News & Press Reports for 2001

Emily Pidgeon set a new UK Under-15 indoor record for 3000m with a stunning performance in Cardiff on Sunday.

The 12-year-old Gloucester AC runner smashed her personal best with an amazing time of 9mins 55.71secs at the Welsh Indoor centre to finish third overall in a race against women twice her age.

"I was really surprised and I could hardly believe the time," said Pidgeon. "At the start I was hoping to run around 10mins 20secs but I got fastest and faster. I think it was one of my best races ever."

It was easily the fastest time ever run by a 12-year-old girl in Britain and carved 35 seconds off the outdoor personal best she ran at Watford during the summer.

The performance also rounded off a superb weekend for the David Farrow-coached athlete. Pidgeon was nominated for the junior category of the national Sports Personality of the Year competition, reaching the last 10 out of over 600 nominations, but did not win the trophy, and on Saturday, she romped to victory in the junior girls' race at the Gloucestershire Schools' Cross Country Championships.

Birmingham League – Coventry

Division 3: 1 Peter Kellie (U20), 35.22; 8 Mo Hill, 37.38; 14 Bill Griffiths, 38.15; 32 Richard Taylor 39.34; 34 Luke Herbert, 39.37; 57 Andy Hawkins, 40.52; 69 Jeremy Mower, 41.36; 70 Neil Scowby (U20), 41.39; 78 Ian Summers, 42.05; 82 Dominic Malsom, 42.30; 108 Dave Gresswell, 44.02; 150 Anthony Lake, 47.24; 151 Carl Puckett, 47.33; 173 John McLean, 51.32. 187 finished.

Team: 1 Rugby, 100; 2 Gloucester, 146; 3 Worcester, 182; 4 Northbrook, 188; 5 Warwick University, 223; 6 Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers, 256; 7 Wolverhampton & Bilston, 259; 8 Centurion, 312; 9 Newcastle, 317; 10 Royal Sutton Coldfield, 351; 11 Sphinx, 362; 12 Kenilworth, 374; 13 Stourbridge, 444

After 2 races: 1 Rugby, 202; 2 Gloucester, 306; 3 Worcester, 323; 4 Northbrook, 375; 5 Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers, 482; 6 Warwick University, 532; 7 Newcastle, 543; 8 Kenilworth, 613; 9 Royal Sutton Coldfield, 618; 10 Centurion, 648; 11 Wolverhampton & Bilston, 675; 12 Sphinx, 712; 13 Stourbridge, 849

B team: 1 Rugby, 378; 2 Worcester, 544; 3 Northbrook, 549; 4 Gloucester, 557; 5 Warwick University, 615; 6 Centurion, 680; 7 Sphinx, 746; 8 Stourbridge, 791; 9 Kenilworth, 1039

After 2 races: 1 Worcester, 957; 2 Northbrook, 1086; 3 Rugby, 1112; 4 Gloucester, 1114; 5 Stourbridge, 1462; 6 Sphinx, 1466; 7 Kenilworth, 1847

Birmingham League – Senneley’s Park

Division 3: 9 Simon Kellie (U20), 39.51; 11 Bill Griffiths, 39.58; 16 Lloyd Pritchard (U20), 40.41; 27 Mo Hill, 41.44; 32 Luke Herbert, 41.58; 65 Andy Hawkins, 43.49; 66 Ian Summers, 43.55; 67 Jeremy Mower, 43.55; 89 Gary Boon, 45.22; 99 Neil Scowby (U20), 46.15; 108 Dave Gresswell, 46.42; 128 Humphrey Phillips, 48.34; 143 Anthony Lake, 50.28; 148 Carl Puckett, 51.17; 161 Pete Marshall, 53.41; 166 Martin Chopping, 54.22. 182 finished. Aidan Mercer dropped out ill when in 6th place.

Team: 1 Rugby, 102; 2 Worcester, 141; 3 Gloucester, 160; 4 Northbrook, 187; 5= Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers, 226; 5= Newcastle, 226; 7 Kenilworth, 239; 8 Royal Sutton Coldfield, 267; 9 Warwick University, 309; 10 Centurion, 336; 11 Sphinx, 350; 12 Stourbridge, 405; 13 Wolverhampton & Bilston, 416

B team: 1 Worcester, 413; 2 Northbrook, 537; 3 Gloucester, 557; 4 Stourbridge, 671; 5 Sphinx, 720; 6 Rugby, 734;7 Kenilworth, 808; 8 Wolverhampton & Bilston, 852

In the Reebok Challenge, Emily Pidgeon won the U13 Girls race and Alex Felce was 3rd in the U15 Boys race.

Stroud Half Marathon

29 – Bill Griffiths, 1:15.05; 68 – Richard Taylor, 1:20.26; 88 – Jeremy Mower, 1:22.36(pb); 91 – Ian Summers, 1:22.58; 137 – Neil Scowby, 1:25.43(pb); 144 – Gerry McGarr, 1:26.18; 147 – Dave Gresswell, 1:26.24; 171 – Dominic Malsom, 1:27.15(pb); 198 – Adrian Lavery, 1:28.41; 315 – Phil Whitmore, 1:33.56; 397 – Catherine O’Carroll, 1:37.47; 448 – Jeff Tyndall, 1:39.28; 484 – Arnold Yeomans, 1:40.50(pb); 648 – Sean Petralia, 1:46.55; 679 – Chris O’Carroll, 1:48.08; 1082 – Ken Wood, 2:08.29

Reebok Cross Challenge – Liverpool

Emily Pidgeon raced to a superb victory in the opening race of the Reebok Cross Challenge Series in Liverpool's Sefton Park. The 12-year-old Gloucester AC runner beat some of the top girls in the country to win the Under-13s race by a margin of 18 seconds in a time of 10.09 and continued the fine form she showed last season when she also won at the same venue. "It was a very impressive performance," said her coach David Farrow.

In the U15 boys' race, Alex Felce, also coached by Farrow, was outsprinted on the line. The English Schools' 1500m champion led into the home straight but was pipped by Essex runner Adam Hickey in a thrilling finish in a time of 8.52. Tom Faiers was 20th in 9.39.

Richard Farrow finished a fine fourth in the U11 boys’ race in 7.36.

In the combined senior men and U20s race, Peter Kellie came 30th overall and sixth junior man in 27.43. The race was won by Dominic Bannister in 25.24.

Gloucestershire County Cross-Country Relay Championships

Gloucester AC picked up Silver in the Mens event and the Gold in the Ladies event, held over four 1.9 mile laps at Plock Court.

Peter Kellie (9.01) stormed into a 20 second lead over Cheltenham’s Julian Wilkie (9.21) at the end of the first leg. Bill Griffiths (9.59) was overhauled at the end of the second leg by Cheltenham’s Roger Mullins (9.35), handing over to Adam Davies (9.59) who lost ground to Cheltenham’s Matt Warley (9.42) on the third leg. This set up a thrilling final leg as Alex Felce (9.24) set off in pursuit of the lead runner, Steve Olesky. He steadily closed down the difference, but just came up short in a sprint finish to leave the team in second place in a total time of 38.23 to Cheltenham’s 38.21. Bristol AC were third and Severn AC fourth. The Gloucester AC ‘B’ team was Richard Davenport (10.20), Ian Summers (10.58), Luke Herbert (10.37) and Jeremy Mower (11.02).

The Ladies team was made up of Emily Pidgeon (11.04), who had the second fastest lap of the day, Beryl Samson (11.31), Lucy Williams (12.21) and Catherine O’Carroll (12.02) for a total time of 46.58. Cheltenham were second and Bourton third.

Midland Men’s Track & Field League (4th fixture – Stourport)

Points for Graded Officials – 15 (Timekeeper – Arthur Birt; Track – Sandra Ennis; Field – Andy McKenzie)

Final team totals – 1 Wolverhampton & Bilston 283; 2= Burton-on-Trent 233; 2= Stourport 233; 4 Gloucester 223; 5 Banbury 217; 6 Kettering 196; 7 Royal Sutton Coldfield 130

Points after 4 Matches (top 2 teams promoted to Division 3) – 1 Burton-on-Trent 27.5; 2 – Wolverhampton & Bilston 27; 3 – Gloucester 25; 4 – Stourport 19.5; 5 – Royal Sutton Coldfield 16; 6 – Kettering 13; 7 – Banbury 12

Gloucester Athletic Club's star steeplechaser Peter Kellie returned from the World Youth Championships in Hungary to immediately face top-class opposition. Representing Wales in the 3000 metres steeplechase at an inter-regional match in Derby, the 17-year-old came up against the best Under-20s and Under-23s from the North, South and Midlands as well as Wales. Kellie cruised past all his Under-20s opponents and all but one Under-23 athlete, the reigning AAA champion in that age group, to land second place. His time of nine minutes, 28 seconds was just outside his personal best but the race was tactical and the conditions windy.

Kellie's Gloucester team-mates have also achieved some notable recent successes with coach David Farrow's training group attempting to break British age bests at an Open meeting in Worcester.

Competing in the 600m, 17-year-old Ryan Preddy, who has also recently returned from Hungary having secured a fourth place at the World Youth Championships, won the race in a new personal best of 79.7 seconds. That time was only two tenths of a second outside the existing Under-18 UK age best set by Steve Ovett.

Preddy was chased all the way by younger training partner Richard Davenport who finished second in 79.8, knocking four seconds off his personal best and breaking the Under-16s UK age best which was previously held by Adam Davies, also in Farrow's training group. Davenport has recently returned from Spain where he won silver at the European Youth Games and at only 15 years' old, he still has two years left to attack Ovett's record. Davies finished third in the Worcester race in 81.4 seconds.

"The people at the Worcester track were treated to some fantastic performances," said Farrow.

English Schools Under-15 champion Alex Felce recently travelled to Manchester to take part in the British Milers' Club 1500 metres. The fact that the race was delayed until 10pm and that he was by far the youngest competitor did not deter Felce in a field of 20 athletes. He performed superbly to take three seconds off his English Schools' winning time with a new personal best of 4:05.26. That time confirms Felce as being in the top ten athletes at Under-15s level.

European Youth Olympics, Murcia, Spain

Richard Davenport shattered his pb to win the silver medal in the 400m in a time of 48.59. He reached the final by winning his semi-final in a time of 49.26.

The race was won by Piotr Zrada (Poland) in 47.03. Richard, who picked up blisters during his race due to the heat and the hard track, was pleased that he had been able to run his own race. "The Pole flew past me at about 50 or 60m but I let him go as to try and follow would have ruined my whole race plan. I was looking at the Spanish guy a bit but I think he went off too hard in front of his home crowd. I left it late and came through very strong. I am very pleased, as I was not expecting a medal. It still has not really sunk in."

Straight after the race Richard was on the phone to his coach, David Farrow, who had planned to come out to Murcia until he hurt his back. "We have been talking on the phone every day. I could not have done it without him" said Richard. "It is my first international and I could not have got off to a better start."

Richard Davenport picked up another silver medal as part of the Great Britain 4x100m relay team, helping them to a time of 42.21, second only to the French team who got the baton round in 41.92.

BAL Plate Final

Captain Phil Ennis praised his depleted Gloucester team for their commitment in the British Athletics League Plate final at Bedford yesterday.

Gloucester were without key athletes Richard Davenport, Ryan Preddy, James Nunan, Jon Cuff and Adam Davies because of unavailability or injury.

Although Bolton United Harriers were clear winners on 133 points with Ayr Seaforth second and Verlea third, Gloucester stuck at their task to finish sixth equal with Walton on 66 out of eight teams.

"It is frustrating we were unable to field a full strength side," said Ennis.

"We had several athletes with World Junior Championship commitments.

"We also had an important Midlands League match on Saturday and several people picked up injuries.

"We only had a team of nine but they have not disgraced the club. We battled to the end and did better than in our previous Plate final in 1992."

Peter Kellie scored the only individual win for Gloucester, clocking nine minutes, 39.20 seconds in the 3000m steeplechase.

Kris Haggerty was third in the 800m with 2:06.78 and Lloyd Pritchard fourth in the 400m with 51.41 seconds, while Ennis recorded 6.03m in the long jump. Ian Summers threw a personal best 35.82m in the javelin.

100m - 7 Nick Clarke, 12.32

200m - 6 Nick Clarke, 25.31

400m - 3 Lloyd Pritchard, 51.41

800m - 3 Kriss Haggerty, 2,06.78

1500m - 5 Kriss Haggerty, 4,34.30

5000m - 7 Ian Summers, 17,56.40

10000m - 7 Andy Hawkins, 38,04.31

110m hurdles - 5 Nick Edwards, 16.47

400m hurdles - 5 Nick Edwards, 62.73

3000m steeplechase - 1 Peter Kellie, 9,39.20

Long Jump - 5 Phil Ennis, 6.03

Triple Jump - 5 Nick Edwards, 12.30

High Jump - 5 Nick Edwards, 1.60

Pole Vault - no competitor

Discus - 8 Andy McKenzie, 18.38

Shot - 7 Phil Ennis, 9.18

Javelin - 5 Ian Summers, 35.82

Hammer - 7 Andy McKenzie, 23.02

4x100m relay - 7, 47.63

4x400m relay - 5, 3,41.5

Match result: 1 Bolton 133, 2 Ayr Seaforth 119, 3 Verlea 111, 4 Herne Hill Harriers 108, 5 Cannock 79, 6= Gloucester 66, 6= Walton 66, 8 Bournemouth 30

Midland Men’s Track & Field League (3rd fixture – Sutton Coldfield)

Points for Graded Officials – 15 (Timekeeper – Arthur Birt; Track – Sandra Ennis; Field – Andy McKenzie)

Final team totals – 1 Wolverhampton & Bilston 273; 2 Burton-on-Trent 255; 3 Gloucester 240; 4 Royal Sutton Coldfield 230; 5 Stourport 196; 6 Kettering 183; 7 Banbury 148

Points after 3 Matches – 1 Gloucester 22; 2 – Burton-on-Trent 21; 3 – Wolverhampton & Bilston 19; 4 – Royal Sutton Coldfield 13; 5 – Stourport 12; 6 – Kettering 10; 7 – Banbury 8

AAW v Welsh Schools v Irish Schools

400m – 2nd Adam Davies 49.8

800m – 1st Lloyd PrItchard 1,58.6

Cheltenham Open Meeting

There were Stadium Records for Richard Davenport in the U17 Boys 800m (1,56.1), Emily Pidgeon in the U13 Girls 1500m (5,01.9) and Lorraine Shaw in the SL Hammer (63.35).

IAAF World Youth Championships – Day 3

Ryan Preddy, drawn in lane 1 for the 400m final, produced another superb run to take fourth place, equalling his pb of 47.80. The times were 46.90 (Championship Record), 47.12, 47.51, 47.80, 48.04, 48.12, 48.20, DNF.

IAAF World Youth Championships – Day 2

Peter Kellie ran in the first heat of the 2000m Steeplchase and finished in ninth place in 6,00.52, but this was not quite good enough to qualify for the final, missing out on a fastest losers spot by three seconds.

Ryan Preddy was drawn in lane 8 in his 400m semi-final, and was sixth fastest on paper with his pb of 48.26. With only the first three and the two fastest losers to qualify, Ryan was going to have to run a personal best to reach the final. He ran a superb race and smashed his pb to finish fourth in 47.80, qualifying for the final as the fastest loser. The times from Ryan’s semi-final were 47.51, 47.76, 47.79, 47.80, 48.01, 48.45, 48.86, 49.26; the times from the other semi-final were 47.95, 48.49, 48.57, 48.76, 48.79, 49.23, 49.62, 49.67.

IAAF World Youth Championships – Day 1

Ryan Preddy was in action in the heats of the 400m and qualified for the semi-final with a second place finish in 48.79.

English Schools title for Alex Felce

Alex Felce became the English Schools Junior Boys 1500m Champion at Exeter. Having won his heat in 4,17.18, he demolished the field in the final to win by a clear seven seconds in a time of 4,08.20.

Richard Davenport took third place in the Intermediate Boys 400m final in a time of 49.55. He won his heat in 50.18 and was second in the semi-final in 50.08.

In the Senior Boys, Peter Kellie finished 4th in the 2000m Steeplechase in 6,01.57; Adam Davies was 5th in his heat of the 800m in 1,56.66, and Lloyd Pritchard 7th in his heat in 1,59.15; James Nunan finished 10th in the Hammer with 44.29m.

Preddy and Kellie called up for World Youth Games

Ryan Preddy and Peter Kellie have both been selected to represent Great Britain in the IAAF World Youth Games in Debrecen, Hungary, on July 12th – 15th.

Ryan, 17, with a pb of 48.26, will be the GB representative in the 400m, while Peter, also 17, with a pb of 5,55.18, will be the no.1 GB representative in the 2000m steeplechase. Both have set the fastest times by Under 18s in their events in the UK so far this season.

Davenport’s GB joy

Richard Davenport has been selected to represent Great Britain at the European Youth Olympics in Murcia, Spain, on July 21st & 22nd.

The 15-year-old Gloucester AC runner from Littledean will contest the 400 metres and will be up against some of the best U18 athletes in Europe.

"I knew I was on the short-list but selection has caught me by surprise," said Davenport. "I am really delighted to have been picked and while I will be one of the youngest at the championships I want to get something out of it."

Davenport's selection completes an amazing year in which he has won the English Schools' junior boys 400m title and the AAA U17s Indoor 400m. Discovered by David Farrow running the 100m in the Gloucestershire district championships two years ago, Davenport has now established himself as the number one under-17 400m runner in the country.

While a recent back injury curtailed his training for two weeks he burst back into action with a 49.5 seconds 400m in the Gloucester open meeting on Saturday. That run has boosted his confidence ahead of next week's English Schools' in what promises to be a memorable month which should enhance his growing reputation.

And fortunately his family will also be there to see his international debut. "My parents Sue and Martyn will also be able to come and watch because purely by coincidence they had booked a holiday in Spain some months ago and they will only be 40 miles away from the stadium," said Davenport.

Five Gloucester AC members recorded personal bests at the weekend.

Tanya Bilous competed in the hammer at the Severn AC open meeting at Blackbridge on Saturday and broke the 40m barrier for the first time with a throw of 40.01. This came the week after she lifted the U17 title in the Welsh Championships. Just for good measure, she also competed in the shot putt, recording a pb of 6.65. At the same meeting, Ryan Preddy lowered his 100m pb to 11.1.

On Saturday evening at the BMC meeting at Solihull, all three Gloucester AC athletes running set new bests. Adam Davies, 17, strengthened his claim for an international call-up, timing 1,53.04 in the 800m. Peter Kellie ducked under the 4-minute barrier in the 1500m, finishing in 3,59.12, while 14-year-old Alex Felce came agonizingly to breaking two minutes in the 800m, crossing the line in 2,00.03.

Midlands Senior Championships

Ryan Preddy tasted his first success at senior level with an impressive bronze medal at the Midland Championships in Birmingham. The Gloucester AC sprinter not only caused a stir among his rivals to take his place on the podium but he also did it in style, clocking a personal best 48.26secs. That sliced another tenth off his best and in the right conditions the former English Schools' junior champion should go under 48 seconds.

Welsh Championships

Peter Kellie won the 2,000m steeplechase at the Welsh Championships in Cardiff with Adam Davies striking silver in the 400m, in a new personal best of 49.5secs, and Lloyd Pritchard finishing third in the 800m.

Tanya Bilous, coached by mentor and British Ladies Champion and UK record holder, Lorraine Shaw, competed in a strong field of 10 athletes in her first Welsh National Championships at Cardiff Leckwith stadium on 16 June 2001. The weather conditions were atrocious for hammer throwing and forced a temporary abandonment of the competition after round 3.

Having made it to the final 6 competitors, she finally won the competition with a distance of 38.48 metres.

This is the 3rd title this season for the St Peters High School student, already having claimed the Gloucestershire County AA and Midlands AA titles.

Currently ranked 2nd in the United Kingdom in her age group with a distance of 39.81m, Tanya is now looking forward to the AAA Championships to be held at Sheffield on August 12.

In a BMC meeting at Solihull, 17-year-old Adam Davies was chasing a time of 1,53.6 in the 800m to put himself in line for a place in the European Youth Olympic Games. This was asking a lot, as Davies’ pb was 1,55.4, but he rose to the challenge to cut two seconds off his pb with a time of 1,53.5.

Ryan Preddy and Jon Cuff represented a senior Midlands team in a match versus Loughborough, Oxford, Cambridge and the RAF. Preddy won the 400m B race in 48.4, and Cuff was third in the 400m hurdles in season’s best of 53.1.

County Schools Championships

Gloucester AC’s Alex Felce set a new Gloucestershire Schools' record with a storming victory at Cheltenham's Price of Wales Stadium, leading from gun to tape to win the junior boys 1500m in a time of four minutes, 11.5 seconds.

The time was not just a new county record but also a stadium record and means that Felce now holds the Gloucestershire county U15s records at 800m, 1000m and 1500m.

There was also a championship best of 49.44m for James Nunan in the senior boys hammer event.

Lucy Williams set a personal best in winning the U15 girls 800m in a time of 2,27.4.

BMC meeting, Watford

Peter Kellie was targeting the World Youth Games qualifying standard of 6.10 in the 2000m steeplechase – a week ago he recorded 6,02.9, but this was eclipsed by another athlete who timed 5,59.1. Peter had to realign his target, and improved on his time to finish in 5,55.18, the fastest time by an under 18 this year.

National Young Athletes League

Gloucester AC had a double success in their third Boys Division One West fixture at Newport on Sunday, winning both ‘athlete of the match’ awards. Richard Davenport, suffering with a bad back and still tired from his efforts in the senior team the day before, won the track award with his time of 50.6 for the U17 400m. In the field, fifteen-year-old Steve Broughton won the award for his leap of 12.53m in the U17 triple jump, increasing his pb by 73cm.

Midland Men’s Track & Field League (2nd fixture – Burton-on-Trent)

Points for Graded Officials – 15 (Timekeeper – Arthur Birt; Track – Sandra Ennis; Field – Andy McKenzie)

Final team totals – 1 Gloucester 278; 2 Burton-on-Trent 255; 3 Wolverhampton & Bilston 232; 4 Kettering 209; 5 Royal Sutton Coldfield 165; 6 Banbury 150; 7 Stourport 139

Gloucester awarded place in BAL Plate Final

Gloucester Athletic Club’ s appeal against the result of their first round British Athletics League Gold Cup match has been successful, and the club have been awarded a place in the Plate Final. The Plate Final is contested by the top eight best performing Regional clubs in the Gold Cup first round matches and semi-finals.

The pole vault event in the Cup match on the day was not administered properly, robbing Gloucester of a Cup semi-final spot. The Cup Committee agreed that the rules had been breached, but, however, the options open to them were limited. They thought it unfair to deprive Swindon of their place as they had done nothing wrong and had been announced in second place on the day. The other option of allowing Gloucester to compete in a nine-team semi-final would result in the short track races being run in two groups. This would compromise the competition in these races for all the clubs concerned and thus be unsatisfactory.

The Cup Committee decided to offer Gloucester a guaranteed place in the Plate Final in lieu.

Whilst it was possible that Gloucester could have qualified for the Plate Final as of right by virtue of either their semi-final or first round cup result, there was no certainty this would be the case. Priority goes to results in the semi-finals, which are likely to be even more competitive than the first round matches, so Gloucester’s fate would have been at the mercy of other results.

Gloucester’s club committee thought long and hard about the situation, and decided to accept the guaranteed place in the Plate Final.

Team Manager David Farrow commented, “At the end of the day, we would not have progressed beyond the Cup semi-final – the clubs we would have been competing against are too good all round. We may have got fifth or sixth place, but the match comes in the middle of the exam period, and it would be grossly unfair to ask athletes to commit a whole day to a track and field meeting when they should be concentrating on their studies.

“We have a young team who are improving all the time, and there are some very promising athletes currently joining the club, so we are taking a pragmatic long term view. Next year we will be stronger still, so we can afford to bide our time as far as the Cup goes.

“The Plate Final is at Bedford on Sunday July 22nd, the day after the third Midland League fixture, so there is plenty of time to prepare. We are going to be taking part in a very prestigious match, and will be competing against the top Regional clubs from the whole of Great Britain. If we hadn’t qualified as of right, we still would still have been very close, but at least this way we know for sure that we are there. It’ll be a great day, and everyone is already excited about it.”

Inter-Counties Championships

Gloucester AC provided three representatives in a very limited Gloucestershire presence at the Senior Inter-counties Championships, Bedford, over the Bank Holiday weekend.

In the 3000m steeplechase, Peter Kellie finished a highly creditable 9th out of 12 against much more experienced opposition in a new personal best of 9,37.1.

In the 400m there were scheduled to be heats, a semi-final and a final with only a two-hour gap between each. The conditions were poor, with a very gusty wind. Richard Davenport finished fifth in his heat in 49.60, while Ryan Preddy ran a superb race to finish second in his heat in 48.37, only being beaten by last year’s winner. Preddy’s time also again met the World Junior Qualifying standard.

In the semi-final, Preddy again produced the goods to take second in 48.35, this time losing to last year’s runner-up. With two hard races already under his belt, his coach David Farrow withdrew him from the final. “Ryan has only returned to competition this season after a two-year injury lay off. He is only seventeen, and this was the senior championships. I do not want to push him too hard, and the final would have been one race too many on the day. He certainly made his presence known, and he’s got bigger fish to fry this season.”

Midlands Under 20 Championships

U20 Mens Hammer – 3rd James Nunan, 52.73 (pb)

U17 Girls Hammer – 1st Tanya Bilous, 35.21

Worcester Open Meeting

U20: 200m – 1 Ryan Preddy 22.5, 2 Adam Davies 23.4

U20: 800m – 1 Ryan Preddy 1,58.3, 2 Adam Davies 2,00.2

U17: 200m – 1 Richard Davenport 22.4; 800m – 1 Richard Davenport 1,57.1

U15: 800m – 1 Alex Felce 2,02.4 (pb), Tom Faiers 2,18.1

U13: 800m – 1 Emily Pidgeon 2,31.3

British Athletics League Gold Cup first round

1 – Windsor, Slough & Eton, 141.5; 2 – Swindon, 124; 3 – Gloucester, 120; 4 – Aldershot, Farnham & District, 112; 5 – Portsmouth, 86.5; 6 – Southampton, 35; Wycombe Phoenix failed to turn up.

Two teams go forward to the semi-finals, but Gloucester’s fate is not yet known as the club are lodging an appeal that could result in their promotion to second place.

The competition is open to all clubs, including those in the British Athletic League, the top League in the country, into which the regional leagues such as the Midland League in which Gloucester compete, feed.

With fifteen teams in the match, a draw took place to split the teams into two separate matches. Gloucester got the hardest draw and were up against two BAL clubs and four clubs from regional leagues, all in higher divisions than Gloucester. The BAL clubs were Windsor, Slough & Eton from division 2 and Swindon from division 4.

Gloucester produced a stunning display on the track to finish up as highest points scorers in track events of all the teams on the day with 86, outscoring the two British Athletic League clubs Windsor, Slough & Eton (82) and Swindon (74). There were personal bests in the 200m for Richard Davenport with 22.3, in the 3000m steeplechase for Peter Kellie in 9,47.4, and in the 110m hurdles for Nick Edwards in 15.6. The day before, Edwards had set a pb of 15.7 in the Varsity match, earning his Cambridge Blue.

The highlight of the meeting was the 4x400m relay, where Gloucester’s own “Awesome Foursome” of Adam Davies (50.6), Ryan Preddy (49.8), Jon Cuff (49.5) and Richard Davenport (48.6) blew the other teams away by 50 metres to win in a time of 3,18.5, less than one second outside the track record.

However, Gloucester struggled against the bigger clubs in the field events. Below par long and triple jumps, together with the late withdrawal through injury of Daffyd Farr, cost the club valuable points. Swindon actually outscored Gloucester by 32 points to 11 in the jumps alone.

The pole vault competition was surrounded with controversy. The rules for the competition state that the starting height will be the lowest requested by a competitor, or the lowest the apparatus can be set to if this is higher; the second height will be 2.80m. Aidan Mercer, who has a pb of 2.40, asked for the lowest height possible (1.10) to ensure he got some points, but was not allowed to start below 2.20m as this was the lowest height requested by the other vaulters. Mercer failed this height and scored no points. As two other vaulters failed the second height, if Mercer had been granted the lower starting height as the rules required, he would have finished joint fourth and scored four points. This would have placed Gloucester equal overall with Swindon, and Gloucester would have been awarded second place and a place in the semi-finals due to their better 4x400m relay result.

100m – 2 Ryan Preddy 11.2 (equals pb); 200m – 2 Richard Davenport 22.3 (pb); 400m – 1 Ryan Preddy 48.9; 800m – 3 Adam Davies 1,56.6; 1500m – 4 Lloyd Pritchard 4,18.3; 5000m – 4 Aidan Mercer 16,58.0; 10000m – 3 Andy Hawkins 36,13.5; 110m hurdles – 1 Nick Edwards 15.6 (pb); 400m hurdles – 1 Jon Cuff 54.0; 3000m steeplechase – 2 Peter Kellie 9,47.4; 4x100m relay – 2 Davenport/Cuff/Davies/Preddy 44.4; 4x400m relay – 1 Davies/Preddy/Cuff/Davenport 3,18.5; High jump – 6 Richard Davenport 1.60 (pb); Long jump – 5 Phil Ennis 5.69; Triple jump – 5 Nick Edwards 11.66; Pole vault – see report; Shot putt – 3 Phil Ennis 9.31; Discus – 4 James Nunan 28.51; Hammer – 2 James Nunan 46.06; Javelin – 4 Phil Ennis 35.55 (pb).

National Young Athletes League

Gloucester Athletic Club’s girls opened their National Young Athletes League season at Tipton. Competing in Midland Division Two West, they put in a very good performance to finish 3rd of the five teams on 136 points. With two teams to go up at the end of the season, Gloucester have given themselves a chance of promotion to division one. Team Manager Bob Purcell was delighted with the track results, especially as several athletes were missing, but bemoaned the lack of strength in the field.  “We are particularly weak at the field events, particularly in the throws. With more coaching emphasis on this aspect, we could start winning matches quite easily given the strength of our track performances.”

U13

75m: A – 5th Ashton Duckett 12.9; B – 4th Clair Sambell 12.5

150m: A – 3rd Emily Pidgeon 23.3; B – 3rd Beverley Anderson 23.5

800m: A – 3rd Beverley Anderson 3,04.5

1200m: A – 1st Emily Pidgeon 3,52.5

4x100m relay: 5th 66.6

70m hurdles: A – 3rd Emily Duckett 16.6; B – 3rd Susan Tandy 17.9

Long jump: A – 3rd Susan Tandy 3.33m; B – 2nd Ashton Duckett 2.55m

U15

100m: A – 1st Grace Fairburn 13.8; B – 2nd Fiona Morris 14.2

200m: A – 3rd Lucy Williams 29.5; B – 5th Vicky Ireson 35.7

800m: A – 1st Lucy Williams 2,30.9; B – 1st Vicky Ireson 3,22.8

1500m: A – 2nd Jenna Sysum 6,41.7

4x100m relay: 1st 57.6

75m hurdles: A – 2nd Grace Fairburn 14.0

Long jump: A – 3rd Grace Fairburn 3.89m; B – 3rd Fiona Morris 3.40m

Shot putt: A – 4th Fiona Morris 4.67m; B – 4th Jenna Sysum 4.63m

U17

100m: A – 3rd Hannah Pike 14.2

200m: A – 3rd Amy Whitcher 30.4

300m: A – 1st Gemma Collier 46.0; B – 2nd Amy Whitcher 49.1

1500m: A – 1st Hannah Pike 5,23.2

300m hurdles: A – 1st Gemma Collier 50.4

High jump: A – 3rd Hannah Pike 1.30m

Silverstone 10K

Ian Summers – 36.22 (p.b.)

Jeremy Mower – 38.19 (p.b.)

John McClean (V50) – 39.51

Neil Scowby (U20) – 40.45 (p.b.)

Andy McKenzie (V40) – 48.36

Gloucestershire County Track & Field Championships

U15 Girls

75m Hurdles: 1 – Grace Fairburn, 13.3

100m: 2 – Grace Fairburn, 13.8

800m: 1 – Emily Pidgeon (U13), 2,27.3; 3 – Lucy Williams, 2,30.5

Long Jump: 1 – Grace Fairburn, 4.37

U17 Girls

200m: 3 – Amy Whitcher, 30.6

300m: 3 – Gemma Collier, 46.4; 5 – Amy Whitcher, 50.4

300m Hurdles: 1 – Gemma Collier, 51.2

Hammer: 1 – Tanya Bilous, 36.40

U20 Ladies

1500m: 1 – Liz Feakins, 5,15.5

U15 Boys

800m: 5 – Tom Faiers, 2,19.6; 7 – Jonathan Edwards, 2,38.6

1500m: 2 – Tom Faiers, 4,40.8

U17 Boys

200m: 3 – Mike Short, 26.1

400m: 1 – Mike Short, 54.9

800m: 1 – Alex Felce (U15), 2,02.5 (p.b. & U15 track record); 3 – Neil Southgate, 2,38.6

U20 Men

100m: 1 – Joe Pointon, 12.0

200m: 1 – Joe Pointon, 24.5

400m: 1 – Richard Davenport (U17), 49.0 (p.b. & U17 track record); 2 – Lloyd Pritchard, 51.6

800m: 1 – Peter Kellie, 2,00.9

Discus: 1 – James Nunan, 34.28

Hammer: 1 – James Nunan, 51.26

Senior Men

100m: 2 – Ryan Preddy (U20), 11.2

200m: 1 – Ryan Preddy (U20), 23.1

400m Hurdles: 1 – Jon Cuff, 54.0

800m: 2 – Andrew Brooker, 2,02.3

1500m: 5 – Andrew Brooker, 4,27.1

Discus: 3 – Daffyd Farr, 35.58

Worcestershire County Track & Field Championships

U20 Men

800m: 1 – Adam Davies, 2,01.7

Midland Men’s Track & Field League (1st fixture – Banbury)

Ryan’s time qualifies him for the World Youth Games (he is 17), and also meets the UK Athletics World Performance Standard, designed to identify performances that would place an athlete in the top 20 in the world

Points for Graded Officials – 15 (Timekeeper – Arthur Birt; Track – Sandra Ennis; Field – Andy McKenzie)

Final team totals – 1 Gloucester 277; 2 Burton-on-Trent 240; 3 Banbury 200; 4 Kettering 191; 5 Wolverhampton & Bilston 190; 6 Stourport 187; 7 Royal Sutton Coldfield 170; Stroud failed to send a team

London Marathon

Tredworth Road Race

17-year-old Peter Kellie of Gloucester AC became the youngest ever winner of the 4.6 mile Tredworth Road Race, holding off the challenge of two times previous winner, Dave Lander of Severn AC, to win in a time of 22.45.

A group of six was together at the end of the first of the four laps, but three of these soon dropped right off the pace as only Gloucester AC’s Bill Griffiths could maintain any sort of challenge to the lead pair of Kellie and Lander, who played nip and tuck for the next two laps. Half way round the final lap, Kellie picked up the pace in a bid for victory.

Kellie, who was seventh last year, said: "With about half a mile to go I made my effort. I got away but then realised it was a bit further to the finish than I had judged.

"It was then just a case of hanging on from there.

"It was great to look at the names of the past winners, Steve McHale, Rob Cytlau, Basyl Martyniuk and Gerald Neely, all internationals from Gloucester."

Asked if he would be going for the course record of 20 minutes 39 seconds held by John Mitchell and Norman Thomas, he replied: "That's certainly a fierce target for my senior years."

Lander was second in 22.50 and Bill Griffiths third in 23.20.

The over-50 award went to Dave Spackman, who won an age group award for the seventh time in this race.

Ladies winner Beryl Sampson (Gloucester) ran in the first road running Tredworth race in 1974. When asked how many times she had won the ladies title, her reply was: "I can't remember now, but I'll be back next year."

A record 63 children competed in the 12 children's races.

Details: 1 Peter Kellie (Sir Thomas Rich/Glos AC U20) 22.45; 2 Dave Lander (Quedgeley/Severn AC) 22.50; 3 Bill Griffiths (Podsmead/Glos AC V40) 23.20; 4 Stephen Hale (Lydney/Severn AC) 24.20; 5 Stewart Lynas (Abbeymead/Severn) 24.27; 6 Martyn Whitlock (Quedgeley/Severn AC) 24.41; 7 Stuart Davis (Newent/Severn AC); 8 Ian Summers (Abbeymead/Glos AC) 25.03; 9 Jeremy Mower (Longlevens/Glos AC) 26.11; 10 Dave Spackman (Kingsholm/Glos AC V55) 26.49; 11 John McLean (Westgate/Glos AC V50) 26.54; 12 Malcolm Bird (Abbeymead/Glos AC) 27.11; 13 Derek Lightstone (Hucclecote/Severn AC V50) 27.16; 14 Neil Scowby (Kingsholm/Glos AC U20) 27.35; 15 Beryl Sampson (Newent/Glos AC LV40) 27.40; 16 David Hoskins (Tredworth/Severn AC U15) 28.05; 17 John Gough (Linden V40) 28.10; 18 Jan Nicholls (Angels LV40) 28.19; 19 Will Brain (Trail Runners/Highnam V40) 29.24; 20 Phil Reece (Dursley/Severn AC) 29.27; 21 Deborah Southgate (Churchdown/Angels LV45) 29.38; 22 Paul James (Kingsholm) 30.55; 23 Mike Storey (Hucclecote/Glos AC V50) 31.43; 24 Pauline Barnes (Quedgeley/Glos AC LV35) 32.05; 25 Joanne Carter (Newent/Angels LV35) 32.44; 26 Maria Johnson (Tredworth LV35) 33.26; 27 Danny Grant (Tredworth) 33.28; 28 Patrick Hatherall (Matson) 33.45; 29 Geoff Smith (Kingsholm V50) 34.41; 30 Bennett Smith (Kingsholm) 34.41.

There was also a notable success for Becky Summers, the six-year-old daughter of Gloucester AC’s Ian Summers, who won her children’s race for the third year in a row.

Injury prone Griffiths enjoys rare victory

Bill Griffiths, 44, was delighted with his first win for many seasons in the Severn Athletic Club Easter Saturday four and a half mile cross-country race, held in lieu of the Globe 10K cancelled due to the foot-and-mouth crisis, leading all the way.

The Gloucester AC runner has been one of the leading distance athletes in the county for 15 years, but has been dogged by several lengthy injuries.

Only Stephen Hale, of Severn AC, stayed with him, but at the mile marker, Griffiths' pace proved too much and he had built up a 150-metre lead by the end.

1 Bill Griffiths (Glos AC V40) 22.29; 8 Jeremy Mower (Glos AC) 24.44; 11 John McClean (Glos AC V50) 25.51; 17 Mike Storey (Glos AC V50) 30.14.

New Hammer Record For Shaw

Lorraine Shaw (Sale Harriers Manchester and Gloucester Athletic Club), steadily building on the confidence she gained from finishing ninth in the Olympic Games in Sydney, improved her UK hammer record for the second time this year at the inaugural European AA Winter Throwing Challenge in Nice, France, on Saturday 17 March.

Lorraine, who reached 67.62m at a meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday 27 February, improved magnificently to 68.15m in the second round of a Nice meeting of such high quality that it justified the European AA’s decision to introduce an "out of season" competition for the continent’s throwers.

It was a superb performance in unexpectedly chilly conditions and left Lorraine, who will be 33 on 2 April, within reach of the new Commonwealth record of 68.83m by Bronwyn Eagles (Australia) in Hobart, Tasmania, on 11 March. Indeed, it left seasoned observers confident it is only a matter of time before she joins the elite who have thrown further than 70m.

The effort earned Lorraine third place in the competition behind World all-time No.2 Olga Kuzenkova (Russia), the Sydney Olympics Silver medallist, who won with 71.30 and World No.4 Manuela Montebrun (France), who had a best on the day of 69.72.

Primary among Lorraine’s scalps was the Sydney Olympics Bronze medallist Kirsten Munchow (Germany), who could not get beyond 67.48m.

Lorraine, who has obviously benefited from training in the warmth of South Africa, now plans a trip to Portugal – and hopefully warmer weather – with her coach Alan Bertram from Thursday 22 March to continue her preparations for the summer.

Birmingham League Cross-Country (4th fixture - Gloucester)

Gloucester Athletic Club secured their promotion to the 3rd Division of the Birmingham Cross-Country League for next season with an emphatic victory in the final fixture, held on home ground at Blackbridge, over a tough and muddy 7.3 mile course.

After three races, Gloucester were lying in third place overall, 43 points behind Wolverhampton & Bilston AC in 2nd and 57 points behind the leaders Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers, but were well clear of the fourth place team. With three teams of the twenty in the division gaining promotion, Gloucester were already almost certain of going up, but wanted a good performance to try and get second or even first place.

On the first of the three laps, the Gloucester AC junior duo of Simon Kellie and Aidan Mercer started to draw away at the front, with Mo Hill a few metres behind. As the race developed, the three steadily moved clear of the rest of the field, and it became obvious Gloucester were likely to have the first three finishers. Hill closed the gap on the lead pair on the second lap, and on the third lap picked up the pace to go ahead. Kellie responded and the two were locked together fighting for the lead, as Mercer was unable to stay with them. In the end it was Hill who had the greater strength over the closing mile, and he came home to win the race in 41.47 with Kellie second in 41.55. Mercer was third in 42.35, with Wolverhampton & Bilston’s Nigel Share, who had won the first three races, fourth.

With a perfect start, Gloucester needed to get their next three scorers in quickly, and did so with Carlo Toledo, returning from three weeks out through illness, 15th in 44.38, Andy Hawkins, who was making his League debut for the Club, 17th in 44.57 and Bill Griffiths, who missed the first three races through injury, 18th in 45.07. This gave the Club a season’s lowest score for any club in the division of 56 points. This proved good enough to overhaul the leaders, Dudley & Stourbridge, but not quite enough to catch Wolverhampton & Bilston who finished second on the day with 84 points, leaving Gloucester second overall.

The B team was made up of Peter Lloyd 31st in 46.16, Gary Boon 34th in 46.45, Ian Summers 36th in 47.09, the rapidly improving Jeremy Mower 46th in 48.18, Gerry McGarr 52nd in 48.45 and Humphrey Phillips 73rd in 50.24. The B team score of 272 would have been good enough for 6th place in the main competition on the day, and was 500 points ahead of the second place B team. This left Gloucester as the overall B team winners with 2005 points.

The other finishers for the Club were 80th Malcolm Bird, 100th John McClean, 103rd Mark Scowby, 104th Arnold Yeomans, 106th Anthony Lake, 109th Keith Short, 153rd Dick Poole, 156th Terry Sysum, 157th Mike Storey, 160th Andy McKenzie and 169th Dean George.

In the overall individual competition, Simon Kellie won the junior title with his four wins out of four and Aidan Mercer was joint second. Kellie also took the second senior prize behind Nigel Share.

Race winner Mo Hill was very pleased to win the race “I’m fitter than I was for the last race where I finished 4th, so I knew I would do better this time, but I had a hard job to hold off Simon at the end. He and the other juniors are constantly improving, so I’m glad I’ve beaten them this time while I still can, as they’re going to be even faster next season”.

Mercer was less pleased with his third place however “I was aiming for a top two place, but someone said several weeks ago that the race was off because of the foot & mouth crisis. I have been concentrating on schoolwork and have not trained for nearly three weeks. I’m annoyed because if I’d known the race was on I would have kept training and I know I could have won the race”.

Team results on the day: 1 – Gloucester AC 56; 2 – Wolverhampton & Bilston AC 84; 3 – Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers 115; 4 – Hereford Couriers 212; 5 – Stratford AC 251; 6 – Telford Harriers 282; 7 – Lichfield 284; 8 – Stafford Harriers 329; 9 – Peel RR 359; 10 – Dudley Kingswinford 386; 11 – Cobra 427; 12 – Oak Park 476; 13 – Sneyd Striders 509; 14 – Aldridge RC 549; 15 – Alvis RC 762. The other clubs in the division failed to field complete teams.

Overall final team positions: 1 - Wolverhampton & Bilston AC 493; 2 - Gloucester AC 508; 3 - Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers 510; 4 – Stafford Harriers 924; 5 – Stratford AC 982; 7 – Lichfield 1256; 8 – Telford Harriers 1280; 9 - Dudley Kingswinford 1297; 10 – Peel RR 1626; 11 – Sneyd Striders 1765; 12 - Cobra RC 1924; 13 – Aldridge RC 2087; 14 – Oak Park; 15 – Alvis RC

Team captain Ian Summers was ecstatic with the result “The whole team is so pleased with this result. There was a great atmosphere on the day and we had a lot of support and encouragement from other club members and relatives all around the course.“We thoroughly deserve this promotion, although I have to say I’m a little disappointed we didn’t actually win the division.“We set ourselves the target of getting our six scorers in the top 20, and although we did this, we just fell short of our ultimate goal of the overall win.”We were only 15 points behind in the end, and we have been without a number of key runners at each race, including this one. Even so, it was a tremendous achievement to fill the first three places in the race on the day.“For six years I’ve been running for the Club in the League, and every year we seem to have been fighting to avoid relegation. Before this race I’d always scored for the A team, but this time I had my best ever placing, and was third scorer for the B team. This is a measure of how much stronger the Club has got, especially over the last year.“Next season we will be even more competitive as Peter Kellie, Roland Ilott and Adam Davies will all be eligible to run, so I could find myself not even managing to score for the B team. If we can field a similar sort of team for each race next season as we had today, we should win Division 3.”

UK Record for Lorraine Shaw

Spectacularly proving that her warm weather training is going well in South Africa, Lorraine Shaw (Sale Harriers Manchester & Gloucester Athletic Club) extended her UK hammer throwing record to 67.62m at a meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday 27 February.

Having ended last summer with her best at 67.44m, 32-year-old Lorraine is determined to make an impact at this summer’s IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.

And the Gloucester-based athlete demonstrated she is heading in the right direction with this consistent series in Cape Town: 64.63, 65.20, 65.27, 66.61, 67.62, and 66.43.

All of which delighted both her and her coach, Alan Bertram, who said: "We have been overcoming her technical problems through lots of hard work, and that’s helped to bring this record."

AAA U20 Indoor Championships

Richard Davenport and Alex Felce both struck gold in the AAA U20 Championships at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena.

Davenport, the reigning English Schools' champion, ran superbly against rivals a year older than himself to win the U17s 400m title on Saturday in a new personal best time of 49.49secs.

Not to be out-shone Felce, his training partner in the David Farrow coached Gloucester AC group, sprinted to victory in the U15s 800m, also in a new personal best time of 2mins 03.8secs.

For good measure a couple of hours later, the 14-year-old Archway School runner then won a bronze medal in the 400m.

"It was a great day with two national titles and both in personal bests as well," said a delighted Farrow.

"And for Alex it was not even his event really, while Richard was tackling the event a year young. The success continues."

Davenport, who lives in Littledean and goes to the city's King's School, also took part in the 60m and reached the semi finals.

In the U20s 800m, Lloyd Pritchard clocked an impressive 1:57.6 to reach the final where he finished fifth in a slower time of 2:01.

British Veterans Athletics Federation Indoor Championships (Cardiff)

MV50 800M – Silver Medal – Keith Short, 2:09.50

Gloucester Athletic Club's Keith Short scooped the silver medal in the MV50 800m at the British Veterans Athletic Federation Indoor Championships at Cardiff on Sunday.

He had an early start, having been drawn to compete in the heats at 9.30am, but prepared himself properly, and qualified for the final.

In the final, he did not go with the fast early pace of the lead group over the first two laps, but stuck to his race plan and followed his own target pace.

In the last two laps, the leaders started to slow, and Short picked up two places to enter the final lap in third place, with another two runners close behind him.

These two dropped back as Short picked up the pace in pursuit of the two leaders.

One of the lead pair started to pull away, and Short closed down the second place athlete, who is the reigning European Champion, and just pipped him on the line to take the silver medal in a personal best of 2:09.50, two seconds behind the winner.

Dursley Dozen

21st – Ian Summers, 89.50

66th – Jeremy Mower, 98.47

120th – Humphrey Phillips, 105.47

195th– Martin Chopping, 116.52

201st – Cath O’Carroll, 117.21

240th – Andy McKenzie, 124.11

251st – Neil Scowby, 126.32

276th – Sue Limbrick, 135.33

Midland Indoor Championships

Gloucester AC’s Richard Davenport scooped three gold medals at the Midland Indoor Championships at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham over the weekend.

On Saturday, he started in the U17 60metres, principally for experience, as this is not his prime distance, and came through his heat in second place to book his place in the final. Shortly after, he lined up in the second of the U17 800metre heats, having watched club mate Mike Short qualify for the final with a second place finish in the first heat in a time of 2.04. Davenport ran a controlled race at the front at a fairly sedate pace, with the rest of the field sitting in behind him waiting to make their move. As the race unfolded, Davenport held off his challengers and put in a quick burst in the last few metres to cross the line first in 2.11. He then had to get ready for his 60m final, and, having gone into the event not expecting a top three placing, scorched to a pb of 7.23 to claim second place and the silver medal.

In the 800m final, he went off hard from the gun and steadily pulled out a commanding lead, which he held to the finish to take gold and the Championship title in a pb of 1:57.80. Mike Short finished outside the medals in fifth place.

Later in the day, Alex Felce and Tom Faiers ran in the U15 boys 800m final, with Felce leading from start to finish to take gold in a pb in 2:05.53, Faiers taking the bronze in third place.

On Sunday, Davenport came through his heats in the U17 400m and 200m, and in the final of the 400m just missed out on a pb, but still took gold in a time of 49.93. By the time of the 200m final, he was running on tired legs, and was also lined up against another athlete who is a year older and has beaten him in their last five meetings. However, Davenport pulled out all the stops, and was not to be denied his third gold, recording a pb of 22.51.

Alex Felce also made the return trip on Sunday to compete in the U15 400m. The sprints are not Felce’s forte, but he showed his competitors a clean pair of heels to win gold in a pb of 55.28. Felce is now showing how versatile a runner he is by adding the two indoor track titles to the Midlands Cross-Country Championship he won just a fortnight before.

U15 boys 400m: 1st – Alex Felce (55.28, pb)

U17 Men 200m: 1st – Richard Davenport (22.51, pb)

U17 Men 400m: 1st – Richard Davenport (49.33)

Midland Indoor Championships

U15 boys 800m: 1st – Alex Felce (2:05.53, pb); 3rd – Tom Faiers (2:13)

U17 Men 60m: 2nd – Richard Davenport (7.23, pb)

U17 Men 800m: 1st – Richard Davenport (1:57.80, pb); 5th – Mike Short

Inter-Counties Cross-Country Championships

Under 17 men: 17th (of 258) – Peter Kellie (22.20), 1st county scorer

Under 15 girls: 135th (of 286) – Lucy Williams (17.43), 3rd county scorer

Under 20 women: 80th (of 129) – Liz Feakins (28.55), 2nd county scorer

Senior women: 224th (of 266) – Cath O’Carroll (36.24), 2nd county scorer

Stourbridge Stagger

Two of Gloucester AC’s cross-country team took part in the Stourbridge Stagger Multi-terrain race on Sunday, over a particularly muddy ten and a half mile route. Ian Summers finished 22nd in 73.05 and Andy McKenzie 160th in 97.19.

Athletics talk: International honours hold a vested interest

Alex Felce is determined to hand over an English vest to his coach David Farrow by the end of the cross country season.

The 14-year-old Gloucester AC runner, who lives in Randwick, is targeting a top five finish in the English Schools' cross country championships next month to win his international call-up.

And having won the Midlands U15s title at Nottingham last weekend, there is every chance that this talented Archway School runner will deliver his promise.

"My coach already has Adam Davies' Welsh vest and Liam McGowan's Northern Irish vests hanging up at his fitness centre and I would love to give him his first English one," said Felce.

"A top five finish in the junior boys in the English Schools' at Chelmsford would get me selected which would be really nice.

"I suppose I would also like a medal as well."

It would be a big surprise if Felce didn't deliver after an amazing last twelve months.

In the past year Felce has won silver and bronze medals at the 2000 Midland and Inter Counties championships, set a UK 13-year-old best of 2mins 46.2secs for 1000m and only recently set a new UK U15s indoor record of 4mins 19.25secs for 1500m.

Not bad for a rookie who only started training seriously two years ago.

"When I was 12 I did a race at Cardiff and was beaten into second after winning all the local races," added Felce.

"That made me realise I wasn't training properly. Ryan Preddy (former English Schools' 400m champion) was at my school and I knew he was doing well so my sister Jess, who was in the same year, got David Farrow's telephone number off him and I rang him up."

Initially Farrow was hesitant about taking on someone so young, but he was so impressed by Felce's enthusiasm and commitment that he let him join his successful training group.

"It has been a great move for me and we train hard and also have a good laugh. There is a great spirit there," added Felce.

If I was a betting man, I think I would put my shirt on Felce winning that vest for his mentor.

Cross Country: Gloucester AC medal haul

Gloucester Athletic Club emerged as one of the most successful clubs, in terms of individual medals won, at the Midlands Cross-Country Championships held at Wollaton Park in Nottingham, netting one gold and two silvers.

Emily Pidgeon suffered a rare defeat against her rival Kirsty Law of Worcester AC in the Under 13 Girls race after getting caught at the back of a field of 117 runners at the start.

She had to get past the others and could not quite catch up Law at the front before the finish, with Law crossing the line in 11.57 and Pidgeon finishing in 11.59. The third placed runner timed 12.32.

Alex Felce had a superb win in the Under 15 Boys race, beating Bristol AC's Lee Bartlett in a sprint finish to take the Championship title by the narrowest of margins in 13.59 to Bartlett's 14.00, with the third place runner recording 14.07.

Tom Faiers also had a good run to finish 27th of the 119 runners in 15.04.

In another extremely close finish, in-form Peter Kellie was pipped at the finish of the Under 17 Boys race by Tom Humphries of Cannock and Staffs AC, Kellie finishing a mere two seconds adrift in a time of 20.55 to take the silver medal. Adam Davies was 36th of the 81 finishers.

Cross Country: Felce sprints to area title

Alex Felce is the new Midlands cross-country champion.

Twelve months after being edged out in the Under-13s race, Felce stepped up an age group to pull off a superb victory at Nottingham's Wollaton Park.

The 14-year-old Gloucester AC runner sustained a sprint finish to claim the Under-15s title by one second from Bristol AC's Lee Bartlett.

"We are delighted with the win and it has come a year early," said coach David Farrow. "It was a tough run and Alex was tired at the finish."

There were also silver medals for Emily Pidgeon and for Peter Kellie, who was leading the Under-17s race going into the final 400m but was overhauled in a dramatic finish by Cannock and Stafford's Tom Humphries losing the gold medal by two seconds.

Pidgeon's chances of victory were handicapped by a bad start when the other runners in the Under-13s race hindered her and she ended up trailing at the rear of the field.

Worcester rival Kirsty Law seized on that to open a good lead and while Pidgeon bravely closed the gap by 2000m the effort took its toll and Law sprinted to victory by two seconds.

"To return home with three medals from just five athletes when we were up against some very big clubs from the Midlands was a great effort," added Farrow

Reebok Cross Challenge and Inter-County Schools Championships, Cardiff

Gloucester Athletic Club’s juniors were in top form in the Schools Inter-County Cross-Country Championships at Bute Park, Cardiff, on Sunday, held in conjunction with the Reebok Cross Challenge. The meeting also included a Celtic Nations challenge, so the fields were of a very high standard, with top runners from all over the country competing.

Emily Pidgeon won the Under 13 Girls race over 3K in a time of 13.21, finishing 18 seconds ahead of the second place girl in the 71 strong field.

Lucy Williams was the 3rd Gloucestershire County Schools finisher in the Under 15 Girls race over 3K in 15.20, coming home in 25th place overall of the 78 runners.

Alex Felce and Tom Faiers were the first two County Schools finishers in the Under 15 Boys race over 4K, in 4th and 12th overall, Felce being only 10 seconds behind the winner in 15.33, Faiers timing 16.32.

Hannah Pike and Gemma Collier were 4th and 8th County Schools finishers in the Under 17 Girls race over 4K, in 30th (19.36) and 51st (21.13) places overall respectively.

The Under 17 Boys race saw Peter Kellie show he is the best in the county with his 9th place finish over the 6K course in 22.39, finishing 18 places and over one and a half minutes ahead of the first Schools finisher.

Liz Feakins was 1st County Schools finisher in 26th place overall in the Under 20 Girls race, timing 20.19 over the 5K course.

Aidan Mercer, after a tough Birmingham League fixture the day before, was again 1st County Schools finisher in 25th place overall in the Under 20 Boys race, recording 25.08 for the 7K course.

Eighteen-year-old Lloyd Pritchard competed in the Senior Men’s 4K race, and finished a highly creditable 24th place in the very high class field in 15.48, taking fifth spot in the Welsh Championships.

Birmingham League Cross-Country (3rd fixture – Stafford Common)

Gloucester Athletic Club made a virtual certainty of their promotion from Division 4 to Division 3 in the Birmingham Cross-Country League after the third fixture at Stafford Common on Saturday.

After two fixtures, Gloucester AC were lying in second place behind Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers, but with two other teams, Wolverhampton & Bilston and Stafford Harriers following them closely in third and fourth. With three teams to be promoted from the twenty in the Division, Gloucester needed a good performance to consolidate their position.

On the day, Wolverhampton & Bilston fielded a strong team to win with 62 points, but Gloucester took second place with 128, ahead of Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers in third with 156. Stafford Harriers could do no better than fifth with their score of 202, so the leading overall positions with one race left are 1st - Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers, 395; 2nd - Wolverhampton & Bilston, 409; 3rd - Gloucester AC, 452; 4th - Stafford Harriers, 595; 5th – Stratford AC, 731; 6th – Dudley Kingswinford, 911.

Gloucester are now well clear of the fourth place team, and are almost guaranteed of promotion, the final race being on home ground at Blackbridge on March 17th.

The team were without Carlo Toledo who was suffering from sinusitis, and Lloyd Pritchard who was competing in an indoor track meeting, so could not get the really low score they were hoping for to put pressure on the leaders. However, in the early stages of the race, Simon Kellie, Aidan Mercer and Mo Hill were all in the top eight. As the race developed, Hill moved up steadily from eighth with an impressive run, closing down on the leaders all the time, to claim fourth place in 40.23; Kellie, who has not fully recovered from a bad cold, dropped back from second to finish fifth in 40.51. This gave him his third consecutive win in the Under 20s section, ensuring he wins the individual junior prize. Mercer was in seventh, but the very sticky and boggy course sapped his strength over the closing stages and he dropped to finish tenth in 42.00. Gary Boon made another big improvement to take 32nd place, with Ian Summers 37th. Mark Ingram, returning to racing after a long layoff through illness, completed the team in 40th.

The B team comprised Dave Gresswell in 55th, Keith Short in 57th, Malcolm Bird in 61st, Jeremy Mower in 100th, Humphrey Phillips in 113th and John McLean, having had to stop after losing a shoe in the mud, 132nd. This gave the B team 518 points, finishing second on the day by a mere 6 points. The Club’s finishers were completed by Dick Poole in 149th, Martin Chopping in 156th and Andy McKenzie in 167th. Arnold Yeomans was forced to drop out at the end of the first lap when he turned his ankle over on the uneven ground.

Team Manager Ian Summers still believes it is possible to win the Division “We finished second on the day, but dropped to third overall, which is a bit bizarre! The important thing is that we are now 143 points clear of fourth, but only 43 behind second and 57 behind first. Everybody has got two months to get themselves ready for the last race, and if we are at full strength, we can get our six scorers in the top fifteen or so for a very low score. It will then depend on how strong the other two teams are on the day. I definitely think we can get second place overall, but may be hard pushed to get first. We need our runners after the top six to get in amongst the other teams to push their scoring runners down. If we do this, we can win the Division. That’s the goal for March 17th.”