 for the hurdles. There are a few places available on the Aviva StarTrack athletics activity week being organised by Mendip Athletics Club during the first week of August (2nd - 6th). For further information please contact Graham Norris on 01749 689141. Yeovilton 14th July
5km race - Nathan Young(16.38), Kieran Young((17.20), James Williams (20.52), Ian Humphreys(21.23), Amy Reakes(24.47)
Junior race - Alex Williams 1st, Amy Barlow 3rd
Journal report 15th July
Mendip AC turned out a depleted squad for the third South West League fixture at Yeovil and was beaten by both Armada and North Somerset. With only a single under 15 boy, two under 17 women and three athletes in two other age-groups too many points were squandered. In the under 13 events, Ellie Allen had a busy day contesting both sprints and the long jump, while Mary-Lou Poore running the 1500m and throwing discus and javelin. Claudia Lavender also ran the 1500m and added points in the long jump and discus, while it was good to see Jade Bateman back in competition over the 200m sprint. Mark Bailey once again won the under 13 boys 1500m in a new league record, this time clocking a PB 4:55.8, while Tom Booth produced a PB throw of 32.63 to win the javelin and added a 4th and 5th in the sprints, backed up by Dan Solway, Charlie Macdonald and Shaun Bateman. Shaun gained good points for 3rd in the high jump, while Dan gained 4th in the long jump. Lottie McCarthy and Gemma Archbold ran both sprints for the under 15 girls, Lottie finishing 2nd and 4th before grabbing anther second in the long jump. Ellie Norris threw a PB 23.82 for second in the discus and was 3rd in the shot. Shane Williams was the clubs sole under 15 boy, contesting the 3000m and Triple Jump before throwing 22.78 for victory in the javelin. Jo Callender-Wood won her debut race in the 300m hurdles in a nippy 49.9 seconds, also winning the long jump with 4.51 and 4th in the 100m. Mai Robinson added useful points in the 100m and long jump. Kieran Young was a well deserved victor in the under 17 boys 1500m after finishing 3rd in the 3000m race as a warm-up. Kieran also gained good points with a second in the hammer. James Emery was 2nd in the short sprint, and 3rd - just ahead of Dan Robinson - in the 200m. Kurtis Gibson was a clear winner in the under 20 1500m, with Nathan Young winning the 5000m, Sam Norris finishing second in the Javelin with a useful 38.03m while Dan Wright gained two 4th places in the 1500m and javelin. In the senior age-groups Kathy Williams and Pippa Poore both had busy afternoons, but were joined by club social secretary Vicky Gibson who contested 3 events. Youngsters Aoife Thorogood and Rose Penfold scored a 1-2 in the 1500m, with Aoife clocking 4:52.2 to Rose's 4:57.1. Highlight of the men's events was a 1-2 in the 200m from Ben Coghlan (23.22) and Alex Fields (23.71) and Alex's victory in the 400m hurdles with 63.1, while the usual squad of coaches was joined by Andy Rumley, Tom Gibson and Paul Lavender.
Journal report 8th July
Mendip AC Open - Last week's open meeting organised by Mendip Athletics Club attracted 70 athletes from around Somerset, including large contingents from North Somerset AC and the new Weston-super-Mare Juniors. A number of club members put in strong performances, with perhaps the best performances coming from under 11 Amy Barlow, who produced a storming last 200m to shatter her previous best in the 800m with 2:50.3. A short while later she returned to the track to win the 80m sprint in a nippy 12.9 seconds. Other highlights on the track included Kurtis Gibson's 51.5 second 400m, some excellent 200m running from Dan Robinson (25.0), Gemma Archbold (28.6) and under 13 Tom Booth (28.7). Tom also finished second in a high class javelin competition, throwing 32.92 behind Taunton's Will Larkman's 34.75, with Charlie Macdonald throwing 27.60 for third. Ellie Norris produced a PB throw of 21.08 to win the discus, while Harvey Hadrill won the soft hammer with 25.93 from Cameron Willis' 23.80. Luke Luscombe won the new throwing event for the under 10 age-group, the Mini Vortex Howler, with 28.81. In the high jump Lottie McCarthy continues to improve, this time adding another 7cm to her previous best by clearing 1.40m. Back on the track under 13 Ellie Allen won a close 70m hurdles race against Claudia Lavender 12.7 to 12.8, while Ben Millar won the 1500m just outside his best with 4:47.4, with Aiofe Thorogood giving chase with 4:53.4. British Miler's Club - On Tuesday of last week several Mendip athletes made the trip down to Exeter for the monthly races organised by the British Miler's Club, this time over 1500m. With the Pilton pop festival clearly still in her legs, Aoife Thorogood faded badly in the closing stages to finish outside 5 minutes, while Ben Millar held on well to clock 4:43.0. Kurtis Gibson made a rare appearance over 4 laps in the men's "B" race, and found himself at the front as the pace-maker dropped out at half-way. Kurtis bided his time and finally kicked for home with 300m to go, opening an impressive lead to smash his personal best for the distance by some way to stop the clock at 4:08.0. On Sunday the club struggled to get its athletes out and slumped to third in their South West League fixture at Yeovil. With South Devon composite Armada pulling out all the stops to grab their second victory of the season, Mendip were also beaten by North Somerset AC. Armada and North Somerset now share the lead in the league, with Mendip in third, three match points behind. Full results will be available in next week's Journal. The allocation of places for this summer's StarTrack activity week are filling up fast. This year the club is offering a three-day and five-day course during the week of 2nd-6th August. Please contact Graham Norris on 01749 689141 for further details. Wells Journal 1st July
South West Schools Championships - Alice Grosjean earned herself a well-deserved spot on the Somerset team for the all-England Schools championships with a PB throw of 34.07m to win the South West schools title recently. She had earlier finished a strong 4th in the shot, throwing a distance of 9.15m. Aoife Thorogood took an early lead in the intermediate girls 3000m and after passing half-way on pace for a time close to her best, the strain showed as she was eventually passed and had to settle for the silver medal with a 10:37 clocking. Laura Biddiscombe came away a little disappointed as she failed to match her recent PB,clocking 4:59 for seventh in the 1500m. Junior girl Lottie McCarthy produced a PB 13.1 seconds to earn her a place in the final of the 100m. She went on to improve by another tenth in the final where she was unlucky to narrowly lose out on the bronze medal, sharing the same time as the third athlete. In the senior boys events Matt Norton was back to his best, winning the hammer competition with a personal best throw of 47.33m, a remarkable performance considering he had been forced to take a nine-month break with several serious injuries and had only been back throwing three weeks before the competition. Kurtis Gibson took the pace out for the opening lap of the 800m, hoping to record a schools qualifying standard. With the runners slowing after a fast first 200m, Kurtis found he had a little too much to do on the final sprint, though his PB 1:55.5 was to earn him the silver medal. South West Schools Multi-Events Championships - Lottie McCarthy was Mendip's only competitor in the SW Multi-events championships held at Millfield School over the weekend. Always an athlete who gives her all, no-one could have expected more as Lottie produced five new personal best performances - one for each of the events contested in Sunday's junior girls pentathlon competition. Starting off with the 75 metre hurdles, Lottie stopped the clock in 12.7 seconds to start the competition in 5th place overall. She then proceeded to throw the shot 7.43 metres, dropping to 9th, and clear 1.33 metres in the high jump to lose another 3 places. From then on Lottie moved back up the rankings, first jumping a superb 4.81 metres in the long jump - a distance only one athlete had managed to better in the previous week's SW Schools championship event - to lift herself back to 9th, while a solid 2:39.5 in the 800 metres took her into seventh place overall. This week-end sees the club contest the third round of the South West League at Yeovil. With competition at the top of the division keen this year, Mendip find themselves third, one point behind Armada and two points behind North Somerset. All club members are asked to make themselves available for this vital clash. Tickets are now on sale for the club's annual swim and BBQ at Greenbanks Pool on Thursday 8th July. They can be bought at any training session or from social secretary Vicky Gibson. Finally, tonight (Thursday) sees the clubs latest monthly open competition. This is open to all commers, whether a club member or not, and gives novices a great introduction to competitive athletics. Registration costs £2 for up to three events and opens at 5.30 at Millfield tr4ack in Street. Wells Journal 24th JuneSomerset Schools Championships - Mendip AC athletes sproduced some fine performances at the Somerset Schools Track and Field championships that were held at Yeovil last Saturday. In the senior events Kurtis Gibson equalled his 800m best of 1:55.6 after a largely solo run to clinch a run in the South West schools championships this weekend where he will hope that the stronger competition will allow him to go under 1:55 which is the qualifying standard for the all England Schools championships. Former English Schools champion Nathan Young eased to victory in the 3000m event, with younger brother Kieran second in the Intermediate age-group. Also in the Inter's events, Laura Biddiscombe looked strong as she romped away on the last lap to clock 4:58 to win the girls 1500m. Alice Grosjean was the club's most successful athlete, winning both the discus and the shot with a throw close to 10 metres. Charlotte Scrivens was delighted to win the silver medal in the inter girl's javelin, while Jo Callender-Wood gained two bronze medals in the unlikely combination of 80m hurdles and 800m - showing her strong multi-events credentials - while also contributing to the winning sprint relay team. The last of the club's medalists in the intermediate age-group was Jake Cussell with a silver medal in the shot. The club's final two medalists were from the junior girls age-group, with Lottie McCarthy winning a tight 100m sprint final, before joining Jemma Archbold - unlucky to just miss out on a couple of individual sprint medals herself - in the relay. With Jemma mis-placing her spikes and being forced to run the opening leg in trainers off a standing start, the Mendip quartet scorched to a win with Lottie anchoring the team to eclipse the championship record. StarTrack 2010 - Mendip AC are running this year's StarTrack activity week at Millfield track in Street during the week of August 2nd to 6th. Three and five day courses are being offered for £36 and £48, with discounts available for applications recieved by the end of next week. For further details please contact Graham Norris on 01749 689141. Yeovil 5K - Mendip had 7 runners in last week's Yeovil 5K event. First in was Nathan Young, finishing 6th in a modest 16:43, followed by younger brother Kieran with 17:22 for 12th. On an evening of generally slow times, Tim Attwell went well with 18:42 for 33rd, while Marcus Williams paid for his fast start as his 12 year-old son James caught him over the final kilometer, with both runners recording 20:38. Kathy Williams produced another personal best time with 22:47, while Amy Reakes completed in 24:30. Wells Journal report 10/6/10Mendip Athletics Club failed to capitalise on thier home advantage in Sunday's South West League match, as North Somerset pulled out all the stops to take their first league victory, with Mendip a clear second ahead of last time's winners Armada, Dorchester, Weymouth and North Devon. With the wind picking up throughout the day, the early calm gave way to a strong breeze that flattered the sprinters, but made things difficult for the distance races. Mendip had a number of fine first places, with many athletes setting new personal best figures. Mendip's athlete of the match was new signing Curtis Stevens, who gained victories in the under 15 boys 400m (57.68) and 800m (2:15.64) and a second in the long jump (4.85m) before producing an even faster lap to lift the 4x400m relay team into second. Other club wins came from Sean Hazel, whose 1:59.45 was a new under 20 league record in the 800m; under 13's Ellie Allen who won the 70m hurdles in 12.6 just ahead of teammate Claudia Lavender (12.7) and Mark Bailey who produced a strong final 200m to storm to victory in the 800m in 2:29.2. Tom Booth won the under 13 long jump with 4.42, and narrowly failed to clinch the 100m sprint, running a fast 13.4 seconds. Byron Gripper continued the under 13 domination, taking victory in the shot with 8.09m. For the girls, under 15 Lottie McCarthy had a good day, winning the long jump with 4.66m to add to a second in the 100m (13.18). Ellie Norris throw 23.09m to win the under 15 javelin. Jo Callender-Wood had a busy day, winning the under 17 80m hurdles in a fast 13.2. Aiofe Thorogood, running up an age-group with the seniors on this occasion, winning the 800m with 2:25.12 and finishing second in the triple jump with 8.85m. Naomi Speake won the under 17 800m in 2:31.18, while twin brother Adam won the boys even with 2:06.72 and father Wayne contributed valuable points in several of the senior events. Senior John Brierly pulled off a double win, with 52.36 for the 400m and 2:09 for the 800m. However, it was under 20 Kurtis Gibson who stole the show with his 51.51 second run in the 400m taking over a second from his previous best. Match Result: 1 North Somerset 885; 2 Mendip 809; 3 Armada 651; 4 Dorchester 648.5; 5 Wimborne 455; 6 North Devon 447.5. Wells Fun Run - Mendip AC dominated the junior fun run at Wells the previous week, with the first three over the finish line and two of the first three girls. The 1km race was won by Mark Bailey, from Daniel Solway and Finlay Marsh. Claudia Lavender finished seventh overall to take the prize for the first girl, while Ella-Rose Bazley-Jackson was third girl in 11th overall, just ahead of Matthew Solway. Isabel Lavender finished 66th, with Cameron Bazley-Jackson 67th and Lillibelle Bazley-Jackson 70th. Kieran Young was a clear leader in the 3 mile event, before succuming to breathing problems that reduced him to a walk. David Solway went on to finish third in 19:56, a position that Nathan Young matched in the main 10K event, Nathan clocking 35:29. Paul Lavender also ran the 10K, finishing in 54th place in a time of 44:23 MAC Open 20th May - Journal report (Full results attached to the bottom of this page as a pdf. ) Nearly 70 young athletes turned out for Mendip AC's open meeting last Thursday to enjoy two hours of keen competition. Highlights of the meeting were Richard Peters (Bristol & West) solo 1500m effort of 3:50 and Matt Norton's first competition since being forced out with injury almost 12 months ago - hurling the 6kg hammer 47.26m. In the shorter events, Juliet Grogan was the fastest of the under 9's with a 10.6 clocking over the 60m. Amy Barlow was the best of the Mendip under 11's with 12.7 over 80 metres. In the 100m races U13 Ellie Allen looked strong running 14.4, while U15 Gemma Archbold ran a remarkable 14.1 a scant 10 minutes after posting an impressive 45.5 for the 300m. James Emery produced a swift 11.8 to win a close U17 duel with Dan Robinson (12.2). In the distance events Juliet Grogan was the best Mendip runner in the 600m with 2:18.4, while Finlay Marsh ran clear on the second lap to win the 800m with 2:24.1, Amy Barlow producing a new personal best of 2:54.3 in third. On the field U13 Claudia Lavender produced a great high jump of 1.24m, while Ellie Allen produced a great 4.36m in the long jump ahead of Claudia's 3.92m. Byron Gripper won two of the U13 events, showing the shot 7.63m, before producing 25.36 in the javelin. Other strong throw in the shot came from Ellie Norris (U15, 6.90m), Dan Robinson (8.59m) and Charlotte Scriven (U17, 7.15m). Charlotte went on to record 18.71m in the discus, ahead of Ellie Norris (15.44m). Behind Byron both Charlie Macdonald (25.13m) and Finlay Marsh (23.42m) showed there is another great under 13 boys squad this year at the club, while Charlotte Scriven and Ellie Norris were similarly strong with 23.62m and 21.02m respectively. U12 Charlotte Draper threw the "turbo" javelin 19.18m. The competition also saw the first outing in a club competition of the Vortex Howler. Set to take over from the ball throw for the youngest age-groups, as it is closer to the action of throwing a real javelin, Harvey Hadrill was measured at 36.77m, with Joseph Grogan also over 30m. The lead competitors in the previous week-end's young athletes league match at Bath, in which the club finished second, were: U15G Lottie McCarthy 1st 100m 13.3, 2nd LJ 4.29m 3rd 75m Hurdles 13.1; Ellie Norris 1st Shot 6.58m; Gemma Archbold 2nd shot 6.57m, 3rd 200m 29.0. U17G Jo Callendar-Wood 1st long jump 4.68m, 2nd 200m 28.9; Alice Grosjean 2nd shot 8.93m (PB), 2nd discus 28.43m, 3rd 100m 13.8; Aoife Thorogood 1st 1500m 5:09, 1st triple jump 9.83m. U17M James Emery 2nd 200m, 24.8, 3rd 100m 12.5; Dan Robinson 3rd 400m 54.7 (PB); Jake Cussell 2nd high jump 1.60m, 2nd shot 11.61m, 3rd javelin 34.62m. Yeovilton race 2 in 5km summer series - 12th May 2010 5km race - Nathan Young (4th) 16.28, Kieran Young (6th) 16.55, Tim Attwell (44th) 19.44, James Williams (49th) 20.00, Amy Reakes (100th) 23.37, Ian Humphreys (101st) 23.37. 1km race - Amy Barlow (2nd), Alex Williams (3rd) Journal report for Thursday 6th May With the bulk of the club at the Glastonbury Road Run, James Emery and Dan Robinson were the only two MAC members to make the trip to Carmarthen on Sunday as part of the joint team with Bristol & West AC for the first NYAL competition. In blustery conditions James managed a nippy 11.8s in the 100m and a solid 25.2s in the 200m. Running in the 400m, Dan hit the blustery wind head on down the back straight but finished with a very respectable time of 56.5s for an early season race and is looking good for next week's County Championships. Alice Grosjean of MAC made her debut as part of the Bristol and West AC senior team under her newly acquired higher competition status. She made the trip up to Loughborough on Saturday for the first Midland Senior League Division 1 competition competing against some stiff opposition including two international athletes to putt the shot 9.26m and throw the discus a solid 30.08m Rose Penfold started her season in great style during her easter break from Cambridge University, travelling to Exeter for the Great West Open, where she claimed second place in the 800 metres in a new personal best of 2 minutes 17.5.
A large number of club members were in action at Glastonbury, with several winning their respective category prizes. Nathan Young was the first club member to finish the 10K in 35:45 as first under 20, while Dan Wright produced a PB 39:30. The other runners were Kurtis Gibson 42:12, Marcus Williams 42:40, Paul Lavender 44:56, Louise Williams 50:41, Trevor Timmins 51:04, Birgitte Timmins 51:09, Peter Grosjean 56:46.
The 5K was won by Kieran Young in 17:31 with Josh Timmins 20:52 and Jo Callender-Wood 23:06.
Mark Bailey won the 3K in 11:01, with Dan Solway 11:32 and James Williams 11:39 in second and third. Amy Reakes ran 13:25, just ahead of Claudia Lavender 11:27.
Finlay Marsh was first in the fun run clocking 6:06, Alex Williams was third in 6:26, Matt Engeldow 6:48, Christian Young 6:54, Mary-Lou Poore 7:00, Simone Young 7:21, John Young 7:40, India Gill 8:09, Katie Millar 8:22, Isobella Lavender 9:04, Joseph Engledow 9:22. COUNTY MULTI-EVENTS (Journal report 29th April 2010)
Millfield School hosted the Somerset county combined athletics championships last weekend, and athletes from Mendip Athletics Club competed brilliantly across the age groups in both boys and girls categories from under 13 through to under 17. Saturday saw the U13 boys in action in the quadrathlon (100 m sprint, long jump; high jump, 800 metres). Charlie Fraser enjoyed his first event of this sort and competed well for his 263 points. From a field of 30, Charlie McDonald came 10th (592 points); Tom Booth 7th (700 points); Dan Solway 6th (701 points) and Mark Bailey with a trademark storming 800m lifted himself from 11th to 4th overall. Meanwhile, in the junior boys pentathlon ( 80m Hurdles; shot put; long jump; high jump and 800m) Henry Mansfield smiled all the way to 1047 points on his first attempt at this competition. The equivalent competitions for girls were held on Sunday and the U13 girls squad battled hard in a field of some 40 athletes. Cerys Rumley was going well before injury prevented her finishing. Hannah Loosemoor finished 30th (294 points) impressed with a victory in the final 800m event, while Claudia Lavender 14th (466 points) and Ellie Allen, 12th (497 points) both competed well. In the Sunday girls pentathlon, Lottie McCarthy put in a superb performance to win the county schools championship with 2235 points. Her winning margin was 1 point after a whole day of competition, after erasing a large points deficit with a powerful final run in the 800m. A brilliant performance, and reward for hard training through the winter. In the U17 boys octathlon, Josh Timmins made his debut over 2 days of competition; stuck admirably to the task and finished with 2844 points. Finally, in the U17 girls heptathlon, over 2 days of strong competition, Jo Callender-Wood timed her finish to perfection. Going into the last event she was 408 points behind the competition leader but posted a stunning 800 metres to wipe out the deficit and claim the county championship. The next event on the club calendar is the Somerset County Athletics Championships on 8th May at Yeovil where we can expect more success. Can all club members contact their team managers to ensure that they are entered by this week-end. LONDON MARATHON Tim Attwell was possibly the youngest runner in this year's London Marathon, having turned 18 only 17 days before the race. He achieved his ambition to run his first marathon despite falling victim to a viral infection in the final week. Unable to run normally Tim took the event steadily and maintained remarkably even splits throughout to finish in 3hrs 46:43. SOUTH WEST LEAGUE The leading performances from the first South West League match were from under 13 Ellie Allen who was ned in the 100m (14.8) and long jump (4.03);under 15 Lottie McCarthy who won the long jump with 4.58m to add to second places in both sprints (13.0 and 27.7), and under 17's Jo Callendar Wood (1st long jump 4.64m, 3rd high jump and 200m); Alice Grosjean (1st discus 28.96m) and Naomi Speake who set a new league record in the 1500m with 4:59. In the senior womens events Aoife Thorogood, still an under 17, was a clear winner of the 1500m with 4:56.4, while coaches Cathy Williams and Pippa Poore gain many valuable points by contesting virtually every senior event. Of the boys, Mark Bailey's new under 13 league 1500m record of 5:00.7 stood out, but Finlay Marsh shone unexpectantly as he won the javelin with 15.55m having picked up a real javelin for the very first time at Plymouth. Connor Linham gained two seconds (2mm in 27.0 and high jump 1.35m) and a third (100m 13.3) while the best of the under 17's was Josh Timmins with second places in the long jump (5.54m) and discus (16.20m) and Adam Speake who ran 4:26.1 for second in the 1500m. Kurtis Gibson ran a PB 4:15.3 for third in the senior 1500m, with Tom Merson a clear winner in the 5000m with a quick 15:07. Yeovilton race 1 in 5km summer series - 14th April 2010
5km race - Nathan Young 15.46 (3rd), Kieran Young 16.44 (10th), James Williams 20.23 (68th), Ian Humphreys 21.46 (94th), Shane Williams 22.47 (108th), Amy Reakes 24.40 (138th).
Fun Run (1 lap) - Alex Williams 2.06 (1st), Amy Barlow 2.07 (2nd)
Cross Country Round-Up (Journal 15th April 2010)
The final cross country league fixture of the season at Avon Heath Country Park near Ringwood saw Mendip athletes lift a number of trophies. With the seniors starting first for a change, Kathy Williams was the first of the Mendip runners in action finishing a creditable eighth place over the demanding course. Kathy finished sixth overall in the ladies rankings and was awarded the prize for first in the 20-39 category. The men’s race saw four Mendip seniors out, with Nathan Young looking to cement his place at the top of the men’s rankings. However, a bad attack of cramp lost Nathan several minutes and he just failed to fight his way back into the lead with a spirited run over the second circuit. Fellow under 20 Kurtis Gibson ran well in fifth place, while Marcus Williams had another solid run in 12th to help the team grab second spot behind Bournemouth. Ian Humphreys finished 17th. With wins in the first three league meetings Nathan was both the overall winner as well as the first under 20, while Ian finished second in the 45-49 age category.
The addition of a separate under 11 category in this winter’s league has proved very popular, and 18 youngsters turned out. Mendip’s Shaun Bateman held on for a narrow victory over Alex Williams, with Amy Barlow third of the girls in 7th overall to seal another team victory. The three youngsters were well rewarded as Shaun and Alex took the gold and silver league awards, with Amy winning the girls and the club winning the team award. Mark Bailey ran solidly for fourth in the under 13 boys race, and with fine back-up from Jason Bateman in 7th and James Williams in 8th the trio finished second on the day to cement the clubs second league team title. Mark was the highest in the season rankings at fourth, with Jason in sixth and James seventh. Amy Reakes was the clubs only runner in the under 15 girls race, finishing a solid 8th place to finish the season in fifth place. The clubs final runner at Ringwood was Kieran Young who ensured a well-deserved under 15 boys league title by finishing clear in the last event of the season.
This weekend sees that start of the summer Track and Field season with the club in action in a South West League fixture at Plymouth. After finishing as Division 2 champions last year the club volunteered to forego promotion in order to start the process of slimming the top division down to six clubs. This gesture ensured the survival of the two-divisional structure which was being placed under severe pressure as the number and size of clubs contesting Division 2 continues to decline. The advantage for the clubs athletes is that any number of athletes can contest each event, rather than just two per club as in Division 1. Can any club member who is interested, but has not yet been contacted by a team manager please contact Ian Humphreys on 0798 5160526 immediately.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS RESULTS
LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR MAC RUNNERS - LSB Rory Nicholson 4th. USG Amy Barlow 4th and Mary Lou Poore 6th. USB Shaun Bateman 1st, Michael Nicholson 2nd, Joseph Engledow 3rd, Finley Marsh 4th and Alex Williams 6th.
INTER AREA RESULTS FOR MAC RUNNERS - LSB Rory Nicholson 24th. USG Amy Barlow 3rd, Mary Lou Poore 7th. USB Finley Marsh 2nd, Shaun Bateman 3rd, Michael Nicholson 5th, Alex Williams 7th.
ENGLISH SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS - HEATON PARK, MANCHESTER
Senior Boys - Nathan Young 61st, Kurtis Gibson 147th, John Richardson 167th.
Intermediate Boys - Kieran Young 175th.
Junior Boys - Ben Millar 157th.
Intermediate Girls - Aoife Thorogood 17th
STREET ROAD RACE 10th March 2010 and SERIES RESULTS
1km race - Alex Williams(1st) 3.40, Amy Barlow (3rd) 4.03
2km race - James Williams (3rd) 7.50
5km race - Josh Timmins (20.00), Kathy Williams (22.53), Amy Reakes (24.35)
Alex Williams was awarded 2nd and Amy Barlow was 3rd in the 1km series and James Williams was awarded 2nd in the series 2km race. Amy Reakes was 3rd Junior Female in the 5km series.
REPORT FOR WELLS JOURNAL 4th MARCH - TRURO
Mendip Athletics Club members were in action at the weekend at the South West Schools cross country championships held at Truro School in Cornwall.There were some mixed fortunes for the club's athletes, with the biggest disappointment coming in the junior boys event, where Ben Millar retired injured while running in fourth place at the half-way stage. In the opening race Jade Bateman was one of four year 7's from the club who were competing for the county for the first time. Jade ran solidly against some very strong opposition to finish in 55th position out of the 65 finishers, beating two of her Somerset team mates in the process. The year 7 boys race saw a win for last year's Mendip Junior Schools League Champion, Hayden Burton, who was competing for the Wiltshire team. Mark Bailey ran well to finish in 12th position, while Charlie Fraser faded in the second half after keeping Mark company over the opening mile. Charlie crossed the line in 34th to help the Somerset team to their only team victory of the day. Dan Solway, who was representing Avon Schools, finished a little further back in 49th place.With Ben failing to finish the junior boys event, the clubs main interest switched to the Intermediate Girls race where Aiofe Thorogood was in action against two of this year's Midland and South West under 17 Championship medalists. Aiofe took an early lead and looked comfortable until Cornwall's Midland Champion Annabel Gummow made a determined bid for victory, quickly relagating Aiofe to fourth place. With a mile to run Aiofe had been caught by two other runners, including Olivia Sadler who had beaten Aoife to the Avon Schools title in January. Showing some gritty determination, Aoife regained fourth place over the final quarter mile, but had to resort to a spirited sprint finish to hold off another late challenge that took her within 11 seconds of the bronze medalist from this years Midland and South West championships. Two of the club's other distance runners, Kieran and Nathan Young, missed the schools event to contest the National Championships in Leeds as part of the Bristol AC squad. Nathan was unlucky to fall heavily and was unable to finish the under 20 men's event, while Kieran produced yet another strong run to finish in 55th place in the under 15 event, from over 350 finishers. Brothers Alex and James Williams followed up a hard training session on Saturday morning with a run in the Babcary Road Races on Sunday. Alex won out in the under 11 event, while 12 year old James finished second in the under 17 race. REPORT FOR WELLS JOURNAL 25th FEBRUARY -WESSEX LEAGUE Eighteen members of Mendip Athletics Club took to the woods on Sunday to contest the third of the winter's Wessex Cross Country Fixtures, held at Ham Hill near Yeovil. The recent wet conditions made the course heavy with thick mud in places, making the event a true test for the runners. In the under 11race Amy Barlow ran well to hold Alex Williams for much of the course, with Alex pulling away towards the finish to record a win, with Amy comfortably the first of the girls in second place overall. With several of MAC's under elevents opting for the longer under 13 races the club failed to finish a team, though they are still contesting team honors in the league standings. In the under 13 girls event, Jade Bateman ran well to finish in 7th place while Mary-Lou Poore finished in 10th. Mendip had five runners in the under 13 boys race, with Mark Bailey finishing in sixth, one place ahead of Charlie Fraser, wih under 11's Shaun Bateman just beating Michael Nicholson in 9th and 10th. James Williams finished in 12th place. The boys were well rewarded as they claimed the team victory. Ruby Kelly was the best of the under 15 girls, finishing well in 4th place, with Amy Reakes continuing to show improvement in 8th. Kieran Young ran well to finish second in the under 15 boys race, with Jason Bateman in 9th place. Aoife Thorogood was Mendip's first winner of the day, leading out the under 17 ladies in fine style, showing that her training for next months English Schools championships are well on track. With Louise Williams mis-reading the race timetable, Kathy Williams was the clubs only starter in the senior women's event, running solidly for 8th place. Mendip's men finished second to Yeovil Town, as Nathan Young repeated his win from the first fixture. Marcus Williams had another solid run to finish in 9th, while Ian Humphreys crossed the line in 17th. This Saturday a large club contingent makes the long trip to Truro to contest the South West Schools cross country championship. Three of the runners should be in the mix for individual medals, including Ben Millar, Aoife Thorogood and Nathan Young. Mendip Athletics Club will be holding a three-day StarTrack event during the school Easter break on Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th April at Millfield's all-weather track in Street. Full details and application forms will be distributed via most schools, or will be available soon on the clubs web-site at www.MendipAC.org.uk. Report for Wells Journal 18th February Re. SOMERSET SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Last Saturday saw this year's Somerset county schools cross country championships being held at Taunton Racecourse. The day's action kicked off with the senior boys race, which saw formaer all-England schools champion Nathan Young pitted against perpetual rival Charlie Maclean of Taunton. With the course a mix of firm and boggy ground and a stiff breeze along one half of the course, Nathan had to give way on this occasion to cross the finish line in second place. Perhaps the surprise of the day was Kurtis Gibson, who is better known as a 400m and 800m track runner. Kurtis made a very sensible start and moved through the field to finish in third place to show how his endurance has improved this winter. Year 7 girl Jade Bateman ran well, and in pulling back a couple of runners in the closing stages looks set to a run in the South West Schools championships with her ninth placed finish. Ella-Rose Bazley-Jackson ran well in her first race of the season to finish 25th. In the junior girls event, with Mendip area taking the team title, Amy Reakes had a solid run in 30th, with Agnes Dromgoole (running for the Yeovil team) 35th. The year 7 boys race saw some very close competition, with Mark Bailey completing in an excellent 5th place, four ahead of Jamil Roberts. James Williams was the third of the Mendip AC runners, finishing in 24th place. Will Jonas ran well in the junior boys event, completing in 13th place, with Shane Williams in 26th and Youcef Kuidri looking a little out of sorts in 32nd. Kieran Young produced a disappointing run in the intermediate boys race, having beaten the third and fourth placed runners in recent events, Kieran was to finish in 9th place after struggling with a cold. Ashley Martin ran well for 14th place, while Josh Timmins showed how he has improved his endurance this winter by finishing a fine 17th. Street Road Race (5) 10th February 2010 All times are faster than Januarys race......
1km race - Alex Williams (1st) 3.40, Amy Barlow (4th) 4.02
2km race - James Williams (2nd) 7.55
5km race - Josh Timmins 10th)19.36, Amy Reakes (41st) 24.59
Street Road Race (4) 27th January 2010
1km race - Alex Williams(2nd) 3.43, Amy Barlow (3rd) 4.08
2km race - James Williams (3rd) 8.09
5km race - Kieran Young 17.43 (1st), Josh Timmins (15th) 20.51, Amy Reakes (41st) 25.03
Mendip Athletics Club Handicap race - 13th December 2009 (Report attached)
Gwent League / Somerset County Champs held at Taunton 6th Dec 2009
With no results being compiled on the day, the county championship positions were not available. However, it looked as though Rebecca Carver may have won a bronze in the under 15 girls race, while Aoife Thorogood had an excellent performance in the under 17 girls race, finishing just behind one of the UK's top juniors, Naomi Speake of Bristol AC. Finishing positions: U11B - 16 Alex Williams, U13B -11 Mark Bailey 15 Charlie Fraser 20 Shaun Bateman 34 James Williams 46 Jason Bateman U15B - 14 Ben Millar 40 Youcef Kuidri 41 Will Jonas, U17M - 26 Dan Wright 37 Joshua Timmins U13G - 32 Jade Bateman 39 Gemma Archbold, U15G - 7 Rebecca Carver 31 Amy Reakes 33 Hayley Carver U17W - 6 Aoife Thorogood Wessex League race held at Salisbury 29th November 2009
Mendip AC youngsters made a clean sweep of the medal placings at the second Wessex Cross Country fixture, held at Salisbury. Joseph Engledow held off a late challenge from Shaun Bateman as the boys crossed the line with a comfortable distance to Finlay Marsh in third. Amy Barlow, in seventh overall was the first of the girls to finish from the 22 starters. Mendip, rather predictably, won the team. In the under 15 girls race, Rebecca Carver was placed second to match her finish from the first match,m while Amy Reakes ran well to finish third. Kathy Williams had a spirited run in the senior ladies event and continues to close in on the leaders, this time finishing sixth. Mark Bailey was third in the under 13 boys event, with Jason Bateman in sixth. Kieran Young pulled off his first league win in the under 15 boys event, while Nathan Young completed a family double in winning the senior mens race. Bristol Milers Club - Autumn Classic 22nd November 2009 (Report attached)
Mendip Athletics Club had the following runners competing :
Dominic Henry U20 38th
Mark Bailey U13 3rd
James Williams U13 10th
Aoife Thorogood U17 8th
Amy Reakes U15 25th
We also took a large Mendip team of U11 Girls and Boys from various primary schools in the mendip area. Full results of this race can be found on bristolmilersclub.co.uk/results or on the Mendip Junior Athletics website. MAC runners were:
Joseph Engledow 4th, Alex Williams 23rd, Shaun Bateman 35th. Amy Barlow 14th, Mary-Lou Poore 28th.
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