SPORTSHALL CHAMPIONS

Sunday 27th March saw the club win the 6th and final match of the 2021-22 Derbyshire Sportshall league and in the process took 5 of the 6 individual age group titles; u11 girls and boys, u13 girls and boys & u15 girls. It also concluded a clean sweep, having won the previous 5 matches. There was also a league record for Ellie Oscroft in the u13 girls 2 Lap, where Layla Duke was 3rd. Ellie also took the 8 Lap Parlauf, teaming up with Emme Devine. Mazie Taylor & Emme were 1-2 in the Shot, Mazie was 2nd in the Speed Bounce (SB) where Masie Bridge was 4th and in the Standing Long Jump (SLJ) Penny Blant took the runner up spot with Layla Duke in 3rd place.

Another league record was set by Charlotte Staniland in the u15 girls 4 Lap, nocking a full second off the previous record. Melissa Humphreys & Charlotte were 1-2 in the 2 Lap, Lottie Hall & Melissa did likewise in both the SLJ and Shot. In the SB there was an =1st for Gracie Pell with Lottie Hall in 3rd. Ezra Adetunji & Tyler Booth were 1-2 in the u13 boys 2 Lap, in the SLJ it was Tyler who won just ahead of Ezra. Tyler also won the Shot where Dylan Leong was 2nd & Ezra took the SB win where Josh Dorward was 4th.

There was a 1-2 in the u11 girls SB with Niamh Kilroy beating Lily Timperley by 1 bounce. There was also a win for Macie Nightingale in the Hi-Stepper with Niamh in 2nd place, Marianna Owen was 2nd in the 3 Lap with Macie 4th and Macie was =3rd in the 1 Lap along with Holly-May Grafton. In the SLJ Holly-May and Paige Woodcock were separated by a cm in 4th & 5th place respectively. Samuel Smith won the u11 boys Hi-Stepper where Thomas Hawkins was 4th, Samuel was also 2nd in the SLJ & 1 Lap with Zac Booth 3rd in the Hi-Stepper and Oscar Melen 6th in the 1 Lap. Seth Lowe was 3rd in the SB, where Oscar Melen was 6th and in the 3 Lap Zac Booth & Seth were 4th & 5th. Matthew Drew had a busy day for the u15 boys taking 2nd place in the SB, 4th in the Shot and 6th in the SLJ where Kobi Adetunji finished just ahead in 5th place. Congratulation to High Peak who were the winners of the u15 Category.

A full set of results can be viewed on the Sportshall website; SH-ML-2021-22-6_merged.pdf (sportshall.org)

EDIKER'S BRITISH UNI DEBUT

Alex Ediker made his debut for Britain at the World University cross country championships in Aveiro, Portugal on 12th March. Alex was 17th in the men's race, the second British man home, helping Team GB to 6th place.

INTER COUNTIES CROSS

Having been selected for the Derbyshire team the club’s athletes put in some terrific performances on 12th March at the UK Inter Counties cross country championships in Loughborough. In the u20 men’s race there was a 12th place for Finlay Grant with Tom Spencer 28th and Derbyshire taking the team Bronze medals. Will Tighe was 78th in the senior men’s race where Ewan Spencer was 102nd. Thomas Marriott was 248th in the u17 men's race.

MASTERS MEDALS

At the British Masters indoor champs, and winter outdoor throws, at Lee Valley, London on 5/6th March the club’s athletes bagged 4 medals. There was a Gold for Liz Duke in the w40 60m in a time of 8.30secs to better the Silver she picked up the previous day over 200m in 27.65secs. Also on the Saturday there was shot put Gold for Mark Wearing in the m35 section with a throw of 12.56m. Mark then took a second gold in Sunday's discus event with 40.48m.

SCOTTISH CHAMPS

Beth Falconer took a Bronze medal and set a pb at the Scottish u20 champs in Glasgow on 20th February. Beth jumped 3.19m on her second attempt for her 3rd place finish with Lottie Hall, still an u17, finishing 8th with 2.49m.

ENGLAND INDOOR CHAMPS 

At the England Athletics u15/17/20 indoor championships, held at the EIS in Sheffield on 12/13th February, there was a 5th place finish for Will Foot in the u20 men's pole vault. Will was ranked 5th in the UK before the competition & jumped 4.35m, narrowly missing out on an indoor pb of 4.50m.

BRITISH UNI XC CHAMPS

At the BUCS cross country championships, held in Greenford, London on 5th Feb, Alex Ediker led St Mary's University to the team bronze medals in the men's long course race. Alex was the first finisher from St Mary's in 8th place with Will Tighe, competing for Leeds Uni, coming home 62nd of the 280 finishers in the race. In the men's short course race Ewan Spencer was 13th and Tom Spencer 27th with their Cambridge Uni team finishing in

NORTHERN XC CHAMPIONS

Our u20 men won team gold in Pontefract at the Northern Athletics Cross Country Championships on 29th January. Led home by Finlay Grant who finished in 5th place followed by Will Tighe in 10th, Ewan Spencer 17th & Tom Spencer in 29th our team comfortably took top honours, bettering their 2nd place in 2020 when the event was last held.

NORTH MIDS FINALE

The final match of this winter's North Midlands Cross Country League was held at Berry Hill Park, Mansfield on 15th January and saw Finlay Grant finish 5th overall in the senior race, he was also the first u20. In the u15 girls race there was an 18th place for Evie Blant with Macy Helps in 23rd, at the end of the 4 matches Macy finished 9th overall in the u15 category and our u15 girls team were 3rd at the conclusion of the series. In the senior women's event Lyz Evans was 105th, finishing as the 2nd v60 at the end of the 4 matches. Full results can be found at North Midlands XC League - Home Page (northmidsxcleague.co.uk)

NORTHERN MEDALS

The club scooped 4 medals at the Northern Athletics u17/20/senior Indoor Championships in Sheffield on 15/16th January. Beth Falconer led a 1-2 for the club in the u20 women’s pole vault, taking the gold medal with a 3m clearance, with Hannah Moody taking the silver with 2.80m. In the u20 men’s pole vault Will Foot jumped an indoor pb of 4.45m to take the silver medal. Another silver medal was taken in the u17 women's vault, Lottie Hall securing that with a 2.50m clearance. Lottie also competed in the shot where she was 7th with 9.13m. In the senior men’s shot Mark Wearing was 5th with 12.96m. Nathan Gavaghan 3rd in his heat of the u20 men’s 200m in a time of 23.31secs & in his 60m heat ran 7.42secs, again taking 3rd place.

COUNTY CHAMPS GOLD RUSH

The club secured a number of medals at the Derbyshire County Cross Country Championships, which were held at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield on 8th January. Finlay Grant headed at Chesterfield 1-2-3 in the u20 men’s race with the club winning the team Gold, the Silver medal went to Ewan Spencer with Tom Spencer taking Bronze. In the same race Will Tighe was 5th. Alex Ediker secured the Bronze medal in the senior men’s race, as did Thomas Marriott in the u17 men's event.

There was also a Silver medal for our u13 girls team with Charlotte Abdy-McCall placing 9th, Olivia Woodcock 12th & Hollie-Rose Pointon 13th. There was a 5th place for Thomas Hawkins in the u13 boys race & Lyz Evans 6th in the women's v55 category. In the u15 girls race there was a 13th place finish for Evie Blant with Macy Helps just 2 places behind.

BRITISH BEST FOR BEER

Mark Beer made the trip to Lee Valley to compete in the Southern Athletics indoor multi events championships on 18/19th December. Competing in the 7 event heptathlon Mark posted 7.94secs in the 60m, 6.08m in the long jump, threw the shot 10.41m & high jumped 1.81m on day 1 and followed that up on day 2 with a 9.54secs 60H, 3.66m pole vault and 3:19.2 1000m to post an overall score of 4601 points which is a new British record for M40's. This adds to Mark's record as an M35 which he set in 2015.

TIGHE'S ENGLAND APPEARANCE

Will Tighe finished 31st overall in the World Mountain Running Association Nations Cup in Italy on 31st October. There were 254 finishers in the race and Will was the 5th u23 home and first English u23 to finish.

ENGLISH JUNIOR FELL CHAMPS

In the last of the 4 races comprising the English Junior Championships there was another win for Finlay Grant in the u19 boys section. Fin took his 3rd win of the series at Ilam on 12th September, also securing the overall title having won 3 of the 4 races. In second place overall was Tom Spencer, who didn’t compete at Ilam. Congratulations to both for finishing 1-2 in the Country and on their England debuts the previous weekend at the British & Irish Junior Mountain Running Championships at the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland on Saturday 4th September where Fin finished 8th & Tom 10th in the u20 men’s race. In the u15 girls race at Ilam there was an =15th place for Gracie Fidler with Evie Blant 20th leaving them 15th & 23rd overall respectively after the 4 race series.

ENGLISH SILVER

Lottie Hall scooped a silver medal at the England Athletics u15 pole vault championships on 28/8/21. Lottie jumped 2.61m to secure =2nd place.

GOLDS GALORE 

Izzy Fellows threw 30.50m to take Javelin gold in Nuneaton on 21st August 2021. Throwing in the u15 girls category Izzy's best throw was almost 10m further than any of her rivals managed. Also taking gold was Steve Gascoyne in the M40 age group 3000m steeplechase at the British Masters Championships in Derby, held from 20-22 August. Steve's time of 10:55.58 was over a minute ahead of his nearest challenger.
Ellie Oscroft raced to double gold at the Northern Athletics U13/15/17 Championships in Hull on 14/15th August. First Ellie took the u13 girls 100m title with a pb of 13.87secs before returning to the track and setting another pb of 28.45secs in the 200m.
Also winning gold was Lottie Hall in the u15 girls pole vault. Lottie jumped 2.60m and was joined on the podium by Gracie Pell who vaulted 2.40m for the bronze. Hannah Moody was a silver medal winner in the u17 women's vault with a height of 2.80m.
There were bronze medals in the u17 men's events for Josh Turkington & Ben Fogden. Josh threw 44.85m in the javelin with Ben running 11.93secs in the 100m. Ben also competed in the 200m where he was 5th in his heat in 24.45secs.

ENGLISH SCHOOLS REPORT

Congratulations to Will Foot who took the Bronze medal at the English Schools Track & Field Championships in Manchester which were held 9-11th July 2021. Competing in the senior boys pole vault Will jumped a pb of 4.50m to seal 3rd place. There was also a pb for Isobelle Fellows in the junior girls javelin who threw 34.09m for 6th place. In the senior girls pole vault there was a 9th place for Bethany Falconer and Hannah Moody was 17th in the inter girls event, both jumping 2.80m. In the junior girls pole vault Lottie Hall and Gracie Pell were 4th & 7th respectively with heights of 2.40m and 2.20m.

ENGLISH CHAMPS BRONZE

Will Foot made the long trip to Bedford worthwhile by taking 3rd place at the England Athletics u20 championships on 19th June 2021. Will vaulted a new pb of 4.45m to secure the bronze medal

ENGLAND ATHLETICS REGIONAL VOLUNTEER AWARDS

Congratulations to Jo Wain who has been named the East Midlands Coach of the Year for 2020 for his work with the club’s throws group. The club was well represented at the virtual awards ceremony as Shane Proctor was the runner-up in the Volunteer of the Year category.