Weekend track & field preview

Another incredibly busy weekend of track & field action in store. The 2nd of the clubs SAL matches take place today with the club taking a depleted team to Eton. The schools South-East inter-counties match in Middlesex also today sees our star U15 & U17 young athletes looking to secure their places for the English schools championships.

Tomorrow we call on the U13’s & U15’s as the club takes part in it’s 3rd LAG YDL match of the season this time in Havering.

A huge thanks to our volunteer officials who are giving up their days in Eton & Havering respectively, it is greatly appreciated.

Weekend track & field preview

Another super exciting weekend ahead of track & field action.

The highlight is the South of England Senior & U20 champs taking place today and tomorrow in Eton where it is great to see a number of WADAC athletes on the start lists.

Also today the County Schools champs take place today primarily in Portsmouth for WADAC athletes but also in Surrey & Dorset too as young athletes continue their journies towards the English Schools Championships in July.

Super Weekly track & field preview

What a week of action for the clubs athletes.

The highlight is tomorrow’s Loughborough International where Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) is making her GB juniors debut in the 400m hurdles match race. Bella will line up in the main match against athletes from senior teams from England, Scotland, Wales, a Loughborough select team and an NAL select team. Bella isn’t the only WADAC athlete taking part however as Mia Judd (coach Tony Bateman) has been given a guest spot in an exciting high jump competition featuring Emily Borthwick & KJT as well as star GB junior Thea Brown. Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) also features in one of the 400m guest races.

Today sees the clubs senior team make their SAL Div 1 debut in Southampton. the club will be fielding a strong team in their very first match at this level. Also tomorrow, the club’s U13 & U15 young athletes take part in their 2nd league match in the lower age group YDL in Bromley after coming 2nd in the first match in Woodford last month.

Monday sees the vets take on match 2 of the Hampshire vets league in Portsmouth and on Wednesday it is the clubs 2nd Open meeting of the season this time an evening meeting. Finally it is the Hampshire schools multi-event champs on Thursday in Andover.

That is quite a week with another Super week of action to come the following week.

Seni is 2nd in Somerset

World Athletics Combined events permit meetings are a bit like hens teeth in the UK, so despite the cold weather, Seni Purnell & Abi Belward (both coached by Andy Fisher) made the trip to Yeovil to take part in the Somerset Schools Combined event champs on Saturday & Sunday which for Seni was also the first part of her journey to the English Schools Combined events champs in September.

Seni achieved the pretty unique feat of coming 2nd in a pentathlon despite only scoring in 4 of the 5 events after no heighting in the high jump. Nevertheless, Seni had the consolation of a World Athletics listing in the long jump after jumping 5.11m and is safely through to the Regional schools CE champs in June.

Abi didn’t have the best of competitions but finished with a respectable 4191 points in the Heptathlon which currently places her 34th in the World U18 lists.

Weekly track & Field preview

The outdoor season is now well under way and this is reflected in a busy week of track & field. The first round of Upper age group (U17/U20) YDL league matches take place tomorrow with our club along with composite partners City of Portsmouth AC in the Premier league for the first time and we are fielding a strong team that make the way to Eton to compete against tough opposition.

The vets league gets underway on Monday night in Basingstoke & Team Managers Andy & Amanda will be leading our masters athletes in Hampshire league action.

Finally, a world athletics permit Combined events meeting takes place today & tomorrow in Yeovil in the shape of the Somerset Schools CE champs and Abi Belward & Seni Purnell (both coached by Andy Fisher) will be in action.

English schools standards published for 2024

With record numbers of WADAC young athletes making it to the English schools championships last year, there will no doubt be interest in this years standards which are attached in the link below.

As usual, there are a number of changes to the standards year on year and these are also shown.

ESSA standards 2024

Gracie leads England schools to team title

Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) was the leading English U16 competitor at the Schools indoor Home International combined Events match in Cardiff yesterday as the English girls won the Team Event ahead of teams from the other home countries.

Gracie couldn’t have started life as an U17 athlete any better as she jumped indoors as far as any WADAC women in history by recording 5.58m to equal Arabella Wilson’s indoor club record in the long jump. Gracie followed this with hurdles and then high jump where her jump of 1.59m was good enough for 3rd place on the club’s all time age group indoor lists. Then came shot putt & 800m to finish which saw Gracie achieve a points total of 3351 good enough for 4th best individual on the day and part of the winning England U16 girls team.

On the other side of the pond yesterday, another indoor club record fell as Oliver Thatcher (coach Andy Fisher) jumped 1.99m in the high jump his best jump for 2 years on his seasonal indoor debut in Louisville, Kentucky. Oliver also blew the rust away in 60m & long jump but will be most pleased with returning to his best in high jump and surely he will be back over 2m soon.

Gracie makes England schools debut in Cardiff

Weekend Track & Field preview

It is a hugely busy weekend for WADAC track & field as many athletes get their indoor seasons underway.

Star of the show is Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) who will be representing England schools in the Indoor Combined Events Home Countries International match in Cardiff tomorrow. Gracie qualified for the event by winning the schools National Junior Girls Combined events title in Bedford in September and will be the latest WADAC athlete joining the Hall of Fame as she dons her England schools vest.

Oliver Thatcher (coach Andy Fisher) will be kicking off his season stateside and I am delighted to see no fewer than 6 WADAC athletes on the start lists for the Lee Valley Open on Sunday including Rohan Gray (coach Mark Upton). Zac Reynolds (coach Andy Fisher) goes to Cardiff on Sunday to compete in the Welsh Athletics Junior Open.

Record number of young athletes accepted onto EA YTP programme

The England Athletics Youth talent programme is the first part of the talent pathway and every year a new cohort of young athletes who have just entered college or 6th form are accepted onto the programme to hone their skills in practical sessions with coaches in regional centres as well as more academic or e-learning based sessions on a wide range of subjects from media training to diet and nutrition.

This year no fewer than 5 young athletes have been accepted as part of the 23-25 cohort by far a record number for the club and reflecting the clubs fantastic track record of developing young talented athletes.

Congratulations to the young athletes involved who are as follows. Will Atkins 3000m, (coach Nick Anderson), Mia Judd High Jump (coach Tony Bateman), Erin McBriar Discus, (coach Martin McBriar), Grace Weeks Sprint Hurdles (coach Gary Bettridge) & Arabella Wilson Combined Events (coach Andy Fisher).

The full list of athletes in the 23-25 cohort can be seen below.

Ytp Cohort 2023 2025

Gracie wins National Schools Combined Events title

In history making moment for the club

Following in the footsteps of giants of the sport such as Morgan Lake, Jazz Sawyers and Katherine Merry, Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) won the National schools Combined Events Junior girls (U15) title in Bedford on Sunday with a huge points total of 3244 points. Whilst that may indicate the day went to plan, it actually started with disaster as Gracie hit her trail leg knee on the last hurdle in her first event and stumbled falling to the ground with her torso just over the line ensure a time was taken. Whilst it cost Gracie 50 points and a 10 minute sit down in the ambulance, it was just skin she lost rather than suffering serious injury. Gracie responded by winning the long jump, high jump (going 2nd on the clubs all time list) and running a huge pb in the 800m to take the title. Gracie's reward is an England schools vest and a place in the Schools Home International indoor Combined Events match in December and a spot on the clubs hall of fame. Whilst you may think that the 32nd best performance of all time in this age group is good enough for a club record, such is the strength of Combined eventing in the club just now it puts Gracie 2nd on the clubs all time list behind her training partner Bella Wilson. Lily Flute (coach Andy Fisher) was 34th in the event including a pb of 4.78m in the long jump.

The club was represented by 3 girls in the intermediate girls (U17) age group. Abi Belward (coach Andy Fisher) was the highest finisher in 14th place which included a huge pb of 12.54m in the shot putt increasing her distance as 2nd on the clubs all time age group list. Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) was next in 15th place and this performance reflected a new pb in the shot putt and a huge pb in the 800m. Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) was 17th overall which included a win in the javelin.

Success for club’s youngsters

At Hampshire schools (junior) champs

I continue the catch up of track & field results with a report from the Hampshire Schools (junior) champs which are for those in school years 7 & 8 or the U13 & U14 age groups. These took place on Wednesday the 12th July at Southampton Sports Centre and whilst the results still haven't appeared on pof10 hopefully I haven't missed any of the clubs athletes out of my report.

For the U14 girls, Lily Flute (coach Andy Fisher) won the 200m, with Elodie Gill (coach Nick Anderson) and Ellie Jepson (coach James Mann) 5th & 6th respectively in the 1500m. Poppy Crook (coach Andy Fisher) won the high jump just ahead of training partner Esme Buchanan (coach Andy Fisher) in 2nd place. Erin Adams (coach Ernie Chambers) was 3rd in the long jump. Anais Andrews (coach Andy Fisher) won the shot putt with Susie Ord (coach Ernie Chambers) 3rd in the discus and Kate Hesse (coach Martin McBriar) was 2nd in the javelin.

For the U14 boys, Hayden Rogers (coach Dave Sherry) won the 100m, Rhys Wye (coach Dave Sherry) was 5th in the 200m, Oliver Foden (coach James Mann) and Mikel Harfield (coach Dave Sherry) were 5th and 9th respectively in the 1500m. Sam Evans (coach Andy Fisher) was joint 5th in the high jump and Reuben Noott (coach Martin McBriar) won the discus.

For the U13 girls, Ami Calliste (coach Dave Sherry) was 2nd in the 80m, Lexie Divers (coach Andy Fisher) was 2nd in the sprint hurdles, Amber Price (coach James Mann) won the high jump, Ava Gibb (Junior Athletics Group) was 5th in the shot putt and Rosie Blunn (Junior Athletics Group) was 7th in the javelin.

For the U13 boys, Felix Sclater (coach James Mann) was 4th in the 600m, Luke Furby (coach James Mann) was 3rd in the 1000m and Tom Pate (coach Andy Fisher) was 3rd in the javelin.

Bella retains English schools title

As club wins record breaking haul of 6 medals

WADAC returned today from the English schools championships with a record breaking 6 medal haul from the English schools championships at the Alexander Staidium in Birmingam. It was an absolute privilidge to spend the last 2 days watching the 25 WADAC young athlete compete across a rage of events and age groups and see 144 events in total spread over the last 2 days.

Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) gets star billing for retaining her 300mh inter girl (U17) title joining great names such as Alison Curbishley who did the same thing in 1991 & 1992.

Alex Beck (coach Mark Upton) took silver in the senior boys (U20) 400m in the closest race of the race. Jake Minshull literally throwing himself over the line to pip Alex where there times could only be decided into the thousands of seconds. Abi McBriar (coach Martin McBriar) also won silver in the junior girls (U15) discus with a throw of 32.87m, training partner Beth Mballa (coach Heather Sheffield) was 8th in the same event. Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) also won silver in the junior girls long jump with a new pb of 5.40m.

Will Atkins (coach Nick Anderson) had a weekend to remember. After a tumble in his 1500m heat he went back to pick up his number then cooly made his way back through the field to qualify for the final where he ran a great tactical race to come home 3rd in the inter boys 1500m. Charlie Elford-Pond (coach Eric Davison) was the clubs other medalist coming 3rd in the senior boys hammer.

4th place finishes are never easy to take and no more so than for Erin McBriar (cach Martin McBriar) who saw 2 throws overtake hers in the final round of the inter girls discus. Ned Scott (coach Martin McBriar) however will be delighted with a 4th place finish that saw him throw a huge pb of 48.25m in the junior boys javelin.

Other top 8 finishes went to Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) who was 5th in the junior girls javelin, Mia Judd (coach Tony Bateman) who was 8th in the inter girls high jump, Esme Buchanan (coach Andy Fisher) who was 7th in the junior girls high jump and Zac Reynolds (coach Andy Fisher) who was 8th in the final of the junior boys 300m after running the race of his life to win his heat.

Rose Chesterfield (coach Nick Anderson) was 10th in her heat of the senior girls 1500m, Grace Colmer (coach Andy Fisher) had a collision with hurdle 10 in the senior girls sprint hurdles and was therefore a DNF. Amy Wall (coach Andy Fisher) was 12th in the senior girls long jump after a seasons best 5.52m.

Grace Weeks (coach Gary Bettridge) was 6th in her heat of the inter girls sprint hurdles with Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) 4th in her heat with a new pb of 11.85 secs. Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) was 5th in her heat of the inter girls 300m with Chloe Poore (Coach Andy Fisher) 3rd in her heat in a new pb at the same distance for the junior girls and training partner Lily Flute (coach Andy Fisher) was 7th in her heat in the same event. Abi Belward (coach Andy Fisher) was 10th in the inter girls shot putt and Carys Jeffries (coach Andy Fisher) was 9th in the long jump for the same age group.

Poppy Taylor (coach Nick Anderson) was 9th in her heat of the junior girls 800m and Poppy Crook (coach Andy Fisher) unfortunately no heighted in the junior girls high jump.

A superb if slightly chilly championships for the club at a magnificent stadium and the athletes will return home tonight with memories that will last a lifetime.

Weekend track & Field Preview

English schools Weekend

The highlight of many young athletes season, the English schools champs takes place today and tomorrow in the magnificent Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. No fewer than 25 young athletes from WADAC made the trip in their county schools coaches yesterday and all the action can be followed live through the youtube links below.

Streaming Links

The South of England senior & U20 inter-county champs take place in Oxford on Sunday and Hampshire Athletics will be represented by a number of the clubs athletes.

Finally, it is the last of the Wessex League matches in the IOW on Sunday and we are taking a small team to the main match but a very strong team to the U11's quad kids match.

Good luck to everyone in action this weekend.

Gracie wins the South East schools combined events title

Results from Lee Valley at the Weekend

The regional schools combined events champs took place this weekend with the South East version being at Lee Valley in London.

This is a prestigious event where the top athletes qualify for the national schools combined events finals in Bedford in September.

Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) won the junior girls title ahead of training partner Lily Flute (coach Andy Fisher) who was 9th.

Zac Reynolds (coach Andy Fisher) finished 13th in the junior boys event.

Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) was 5th competing for Surrey schools in the inter girls event ahead of Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) in 6th and Abi Belward (coach Andy Fisher) in 10th.

Full results below.

South East Combined Events Championships Full Results 5

Weekend Track & Field Preview

Another hugely busy weekend of track & field action ahead.The schools regional Combined Events Champs take place at Lee Valley in London with 6 of the clubs athletes selected for their county schools teams to take part.Tomorrow the club competes in two league matches in two different places with the younger athletes in action in the Wessex League in Basingstoke and the older athletes in the UAG YDL match in Hemel Hempstead.Good luck to everyone in action.

Schools inter-counties success

The South East Schools inter-counties champs is the final leg of the journey towards county schools selection for the English Schools championships this year to be held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, the track & field home of last years commonwealth games.The competition is for junior (U15) and Inter (U17) girls and boys and took place on Saturday in Basingstoke against other schools counties from the South East namely, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey & Sussex.Generally, the first two or possibly three young athletes in these age groups from the Hampshire Schools Champs are selected to represent their county schools teams and this included lots of young athletes from WADAC. Their performances were as follows.In the junior girls age group, Chloe Poore (coach Andy Fisher) was 3rd in the 300m with training partner Lily Flute (coach Andy Fisher) just behind in 4th. Francesca Joslin (coach James Mann) was 7th in the 800m. Poppy Taylor (coach Nick Anderson) was 3rd in the 1500m. Training partners Esme Buchanan (coach Andy Fisher) and Poppy Crook (coach Andy Fisher) took 1st & 2nd places respectively in the high jump, Izzy Jordan (coach Andy Fisher) was 2nd in the long jump and Beth Mballa (coach Heather Sheffield) was 3rd in the shot putt and took the same position in the discus a competition won by Abi Mcbriar (coach Martin McBriar).For the junior boys, Zac Reynolds (coach Andy Fisher) won the 300m, Seth Noott (coach Nick Anderson) was 7th in the 800m, Ivor Martin (coach Nick Anderson) was 7th in the 1500m with Seb Murray (coach James Mann) just behind him in 8th.Ned Scott (coach Martin McBriar) was 5th in the javelin and Reuben Noott (coach Martin McBriar) was 6th in the hammer.In the inter girls age group, Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) won the 300m with Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) 3rd in the sprint hurdles and Grace Weeks (coach Gary Bettridge) 7th in the same race. Abi Belward (coach Andy Fisher) was 5th in the long hurdles but later won the shot putt event. Carys Jeffries (coach Andy Fisher) was 3rd in the long jump and Erin McBriar (coach Martin McBriar) was 2nd in the discus. Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) won the javelin competing for Surrey and Evie Scott (coach Martin McBriar) was 4th in thr hammer.Finally in the inter boys age group, Eddie Chambers (coach James Mann) was 3rd in the 800m, Will Atkins (coach Nick Anderson) won the 1500m, and finally Jeffrey Chan (coach Andy Fisher) was 6th in the long jump After the event, selection emails for English schools for these age groups and the Senior (U20) age groups were sent and I will report on the WADAC young athletes who received these tomorrow.