2024 Review November

November is normally a quiet month for track & field but last November was an exception.

Two of our star multi-eventers Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) and Seni Purnell (coach Andy Fisher) were selected for England schools for the Combined Events Indoor schools Home International match in Glasgow which took place on the 16th November. Rebekah & Seni thus became the 9th & 10th WADAC athletes to win International vests last year. Rebekah was 10th in the U17W age group and Seni was 4th in the U15W age group.

Also in November Panagiotis Karletsos and Sam Nicholson (both coached by Martin McBriar) took part in the Basingstoke Winter throws event both recording pb’s.

Bella selected for England Seniors

Just two weeks into the new year and the clubs amazing young athletes have secured two England vests with Arabella Wilson (Coach Andy Fisher) following hot on the heels of her training partner Jess Howells in being selected for an England track & field team.

Selection for the Reykjavik International games is restricted to athletes on England Atheltics talent pathways who provided an expression of interest in line with the selection policy and Bella has been selected to run the 400m in Iceland on the 27th January.

This completes the full set of England vests for Bella who can add her England Senior vest to those already won at Schools, U18 & U20 level alongside a GB vest in the U20 age group.

WADAC young athletes bring home 6 medals from South of England indoor Champs

The South of England indoor age group (U13/U15/U17) Champs took place on Saturday and Sunday at Lee Valley in North London and as has been the case for the last few years, the clubs young athletes brought home a bag full of medals.

The sprints, sprint hurldes & U13 competitions took place on Saturday and U13B Declan Dew (coach Andy Fisher) was the star of the show winning 60m gold and long jump silver breaking the clubs age group indoor club record in the process. Ema Gligorovski (U13 academy) had a good day finishing 6th in the U13G long jump and just missing out on qualification for the 800m final but did run a big pb to improve her time as 3rd on the clubs all time age group indoor lists. Alice Pate (U13 academy) just missed out on a medal by finishing 4th in the long jump and also competed in high jump & the 60m.

Day two yesterday saw the other 13 WADAC young athletes competing and of these Lexie Divers (coach Andy Fisher) took gold in the U15G 300m with a very fast time of 41.64 secs which puts her 2nd on the clubs all time age group indoor lists. Lexie’s medal was the first of something of a medal rush for the club as it was quickly followed by U17W long jump silver for Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) and U17W 400m silver for Chloe Poore (coach Andy Fisher) with Chloe improving her time as 2nd on the clubs all time indoor lists. Zac Reynolds (coach Mark Upton) then won U17M 400m bronze with a time of 51.61 secs which breaks the clubs age group indoor record by 1 hundredth of a second from Scott Barker. Gracie also competed in the 200m where she ran 26.17 secs.

Lexie Trott (coach Tom Farres) just missed out on a medal in the U17W pole vault coming 4th but can console herself with an indoor pb of 3.10m then sends her top of the clubs all time indoor lists. Charlotte Humphreys (coach Martim McBriar) was 15th in the U15G shot putt final where Mia Gligorovski (coach Andy Fisher) was 9th with Mia 15th in Saturday’s sprint hurdles and 22nd in the long jump. Francesca Joslin (coach James Mann) made the U17W 800m final with an indoor pb that puts her 3rd on the clubs all time age group indoor lists. Francesca Bertacchini (coach Andy Fisher) was 20th in the U15G 300m. Omawumi Eyesan (coach Andy Fisher) was unlucky to miss out on a medal in the U15G HJ on countback but can console herself with going joint 3rd on the clubs all time indoor lists with a ;eap of 1.55m. Likewise Sam Hurst (coach Andy Fisher) went 2nd on the clubs all time indoor age group shot putt lists with a putt of 9.09m for 7th place in the U15B age group. Finally Tom Pate (coach Andy Fisher) competed in HJ, LJ & the 60m sprint in the U15B age group with a best result of 11th in the long jump.

Weekend Track & Field Preview

The first championships of the year take place this weekend on a busy couple of days as the indoor season begins to ramp up.

The South of England age group (U13/U15/U17) indoor champs take place at Lee Valley with 18 WADAC young athletes on the start list inlcuding Zac Reynolds (Coach Mark Upton) who will line up with a strong medal chance in the U17M 400m.

5 WADAC athletes go to Cardiff tomorrow for the World Athletics accredited Non Thomas Open and amongst these is Thomas Evans (coach James Mann) in the 1500m who will be looking to continue his current excellent form in the 1500m.

Jess wins England call up for throws International

Jess Howells (Coach Andy Fisher) has had quite a 9 months and her progression continues as she wins an England U20 vest to go alongside her England U18 vest and England schools vest won last year.

Jess has just moved into the U20 age group and as such will be throwing the 600g javelin when she competes for England in the Vaxjo International in Sweden on Saturday the 1st February. The competition is an usual one in that it is held entirely indoors in a huge indoor facility constructed by the throws mad scandinavians to enable long throws to take place in the freezing winter months.

With the standards recently published for the Euro U20 champs in Finland, this is an opportunity for Jess to gain valuable International experience in one of the lands of the throws.

2024 Review September

The last month of the track & field season began with the South of England inter-counties champs with the U20’s in action on Saturday the 7th and the U15’s & U17’s on Sunday the 8th. On Saturday a number of WADAC athletes represented their counties in the U20 age group with Mia Judd (coach James Hind) winning the high jump and Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) breaking the clubs javelin record this time with the 600g spear. On the Sunday, there were wins for Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) in the 400m and Darcey Thorne-Henderson (coach Martin McBriar) in the discus.

On Friday the 20th, the club put on it’s first ever throws open meeting which was attended by no other than olympian Lawrence Okoye and on the weekend of the 21st & 22nd September the last of the championship events of the season the National Schools Combined Events champs took place in Stoke. What a weekend for the club it was as Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) and Seni Purnell (coach Andy Fisher) both secured top 3 finishes in their respective age groups therefore securing England schools vests at the indoor schools Home International Combined events match in November.

The season finished with the last of our open meetings on the 29th of the month and it was time fopr a rest from track & field after an astonishing season of representative honours from the clubs young athletes.

2024 Review July

The month began with the 3rd of the WADAC open meetings on Wednesday the 3rd and this also doubled as our 2nd BMC meeting at the club.

The first weekend of July saw the 3rd of our Wessex League matches on the Sunday where the club were 2nd in the main match but won the Quadkids match in Salisbury. The following day the last of the vets Hampshire league matches took place in Aldershot and featured wins for Kathryn Miles (coach Dave Sherry) and Sian Lewis & Owen Watts (both coached by David Vosser).

The second weekend was the English Schools Champs in Birmingham which proved a magnificent weekend for the club. In unprecedented scenes, the first two track finals of day two were won by Lucia Bertacchini (coach Andy Fisher) in the U17W 300mH and then Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) in the U20W 400mH, Bella’s 3rd English schools title in a row. Further medals followed for Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) who was 3rd in the U17W 300m, Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) who was 2nd in the U17W javelin, Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) who was 2nd in the U17W LJ, Darcey Thorne-Henderson (coach Martin McBriar) who was 3rd in the U15W discus, Zac Reynolds (coach Mark Upton) was 3rd in the U17M 400m & Mia Judd (coach James Hind) who was 2nd in the U20W high jump. This gave the club 8 medals in total and also earned the club’s athletes 3 England Schools vests with Lucia, Jess & Gracie selected to compete for England Schools at the SIAB match in Wales the following weekend.

The 3rd SAL match of the season took place in Eltham on Sunday and despite a depleted team the club managed 5th place out of 6 teams and finishing ahead of Southampton that day was to prove crucial at the end of the season. This was largely down to Calum Upton (coach David Vosser) who single handedly took on as many events as he could.

On Thursday the 18th July Elsie Brindle ran the 300m leg of the medley relay (100m,200m,300m,400m) for GB in the European U18 champs in Slovakia and helped the team qualify for the final where they earned 3rd place winning Elsie a bronze medal.

At the weekend of the 20th & 21st Lucia won the SIAB title in Carmathen with Jess coming 2nd & Gracie 3rd. The National Senior, U20 & U23 champs also took place in Birmingham with Alex Beck (coach Mark Upton) making a fabulous comeback by coming 2nd in the U20M 400m. Charlie Elford-Pond (coach Eric Davison) also won silver in the U20M Hammer and Bella was disqualified after recording a magnificent time in winning the U20W 400mH. Mia Judd was 4th in the U20W HJ, Sam Clifton (coach Jeremy Clifton) 4th in the U23M Hammer and Erin McBriar (coach Martin McBriar) 7th in the U20W discus. Also on the Sunday the U13 & U15’s took in their last LAG YDL match of the campaign in Tonbridge finishing 5th in the Southern premier league match to seal their relegation but not without all time top 3 performances from Poppy Crook (coach Andy Fisher) in U15G HJ, Seni Purnell (coach Andy Fisher) in the U15G 300m, Declan Dew (coach Andy Fisher) in the U13B LJ, and the U15G, U13B & U13G 4 x 100m teams.

The last weekend of July saw the British Masters champs take place in Derby with Moira West (coach Dave Sherry) winning 100m & 200m V55 gold medals and breaking the british age group records at the same time, a bronze medal was also won by Kathryn Miles (coach Dave Sherry) in V50 LJ. The National U15 & U17 champs were the same weekend and resulted in yet another gold medal in the 300mH for Lucia with medals also won by Elsie Brindle taking bronze in the U17W 300m, Gracie Osman taking bronze in the U17W LJ, Poppy Crook taking bronze in the U15G HJ and Jess Howells taking silver in the U17W javelin.

2024 Review June

Competition began in June on the 1st of the month with Mia Judd (coach James Hind) breaking the overall club high jump record with a leap of 1.75m representing another club as higher claim in the NAL. With our own NAL application being successful for 2025, this isn’t something Mia will need to do this year.

On Sunday the 2nd the club hosted its first Wessex league match of the campaign coming 2nd behind Basingstoke in the main match but winning the quad kids match.

The following weekend saw the County Schools championships on the Saturday which meant the club winning a plethora of county schools titles and at the same time the South of England U20 & Senior champs took place in Eton which resulted in U20 titles for Charlie Elford Pond (coach Eric Davison) in the hammer and Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) in the 400m hurdles. Silver medals were won by Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) despiting competing up an age group and by Bella in the 200m. Mia Judd won high jump bronze and Carys Jeffries (coach Andy Fisher) was 6th in the long jump.

On the weekend of the 15th & 16th June, the club took a depeleted team to our 2nd SAL match of ther season in Eton on the Saturday finishing in last place despite some great throwing from Charlie Elford-Pond and Leslie Parkes (coach Eric Davison). Also on the Saturday, our young athletes were in action for Hampshire schools in the South East Counties inter-counties school match in Hendon much of which took place in pouring rain. On the Sunday our U13/U15 athletes took part in their 3rd LAG YDL match of the season in Hornchurch finishing last despite some amazing performances including new age group club records in the 75m & 150m for U13B Toby Gardener (coach Andy Fisher) and a jump of 1.63m in the U15G HJ for Esme Buchanan (coach Andy Fisher) which saw her go 2nd on the club’s all time age group list.

On the Monday in Southampton, the vets were in Hampshire league action in Southampton which included a fine win in the medley relay for the men. On the 19th June, Mia Judd headed to Solvakia to compete in the prestigious JBL jump fest. At the weekend, many of the club’s athletes used the regional rounds of the schools combined events championships to qualify for Septembers National finals including Seni Purnell (coach Andy Fisher) whose score of 3248 points in winning the U15G pentathlon took her 2nd in the club’s all time age group list. On Sunday the 23rd June, the club was 5th in its 2nd Wessex League fixture in Poole with once more the Quadkids winning their match.

A very busy last weekend of the month saw the UAG YDL team finish 5th on the Sunday in their last UAG match of the season in Hendon which sadly saw them condemed to relegation in the composite team along with Portsmouth. The same weekend saw Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) win the South of England Combined Events champs with a score that would see her finish the season as UK no 3 in the heptathlon. It was also the UK champs weekend in Manchester which saw two of the club’s brightest U20 athletes Mia Judd and Arabella Wilson line up against the best athletes in the country both performing very creditably.

The month finished with the amazing news that Elsie Brindle had been selected to compete for GB in the medley relay at the European U18 champs in Slovakia. The GB U18 vest was the first for any athlete in this age group at the club.

2024 Review May

The 2024 Review starts off when the website updates ended (18th May).

On the 19th May, 3 WADAC athletes competed at the Loughborough International, 2 as guests with Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) running a fine 400m and Mia Judd (coach James Hind) appearing alongside KJT in the high jump competition. Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) was selected for GB Juniors in the match event and as such won her GB junior vest.

The same day the U13 & U15 young athletes came 5th in the 2nd of their LAG YDL Southern Premier league matches taking place in Bromley with a notable 75m performance from U13G Mia Gligorowski (coach Andy Fisher) who went 2nd on the club’s all time age group list.

Wednesday the 22nd May saw the club’s 2nd open meeting of the season and amongst many notable performances was a 60m hammer throw from Charlie Elford-Pond (coach Eric Davison) and Toby Barton (coach Martin McBriar) going over 30m in the discus for the first time.

Thursday the 23rd May saw the Hampshire Schools Combined Event Champs take place in Andover with Gracie Osman & Anais Andrews (both coached by Andy Fisher) winning the U17W & U15W pentathlon events respectively and Sam Evans (coach Andy Fisher) coming 2nd in the U15B event.

On Saturday the 25th May, it was the fest meetings with hurdles fest taking place in Chelmsford and BIG taking place in Oxford with Mia Judd coming 4th in the pool A of the high jump and Gracie Osman long jumping a new overall club record of 5.75m.

On Sunday the 26th May, the club alongwith composite partners City of Portsmouth AC came 6th in its Southern Premier UAG YDL match in Hemel Hempstead despite great points contributions from the club’s throwers and a new overall club pole vault record of 3.20m by Lexie Trott (coach Tom Farres)

On the Bank Holiday Monday the 27th May, Jessica Howells (coach Andy Fisher) earned her England U18 vest representing her country in the javelin in the Pickering Throws Memorial International.

Elsie is selected for GB U18 team for European Championships

Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) was yesterday confirmed to have been selected to compete for GB & NI in the European U18 champs to take place in Banska Bystrika in Slovakia from the 18th-21st July.

Elsie has been selected for the medley relay and her tremendous form over 200m, 300m & 400m this season would no doubt have been a factor in being such a useful and versatile member of the medley relay squad.

Read Elsie’s name in the full list of the GB & NI team on the British Athletics website through the link below and we very much look forward to seeing Elsie wearing her GB kit and being the latest of our young athletes stars to represent their country, the fact that it is in a major championship making it all the more special.

GB & NI team selected for the European U18 champs.

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

Another week of great track & field action as this weekend sees the traditional fest meetings taking place. Hurdlesfest is in Chelmsford today & Biggish is in Oxford and the clubs young stars will be in action including Mia Judd (coach Tony Bateman)

Tomorrow is the 2nd of the clubs upper age group YDL fixtures taking place at Jarman Park in Hemel Hempstead and also Bella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) is in World Athletics Tour action at the IFam meeting in Brussels.

Monday sees Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) make her England debut in the javelin at the Pickering Memorial International event at Loughborough and more of the clubs athletes are also in midweek action.

Quite a week for the clubs athletes.

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.

Jess is selected for England throws team

These are unprecedented times for the club and as yesterday brought news of a GB selection today brings further news of International recognition as Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) has gained selection for England to compete in the Pickering Memorial Throws International match at Loughborough on Bank Holiday Monday the 26th May. Jess has been selected to throw her beloved 500g javelin in the U18 age group in this prestigious new event.

Working tremendously hard through the winter months and teaming up with Bronwin Carter for some specilist javelin sessions, Jess has gone from strength to strength reflected in her performances this season which saw her throw 47.26m at the Surrey County Champs on Saturday, good enough for 21st in Europe on the current U18 World Athletics lists.

Jess had the following to say. “I am delighted to get the recognition of an England vest and representing my nation at the Pickering Memorial event in Loughborough. I have worked really hard in the gym this winter and on my speed and power in warm weather training at Easter and the extra sessions with Bron have been so valuable in adding extra metres to my throws.”

Jess & Bella have been friends from primary school growing up competing together, sharing lifts, hotel rooms at training camps and the same training group and yesterday was quite a day in Guildford as news of the respective selections came through for the good friends.

Read all about Jess’s selection on the England Athletics website through the following link.

England team selected for Pickering Memorial Throws International Match

Bella is selected for GB Juniors

Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) has been selected to compete for GB juniors in Sunday’s Loughborough International.

The Loughborough International is the traditional domestic curtain raiser of the International season featuring senior teams from England, Scotland and Wales as well as a Loughborough select team, an National Athletics League select team and a GB Juniors (U20) team. Annouced today on the British Athletics website, Bella has been selected for the 400m hurdles an event she is currently ranked as UK no 1 for the U20 age group.

This is the 2nd consecutive year that WADAC have had GB Junior representation at the event after Annie Mann (coach James Mann) was selected for the mile race last year and shows how much progress the club is making in terms of recognition of its fantastic young athletes.

Bella ran her first 400m hurdles race for 10 months in the Surrey County champs on Sunday after facing the disappointment of missing out on the commonwealth youth games last year through a navicular stres fracture. On hearing the news she said. “This wasn’t on my radar until very recently but training has gone well and after the race on Sunday, I knew I had a chance of selection. it is an absolute thrill to be selected for the GB juniors team and I can’t wait to put the kit on and represent my country.”

Read the full team announcement through the link below.

GB U20 team named for Loughborough International

Annie, Alex & Bella receive UK Champs invites

The invitation lists for the UK champs and Olympic trials in Manchester at the end of June have been published and it is great to see that 3 WADAC athletes appear on the lists.

Annie Mann (coach James Mann) has been invited for the womens 1500m, Alex Beck (coach Mark Upton) for the mens 400m and Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) for the womens 400mH.

The full invitation list can be seen through the link below.

UK Champs invite list

Elsie breaks championship record on way to treble gold.

The Hampshire track & field champs were bathed in sunshine at the weekend as WADAC athletes clocked up a series of amazing performances to top the medal table.

Performances of the weekend came from 16 year old Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) who broke the championship record in winning the U17W 300m in a blistering time of 39.10 secs on Saturday which also smashes the club record of Arabella Wilson. Elsie made it double gold by also winning the 100m final a few hours later and the 200m final the following day. It was an all WADAC podium in the U17W 300m final on the Saturday as Lucia Bertachini & Chloe Poore (both coached by Andy Fisher) both ran pb’s in coming 2nd and 3rd with Isobel Jordan (coach Andy Fisher) in 6th.

The first day of competition started well for WADAC with gold in the very first track event as Zac Reynolds (coach Andy Fisher) took 1st place in the U17M 400m hurdles going under 60 secs for the first time despite being one of many competitors arriving late because of the motorway closure that saw track races start 10 mins late and some competitors not making their events at all. The first field event brought a WADAC bronze medal with Jas Gordon (coach Martin McBriar) coming 3rd in the U20W hammer event with training partner Erin McBriar (coach Martin McBriar) in 4th. Next in the field was the U20W high jump which was won by Mia Judd (coach Tony Bateman) with a magnificent leap of 1.73cm just 1cm off her pb with Abi Belward (coach Andy Fisher) in 2nd place. Then came the male pole vault finals with Sam Smith (coach Elias Mtshweni) taking U17M gold going over 3m for the first time and Tom Price (coach Elias Mtshweni) taking silver in the U15B age group with a pb of 2.60m. Next in the field was the U15B long jump where Tom Pate (coach Andy Fisher) came 5th.

Back on the track to the heats of the male 200m where Sam Barton (U13 academy) was 5th in his U13B heat. Toby Barton (coach Martin McBriar) & Hayden Rogers (coach Dave Sherry) both made it safely through to the U15B final and Zac Reynolds doing the same in the U17M event. In the U13G 800m which was run as two time trials Frankie Bertacchini (coach Andy Fisher) took a magnificent silver with a new pb and Dana Bulters (coach James Mann) took bronze. Aoife Uniacke & training partner Bella Webley (both coached by James Mann) were 4th and 7th respectively.

Back to the field whre Verity Callaghan (coach Martin McBriar) took U15G hammer gold ahead of training partner Darcey Thorne-Henderson (coach Martin McBriar) in 4th with Evie Scott (coach Martin McBriar) taking the U17W age group gold ahead of Beth Mballa (coach Heather Sheffield) winning silver and Abi McBriar (coach Martin McBriar) who was 5th. Another WADAC gold came in the U13G javelin where Hallie Eldridge (coach Andy Fisher) won the event ahead of Clarice Thorne Henderson (coach Martin McBriar) taking silver and Lottie Osman (U13 Academy) in 6th.

In the U17M 3000m, Joao De Souza (coach James Mann) took gold. The U13B 800m were also run as time trials and Leo Davies-Pratt (Coach Andy Fisher) was 7th with Oliver Furby (coach James Mann) in 11th. The same was true for the U15B age group were Felix Sclater (coach James Mann) was 8th. In the U13G 100m semi finals Grace Cater (coach Dave Sherry) and Bo Hatchett (coach Andy Fisher) made it through to the final with Gen Riches (U13 academy) just missing out after finishing 4th in her semi-final. Jemima Niven & Holly Poore (both coached by Dave Sherry) made it safely through from the U15G 100m heats into the semi-finals. Carys Jeffries (coach Andy Fisher) made it through to the U20W 100m final the last track race of the day where she finished 6th.

Back in the field Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) finished 2nd in the U17W shot ahead of Beth Mballa in 4th Gracie Osman (coach Andy Fisher) in 5th, Abi McBriar in 6th and Aeryn Hurst (coach Elias Mtshweni) in 10th. Jeffrey Chan (coach Andy Fisher) won U20M long jump gold and Christopher Wood (coach Martin McBriar) won U13B javelin gold going over the 30m mark in doing so. Harry Draper-Barr (coach Martin McBriar) took discus gold one of the clubs few winners in the senior age groups. Esme Buchanan (coach Andy Fisher) won U15G HJ gold with a new pb of 1.61m and Abi Belward won the U20W shot putt title with Erin McBriar taking bronze. Ned Scott (coach Martin McBriar) took U17M javelin silver with Laurence Hutchinson (coach Martin McBriar) back in 5th.

On the track, Grace Weeks (coach Gary Bettridge) took the U20W sprint hurdles title with Abi Belward in 5th and Alice Eyssens (coach Gary Bettridge) in 6th. Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) added the U17W sprint hurdles title with a sub 12 sec run and Gracie Osman won silver. Lexie Divers (coach Andy Fisher) won bronze in the U15G sprint hurdles. The U13G sprint hurdles required semi-finals but the 4 WADAC girls (Mia Gligorivski coached by Andy Fisher) Bo Hatchett, Hallie Eldridge and Gen Riches all made it safely through to the final. Zac Reynolds was 6th in the U17M 200m final and Toby Barton was 8th in the U15B final. Jumima Niven & Holly Poore were 6th & 8th respectively in their U15G 100m semi-final. The Senior mens 5000m race came next and Freddie Slemeck (self coached) displayed a front running masterclass gradually dropping his fellow competitors one by one in burning heat to take a very hard fought gold. The U13G returned for their sprint hurdles final where Bo Hatchett took bronze ahead of training partner Hallie Eldridge in 4th, Gen Riches in 6th and Mia Gligorovski in 8th. Eddie Chambers (coach James Mann) took the U20M 800m silver. Grace Cater and Bo Hatchett were 7th & 8th respectively in the U13G 100m final.

The final events in the field were the U13B discus which saw Christopher Wood collect silver and Sam Barton come 4th. In the U15B age group Sam’s brother Toby Barton took bronze with Reuben Noott (coach Martin McBriar) finishing 4th. An all WADAC podium was the order of the day in the U13G shot putt as Clarice Thorne Henderson (coach Martin McBriar) took gold with Hallie Eldridge taking silver and Mia Gligorovski taking bronze with all 3 girls putting over 8m that was a nice way to finish a magnificent day for the balack & gold of WADAC.

Sunday started just as Saturday had ended with an all WADAC podium as Reuben Noott took U15B hammer gold with a new pb followed by Toby Barton in silver and Pan Karletsos (coach Martin McBriar) in bronze. Charlie Elford Pond (coach Eric Davison) took U20M hammer gold with Harry Jones (coach Martin McBriar) taking bronze. Leslie Parkes (coach Eric Davison) took the hammer silver in the senior mens discus. Gus Bowden took the U20M high jump silver adding 1cm to his pb. Lexie Trott (coach Tom Farres) won the U17W pole vault gold with a new pb and club record of 3.10cm with Aeryn Hurst taking bronze. Amy Wall (coach Andy Fisher) took the U20W long jump gold with a new pb of 5.61m, training partner Carys Jeffries took silver also with a new pb of 5.42m. Abi Belward was 4th. Elodie Trott (coach Elias Mtshweni) was 6th in the U15G LJ.

The track also started on Sunday as it did on Saturday with WADAC long hurldes gold. First Lucy Smith (coach Gary Bettridge) won U20W 400mH gold and then Lucia Bertacchini just missed out on the championship record as she ran a new pb in taking gold in the U17W 300mH in a time of 44.42 secs. Hallie Eldridge made it through to the U13G 200m final but Bella Webley just missed out coming 7th in her semi-final. Elodie Trott made it through to the U15G 200m final but Holly Poore just missed out finishing 6th in her semi-final. The U17W 200m semi-finals were rather dominated by black & gold with 5 of the first 6 qualifiers from WADAC these being Elsie Brindle, Chloe Poore, Rebekah Smith, Izzy Jordan & Gracie Osman respectively. the U15B 300m was a straight final with Rhys Wye (coach Mark Upton) taking silver and Mikel Harfield (coach Dave Sherry) taking bronze. Zac Reynolds & Oliver Wye (coach Mark Upton) made it safely through to the U17M 400m final but Monty Brindle (coach Mark Upton) just missed out finishing 7th in his semi-final.

Back to the field where Erin McBriar won gold in the U20W discus. Charlie Elford Pond took U20M shot putt gold with Harry Jones in 5th. Darcey Thorne-Henderson won bronze in the U15G javelin. Gracie Osman won the U17W long jump gold with training partner Izzy Jordan winning bronze. Hattie Nott (coach David Saunders) was 7th. Tom Pate (coach Andy Fisher) was joint 6th in the U15B high jump. Tom Pate was 5th in the U15B javelin. Isabella Parr (coach Martin McBriar) was 2nd in the U13G discus with training partner Clarice Thorne-Henderson taking bronze. In the U15G discus sister Darcey Thorne-Henderson took gold with Verity Callaghan in 4th. Christopher Wood won bronze in the U13B shot putt ahead of Harry Moreton in 4th and Samuel Barton in 7th.

As with the U13’s the day before the U15G 800m was run as a time trial and Elodie Gill (coach James Mann) was best placed WADAC young athlete in 6th. Amber Price (coach James Mann) was 11th and Gwyneth Hunter (coach James Mann) was 15th. Francesca Joslin (coach James Mann) made it through to the U17W 800m final. The U15B 1500m was run as two time trials and Luke Furby (coach James Mann) was best placed in 11th, Iosu Harfield (coach James Mann) was 16th and George Oldroyd (coach James Mann) 17th. Declan Dew qualified as fastest in the U13B 100m semi-finals with Harry Moreton (coch Dave Sherry) just missing the final finishing 4th in his semi-final and Samuel Barton was 6th in his semi-final. Hayden Rogers made it safely through to he U15B 100m final. In the womens 3000m final Eve Bailey (coach James Mann) won the U20W race and Jess Gill (coach David Vosser) won the senior womens race. The U13B 75m hurdles final made it yet another all WADAC podium as Declan Dew won with Leo Davies-Pratt in 2nd and Jack Sansome taking bronze. Jack then literally sprinted to the 1500m start and finished the U13B 1500m in 5th with Thomas McLeish (coach James Mann) in 10th. Millie Honan (coach James Mann) was 4th in the U13G 1500m with Bella Webley in 6th, Naomi Hurford-Potter (coach James Mann) in 8th.

After a breather and a top up in sun cream, next in the field was the U13G long jump where Hallie Eldridge took silver. Emilia Santos (coach David Saunders) was 8th, Frankie Bertacchini was 10th, Gen Riches was 13th and Lottie Osman was 15th. Leo Davies Pratt collected gold on countback in the U13B high jump with Harry Moreton in 4th and Jack Sansome in 6th. Sam Jarrett (coach Ernie Chambers) took U20M triple jump silver. Another all WADAC podium took place in the U17W javelin with Abi McBriar taking gold ahead of Rebekah Smith with silver and Gracie Osman with bronze. Abi Belward took silver in the U20W javelin. In the U17W discus, Beth Mballa smashed her pb to go over the 40m mark to take gold ahead of Abi McBriar winning silver. In the U15B shot putt Toby Barton was 4th ahead of Sam Evans (coach Andy Fisher) in 6th.

The final events now were on the track were the U13G 200m where Hallie Eldridge was 4th. the u15G 200m where Elodie Trott was also 4th. The U17W 200m was an amazing race with Elsie Brindle winning her 3rd gold of the championships ahead of Chloe Poore and Gracie Osman in silver and bronze all 3 girls ruinning pb’s. Rebekah Smith completed a WADAC 1-2-3-4 with Izzy Jordan in 7th. Adam Perry (coach James Mann) bravely ran the U17M 1500m steeplechase on his own for gold. Zac Reynolds had a battle o his hands in the home straight but came out on top in a new pb for U17M 400m gold with Oliver Wye also running a pb in 4th. In the U15B 80m hurdles final Sam Evans won silver. In the U20M 1500m, Thomas Evans produced a fine sprint finish to take gold. Declan Dew also took gold in the U13B 100m final. Hayden Rogers was 3rd in the U15B equivilent in a blanket finish. Rohan Gray (coach Mark Upton) took bronze in the U20m 100m with Jeffrey Chan finishing 5th. Francesca Joslin was 5th in the U17W 800m final and in the very last race of the day Sian Lewis (coach David Vosser) was 5th in the Senior womens 800m final.

Hampshire was not the only County Champs wehere WADAC athletes were in action and boy did the girls put on a show in Surrey where on Saturday Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) smashed her long jump pb to take the U17W gold with 5.53m and then threw the 500g javelin a mighty 47.26m to break her own club record and go 14th on the UK all time age group list and win her second gold of the day. Yesterday Arabella Wilson went to top of the UK U20W 400mH rankings by running 60.67 secs to come 2nd in the senior womens 400mH race and then in her 3rd 400m race of the day won gold in the U20W flat 400m with a time of 55.62 to smash her pb.

I would like to take the time to thank the officials who volunteered their time under a burning hot sun for two days and the organisers who updated the results on Roster immediately after the events took place. the championships couldn’t take plac without you nd we are very grateful.

Weekend Track & Field Preview

The County track & field champs weekend is always a big event on the athletics calender and this weekend is no different with the various County Champs taking place around the country including our own in Portsmouth today and tomorrow.

Over 80 WADAC athletes line up in Portsmouth as well as WADAC athletes competing in other counties and the weather looks set fair for a fantastic couple of days of track & field action.

WADAC achieve great success at the Hampshire quadkids & multi-event champs

The May Day Bank Holiday Monday is the traditional day for the Hampshire Athletics quadkids and multi-events champs, 3000m races, May day mile and walks events.

Walks head coach Derek has already reported on the walk events so I start with the 3000m race which was won by Seb Murray (coach James Mann) with Oliver Foden (coach James Mann) in 3rd with both running big pb’s. In the mile races, Jess Gill (coach David Vosser) was 7th in the race for U20’s upwards with Charlie Hoskins (coach David Vosser) coming 11th.

In the U10 boys quad kids champs, there was a win for Teo Sledz (U11 Academy). Other WADAC competitors were Hugo Gay in 4th, Jack Moreton 5th, Leonardo Rogers 7th, Seb Foden 10th, George Hardcastle 13th, Alby Hatchett 14th and Bastian Campbell in 16th. All are coached within the U11 academy.

In the U11 boys event there was a win for Hugo Holt with Felix Humphries in 2nd and Hugo Fox in 3rd completing a WADAC clean sweep on the podium. Jacob Canto made it the top 4 for WADAC with Alexander Wood in 9th, Jasper Holman 10th, Gerard Sarfo 12th and Ivor Davies-Pratt in 15th with all boys coached within the U11 Academy.

The U10 girls was the only age group without a WADAC podium with Clemmie Willliams best placed in 4th. Poppy Manley was joint 7th, Isla Cole 10th and Molly Carter 20th with all coached within the U11 academy.

For the U11 girls Alice Pate took the title with Imi Campbell in 3rd. Ema Gligorovski was 5th, Elsa Ramsay 6th, Isabelle Hoskins 7th and Bethany Underwood 13th. Again all athletes are coached within the U11 academy.

In the Hampshire multi-event champs, WADAC athletes took part in the younger age groups of U13 & U15.

For the U13 girls, Hallie Eldridge (coach Andy Fisher) took gold with Mia Gligorovski (coach Andy Fisher) taking the bronze medal. Frankie Bertacchini (coach Andy Fisher) was 4th, Bo Hatchett (coach Andy Fisher) 6th, Dana Bulters (coach James Mann) 8th, Gen Riches (U13 academy) 9th, Lauren Skipper (coach Andy Fisher) 11th & Eva Raftery (U13 academy) 13th.

For the U13 boys Leo Davies-Pratt (coach Andy Fisher) took gold ahead of training partner Declan Dew (coach Andy Fisher) in 3rd. Harry Moreton (coach Dave Sherry) was 4th, Jack Sansome (coach Andy Fisher) 5th & Max Evans (coach Andy Fisher) in 6th.

In the U15 girls age group, Anais Andrews (coach Andy Fisher) took gold ahead of training partner Lexie Divers (coach Andy Fisher) with silver.

Finally in the U15 boys age group, Sam Evans (coach Andy Fisher) took silver ahead of training partner Tom Pate (coach Andy Fisher) in 4th.

Sam is 4th at BUCS

Three WADAC athletes took part for their respective universities at the British Universities & Colleges champs in Manchester over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The best of these was Sam Clifton (coach Jeremy Clifton) representing Birmingham University who finished in 4th place in the mens hammer yesterday with a best throw of 50.79m. Maddie Turner (coach John Miller) representing Durham University just missed out on a place in the 400m hurdles semi finals after finishing 4th in her heat on Saturday in a time of 1 min 08.26 secs. Charlotte Longden (coach Andy Fisher) representing Leeds University was 4th in her 100m heat on Saturday in a time of 12.79 secs and 5th in her 200m heat on Sunday in a time of 26.50 secs.

Elsewhere yesterday Harry Harvey (coach James Thie) ran a time of 4 mins 22.07 secs in one of the many mile races at the 70th anniversary Bannister mile event in Oxford and in doing so went to 3rd on the clubs all time lists knocking good friend James Hennegan off the lists who like Harry recorded his time as an U20 athlete.