News & Press Reports for 2006

Birmingham Cross Country League Division 3 (2nd fixture) – West Bromwich

Tewkesbury Guy Fawkes 5

An ideal morning for running saw a number of personal bests for Gloucester AC members at the Tewkesbury Guy Fawkes 5 mile road race on Sunday. Leading the club home, and first runner from the city of Gloucester, was Luke Herbert in 7th place in 27.05. Herbert was unlucky not to finish higher, being involved in a very close finish with three athletes less than 5 seconds ahead of him. Anne-Marie Edwards was hoping to break 40 minutes and was comfortably inside her target with a time of 38.37.

7 Luke Herbert 27.05

15 Tom Randles 28.23

25 Ian Summers (V40) 29.06 pb

45 Arthur Daley (V55) 30.59 (1st V55)

53 Alistair Wakefield 31.34

63 Dave Spackman (V60) 32.14 (2nd V60)

72 Gerry McGarr (V50) 32.48

77 Anthony Lake 33.02

128 Robert James (V55) 36.05

144 Bogdan Jochym (V55) 36.49 pb

160 Martin Chopping (V50) 37.13 pb

185 Anne-Marie Edwards 38.37 pb

There were 331 finishers

Birmingham Cross Country League Division 3 (1st fixture) - Senneleys Park, Birmingham

Gloucester AC got off to a good start in the Birmingham & District Cross-Country League at Senneley's Park, Birmingham despite having four of their top runners unavailable. With four teams being promoted to Division 2 next year the club managed to finish in the crucial fourth place.

Club Captain Ian Summers was delighted with the team's performance as those runners who turned out gave a good account of themselves.

Luke Herbert who was Gloucester's top cross-country runner of last season kicked off the campaign with his best ever performance finishing 7th out of the 135 Division 3 finishers. Herbert attacked the course with vigour on the first short lap but lost a few places on the final third lap as he paid for the fast early pace, but he said he hopes to run better in a few weeks time with more training under his belt providing he can stay injury free. Former County 10 kilometre champion Mark Ingram had a great run in coming 19th as he has had a terrible year with injuries. Gloucester Veterans Ian Summers, 26th and Jeremy Mower, 32nd show no signs of slowing down as they both produced their best ever finishes in the Birmingham League. Summers started off at his usual steady pace and was 8th best placed Gloucester runner at quarter distance and then he passed five of his teammates at the halfway point to finish third scorer. Mower had a late surge the final half mile moving up from 41st position to take his long time training partner Bill Griffiths (Vet 45), 33rd on the line with both athletes being given the same time. Making his Birmingham League debut Lee Smith made the scoring team in 44th position and he had been ahead of Mower until the last mile when he tired up the last two hills.

Vice Captain Dave Gresswell was first "B" team scorer just missing out on the scoring team in 49th position, as his legs were still heavy from the Great South Run the previous weekend. The other "B" team scorers were Neil Scowby who produced a solid performance in 54th, Arthur Daley (Vet 55) 59th, Alastair Wakefield 63rd, Keith Short (Vet 55) 77th and Paul Nash 86th. The good packing of the "B" team runners meant that they are well clear of the nearest rivals in the "B" competition for which there is a winners trophy at the end of the season. After the race Summers said that he thought the club would gain promotion this year as next meeting they have Dom Malsom and Tom Randles back to strengthen the team.

Other Gloucester finishers:

John McLean - 93rd

Humphrey Phillips - 102nd

Arnold Yeomans - 106th

Martin Chopping - 126th

Andy McKenzie - 133rd

A Team Scores

1 Newcastle (Staffs) AC 84

2 Solihull & Small Heath AC 135

3 Royal Sutton Coldfield AC 147

4 Gloucester AC 161

5 West Bromwich Harriers 237

6 Sparkhill Harriers 243

7 Dudley Kingswinford RC 251

8 Nuneaton Harriers 277

9 Stourbridge RC 291

10 Oak Park RC 340

11 Black Country Triathletes 364

12 Centurion RC 448

B Team Scores

1 Gloucester AC 388

2 Dudley Kingswinford RC 474

3 Stourbridge RC 540

4 Royal Sutton Coldfield AC 557

5 Sparkhill Harriers 599

Gloucester Under 13 Girls & Middle Distance Squad

The Gloucester under 13 girls continue to be the club's star performers by finishing 2nd team in the UK Cross Challenge also held at Senneleys Park. Amber Watson led the team home in 2nd position with Becky Summers in 23rd and Bethany Wells 26th. David Farrow coaches Amber where as the other two girls are part of coach Rob Peck's middle distance squad. Rob who has years of experience in coaching children has recently revamped the middle distance squad and introduced a Saturday afternoon training session. He also has brought in the services of experienced coach and club captain Ian Summers, and Welsh international ultra-runner Jeremy Mower to assist him. Mower said "These are quite exciting times for the club, I can see the middle distance squad playing a vital part in its future and with three dedicated coaches we have a team brings together a unique blend of experiences."

World Double Decathlon Championships

Gloucester AC pairing Steve Millward and Beth Sewell made the trip to Bendigo, Australia, to compete in the World Double Decathlon and Double Heptathlon Championships.

Millward, the Midlands steeplechase champion was competing against 15 other senior athletes and 9 vets in the gruelling two-day event and knew his strength lay in the distance events but would be weak in the throws. He was fastest of all the athletes in all the distance events, winning the 1500m, 3000m, 3000m steeplechase, 5000m and 10000m, the latter by over 4 minutes over his nearest challenger. Despite this and good showings in the shorter events, he lost ground with the throws but still finished a highly creditable 6th place overall in the senior mens category and first UK athlete with a total points score of 10,414, only 3 points behind 5th place. Event winner was Australian David Purdon with 11,931 points. Steve’s performances were 100m 12.40sec, long jump 5.67m, 200m hurdles 29.19sec, shot put 6.54m, 5000m 16,22.66min, 800m 2,08.50min, high jump 1.70m, 400m 56.87sec, hammer 16.52m, 3000m steeplechase 10,09.23min, 110m hurdles 19.78sec, discus 24.97m, 200m 26.15sec, pole vault 1.80m, 3000m 9,38.80min, 400m hurdles 64.33sec, javelin 36.67m, 1500m 4,31.21min, triple jump 11.60m, 10000m 35,33.90min.

Beth Sewell, who is a specialist hammer thrower, surprised herself by taking the bronze medal in the senior ladies category. Unfortunately the event does not include the hammer throw, but she did win the discus outright and had the second best shot put. She was lying in second place with the final event, the 3000m, to go, but this proved to be her weakest event and she was overhauled by the athlete behind her. Her performances were 100m hurdles 23.18sec, high jump 1.25m, 1500m 7,32.33min, 400m hurdles 90.90sec, shot put 7.87m, 200m 34.06sec, 100m 17.23sec, long jump 3.40m, 400m 85.84sec, javelin 15.98m, 800m 3,46.86min, 200m hurdles 46.17sec, discus 27.19m, 3000m 17,39.50min.

Amsterdam Half Marathon

Tom Randles finished 35th of 7,000 runners in the Amsterdam Half Marathon on 15th October in a time of 1,18.34.

Gloucestershire Cross-Country League, (1st fixture) – Blackbridge, Gloucester

Gloucester Athletic Club got of to a good start in the Gloucestershire Cross Country league at their home fixture at Blackbridge on a new revamped course, which was host to over 400 athletes.

Samuel Evans was the clubs only runner in the Under 11 Boys and in a close finish was in 7th place just 2 seconds behind 4th. Kieran Mheran was 12th out of 54 runners in the Under 13 Boys and Adam Thrall 28th.

Gloucester's best team performance as is getting to be a habit these days was from the Under 13 girls. Over the 3-kilometre course Amber Watson led the 45 strong field from the gun and won the race by nearly a minute from her closest rival. After a fast first lap Bethany Wells moved up through the field into fourth and in a sprint finish lost out to third placed athlete Albany Burton of Bath. Third scorer was Becky Summers, who in her normal style of running started off steady until half way, then progressed through the field passing five runners in the last up hill section to the finish and placing a well deserved 8th. This gave the team a runaway win over second placed Cheltenham Harriers by ten points. Not to be out done by their other team mates the ever-reliable Alicia Green and new comer to the cross-country team Katie Cole finished well up in 11th and 13th respectively. Hopefully the group of girls will stick together over the next few years and Gloucester can look forward to building a strong Ladies team. The fab five will go to Pitville Park, Cheltenham next month and hope to hold their lead.

Ben Coldray won the Under 15 boys race beating Brett Halliwell of Westbury Harriers by 10 seconds and Michael Greene was 28th. In the U15 Girls Clare Barwood was in 5th out of the ten runners.

A magnificent display of front running saw Sarah Hopkinson win by the largest margin of the day finishing 81 seconds ahead of the second place runner to take victory in the U17 Girls race.

The most exciting race of the day was the Senior Women with Gloucester's Junior international athletes Emily Pidgeon and Sarah Waldron taking on Katherine Dugdale of Swansea Harriers who recently ran at the Commonwealth Games for Wales. The three of them went stride for stride for the first kilometre then Dugdale and Pidgeon opened up a small gap on Waldron. At half way Pidgeon had opened up a 10 metre gap on Dugdale and Sarah Waldron was a further 20 metres behind. The positions never changed with Emily looking relatively comfortable beating her senior rival by seven seconds. Sarah Waldron continued to work hard and was 8 seconds behind Dugdale. Gemma Collier completed the scoring team finishing in 42nd place.

Gloucester men's team had their best performance in this league for a number of years finishing third team ahead of Cheltenham. As for most of the races last season they were led in by Luke Herbert in 11th place and Dom Malsom was 25th despite stopping to tie up a shoe lace for which he got some friendly banter from his team mates. Team Captain Ian Summers (V40) had his best ever finish in 29th position and was followed by Lee Smith, 37th who surprised everyone finishing ahead of Mark Ingram, 39th and Bill Griffiths (V45), 41st.

The Veterans Men team finished first on the day with Jeremy Mower(V40), 47th and Dave Greswell (V40), 59th making up the foursome as they both hobbled in with blistered feet. Dave Spackman, 74th was the first in his age category as he tries to hold onto his Veteran 60 title. Arthur Daley, 62nd missed out on first V55 by one position as he finished seven seconds behind Dursley's Tim George. Out of the 141 strong men's field Gloucester had by far the largest contingent with twenty-one participants, completing three teams.

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

Gloucester Athletic Club's own magnificent seven turned in an incredible performance to gain promotion from Division 4 of the Midlands Men’s Track & Field League. Losing nine athletes either out through injury, weddings or holidays, a lack of qualified officials and only one pole-vaulter gave their rivals a 20 match point advantage before they started. To make matters worse three of the seven athletes competed with injuries. Wayne Powell competed with stitches in his throwing hand, Brendan Goss a strained shoulder which affected his pole vaulting and Jeremy Mower a strained ankle which meant he could not do hurdles and ran with a slight limp. Twenty year old Ollie Cooper had to shoulder most of the workload competing in eleven events with Brendan Goss covering nine. Jeremy Mower became the first Gloucester athlete to run an 800m, 1500m, 3000m and a steeplechase in one day. Ashleigh Naylor ran his first ever 400m hurdles in a respectable 65.6 seconds and Ollie Cooper went down the 110m hurdles for the first time, both were such successes that Mower's hurdles career could be over.

Brendan Goss and Ollie Cooper won both the triple jumps, which meant Gloucester won all eight triple jumps in the league. Brendan also had a second in the 100m 'B' race and ran a personal best in the 110m hurdles to finish 3rd. Brendan scored the clubs most points in the league season with 185, which was a remarkable 20% of the team’s total. Ollie Cooper had personal bests in both hurdle events, Discus and the High Jump. Ollie missed the start of the High Jump and had to enter in the last round of the 1.45m height, his PB, and a failed attempt meant he then had only two attempts at 1.50m which he never had cleared previously. Ollie was so mad with himself that the extra adrenaline spurred him on not only to clear that height but also jump a new PB of 1.55m. Cooper no throwed in the shot which he felt he had let down his team mates, but such was the team spirit everyone said to him it did not matter and that it was not surprising something went wrong with his day due his workload. Wayne Powell again won the Hammer and Javelin and threw PB's to gain second place in the Discus and Shot. The stitches in Wayne's hand caused problems in the Hammer and as his first two attempts were no throws he had one throw left to score and make the next round. Wayne then threw what he called a safe 37 metre plus throw to stay in the competition before going on to win. Powell won eleven events during the season and really has been a major factor in the clubs rise this season. Ian Summers ran close to his PB in the steeplechase finishing 3rd 'A' runner again enabling Mower to pick up the 2nd 'B' place. The Under 17 athletes both gave good accounts of themselves with Ashleigh Naylor having PB's for the 200m and the 400m hurdles and Richard Farrow was third in the 'B' 800m and dropped down in distance to take 4th place in the 'B' 400m with a PB.

It had been backs to the wall stuff for the city club with everyone competing in so many events no one had any real time to recover or rest between events. Everyone was really overjoyed with the result. Ian Summers, Gloucester's longest serving track athlete, said "I'm so glad we've gone up I could not stand just missing out on promotion again from this division". The team went through so many mixed emotions on the day, first the disappointment that they knew they could not win the league which such a small team, and then with the Discus, 3000m and relays to go the club was lying 10 points off 6th place of the eight teams which they needed for promotion. Under pressure Wayne Powell and Ollie Cooper then both amazingly threw personal bests in the Discus to completely turn everything around. Summers and Mower meanwhile finished half way up the field in the 3000m and then a fantastic 100m relay performance dragged Gloucester into the promotion spot. With everything so close Gloucester and Newport then had to wait an agonising half an hour before the results were given out to confirm who had gained promotion with winners Bambury. To everyone’s surprise Gloucester had pulled themselves from 7th to finish 4th on the day and were only seven match day points off second place which would have won the league. The club are also awaiting the results of an appeal which could see them move up to third on the day and mean they finish on the same league points as top team Bambury, but will still miss out on winning as Banbury have more match points.

Team Manager Jeremy Mower could not of asked for more from the other six guys that competed, nine personal bests in one day underlined their commitment to the cause. He did not have one complaint from anybody when they competed in events that they normally don’t participate in. The hardest thing was that they were so keyed up for the challenge that Mower was having to tell some of them to slow down in races or pull out of field events when they were in a position they could not better.

The men’s team will now aim to win the Avon League for a fourth consecutive year and try to strengthen the team for next season in Division 3.

Midland Men’s Track & Field League Division 4 (3rd fixture – Burton)

Gloucester Athletic Club won the third fixture in Division Four of the Midlands Men's Track and Field League at Burton-upon-Trent to go two points clear of nearest rivals Banbury. All the athletes performed to or above the targets set by team manager Jeremy Mower with Brendan Goss, Peter Kellie and Wayne Powell laying the foundations for the victory.

Powell threw a personal best of 52.52 metres to win the hammer, an event he took up seriously only six months ago. He then won the javelin with his first throw.

Banbury's former Great Britain international Perris Wilkins beat Powell into first place in the shot putt and discus.

Brendan Goss won the A triple jump and B long jump, and was second in the A high jump.Curtley Phillips won the B triple jump and was second by a few centimetres in the A long jump.

Due to Gloucester's strength in the triple jump, they rested Ollie Cooper, who had won the previous two B events, because he had sore ankle ligaments. Cooper managed a second place in the B 400m hurdles and filled in for the shot putt and 400m.

Peter Kellie ran the 800m, 2000m steeplechase and 1500m with only a half hour rest in between. He ran a superb tactical race in the 800m, following the early leader from Owls and easing past him in the final 100 metres for victory.

Neil Scowby had his best Midland League finish in third in the B 800m.

Kellie then won the steeplechase by more than half a lap and Ian Summers was second in the B race.Kellie then eased round the 1500m for second A place.

Jeremy Mower finished third in the B 1500m despite twisting his ankle half an hour earlier in the 110m hurdles.

The high hurdles were unweighted, which brought in the ruling of three down and instant disqualification. Gloucester's Brendan Goss was third in the A and Jeremy Mower sixth in the B.

In the 5000m, Luke Herbert's sensible pacing earned him third place in the A race and Ian Summers was second in the B race. Ashleigh Naylor was seventh in the A 100m despite a strong feeling that he was at least fifth, but the club were unable to appeal against the decision. Naylor then finished second in the 200m A race. Scott Jose was fifth in the B race and finished fourth in the B pole vault - an event he tried only five days earlier. Gloucester's youngest athlete, Dale Price, was third in the A 400m hurdles, third in the B 400m and fifth in the high jump.

The most eventful race was the 100m relay, in which Gloucester were beaten by a couple of inches by Newport. Newport were then disqualified because a runner had run out of lane. In the 400m relay, the club were fifth.

Gloucester go into the last fixture knowing that promotion is almost a certainty and they hope to win the league, although they will have to do so without the services of Price and Kellie, who are away on holiday. However, Mower hopes to welcome back sprinter Ryan Preddy and middle distance runners Keith Short and Richard Farrow.

Young Athletes League Fixture 3 – Yeovil

With an early start, the team assembled for the first of two long trips to new venues but facing some old rivals in the form of Hereford and Yeovil.

The day’s competition got off to a great start with Izzy Hayward winning the 300mH event unopposed, shortly followed by third and second places for Rachel Davies and Melissa Baverstock in the 150m who both had to patiently wait for no less than 3 re-starts due to technical problems with the starting pistols. Out in the field Kate Yhnell and newcomer Nikita Morgan both gained excellent wins in the Hammer, with grade one and two standard performances respectively. Also in the Hammer there were wins for Michael Tommy and Jimmy Coleman, with Tim Williams just being piped into second place despite throwing a grade 1 performance.

Back on the track the first of the 200m races delivered a win for Cleo Lambert with Hannah Marsh (B string) gaining a valuable second place in the Under 15 girls races. This was soon followed by a second for Emily Baker in the A race and win for Sarah Williams in the B race for Under 17 Ladies. The gents also bagged a couple of second places with Mike Green in the Under 15’s and Dale Price in the Under 17’s who was competing in his second competition of the weekend having helped the Men’s team to victory the day before.

With the field events well under way, Amy Wait gained a win in the B string Under 15 girls Long Jump with Cleo Lambert picking up third in the A event. The ever-present Lee Merchant continued to add points to the team score dashing between the Under 15 boy’s Discus and 800m discus gaining two third places, along with Luke Mills and Mike Greene adding third and second places in the Under 15 boys Long Jump. In the Under 13 girls 800m ran well to gain third place, and Richard Lambden followed this up with a third in the Under 17 boy’s race shaving a further 4 seconds off his best in the process.

Onto the hurdles, in the Under 13 girls race Alicia Green and debutant Bethany Wells both gaining third places in a tough race. Meanwhile Izzy Hayward jumped well to pick up first place in the Under 17 ladies High Jump. At the same time Michael Tommy picked up second place in the Under 17 boys Shot Put.

At the half way stage in the competition, Yeovil and Cardiff just started pulling away from Gloucester who were comfortable in third place ahead of the Hereford team. In the Under 13 girls 1200m Bethany Wells ran a well-judged race to out smart her rivals and win in a grade 3 standard time. The Under 15 boys 400m race then produced second places for Mike Green and Lee Merchant closely followed by an excellent win from Dale Price. In the field, Nikita Morgan and Kate Yhnell continued their good form to win the A and B string Discus, with Hannah Marsh gaining yet more valuble points with third in the Under 15 discus event. Further points were gained in the Shot Put with under 15 ladies Amy Waite and Sophia Knight picking up third and fourth places respectively.

Emily Baker once again dominating the 300m Under 17 ladies race to win in yet another grade 2 performance, ably assisted by Julia Loveridge in third. In the following sprint events the competition was very fiece and points were hard to come by, with Melissa Baverstock taking second in the 75m Under 13 girls race and Cleo Lambert gaining the only victory in the Under 15 girls race.

In the Javelin event for Under 17 boys Richard Lambden recorded a good win in the B string event, along with third place for Micheal Tommy and third places for both Tim Williams and Jimmy Coleman in the Under 15 boys event. Nikita Morgan and Kate Yhnell made it a hat trick of wins in the Under 17 ladies Shot Put. The ever smiling Izzy Hayward continued her great day of performances with a second in the under 17 ladies triple jump and grade two performance in the process.

With no 1500m runners, the days competition ended with the customary relay events with second places for the under 15 and under 17 ladies followed by third places for the under 13 girls and under 15 lads.

Nikita’s performance in the hammer gained her the field event performance of the day award, the fourth award for the club in three fixtures showing just how far the club has progressed in recent times.

Once again a big thank you goes out to the team managers for sorting out the teams in various age groups, and to the officials for their hard work on the track and in the field, without whom the meeting could not take place. The next fixture is on Sunday June 25th in Newport, which looks like a mouth watering fixture with all four teams very closely placed in the league table.

Final team results

1st Yeovil 405 2nd Cardiff 381 3rd Gloucester 191 4th Hereford 95

Individual Results

Under 13 Girls

Rachel Davies 150m 3rd 22.42s (4), SP 3rd 6m06 (4), 75m 3rd 11.18s (2)

Melissa Baverstock 150m 2nd 22.80s (4), LJ 3rd 3m80 (4), 75m 2nd 11.18s (2)

Bethany Wells 70mH 3rd 16.67s, 1200m 1st 4:18.83s (3), LJ 3rd 3m20

Alicia Green 800m 3rd 2:51.32s (4), HJ 4th 1m15, 70mH 3rd 16.29s

4x100m 3rd 63.01s

Under 15 Girls

Cleo Lambert 200m 1st 28.61s (4), LJ 3rd 3m93, 100m 1st 13.71s (4)

Amy Waite LJ 1st 3m49, SP 3rd 5m17

Sophia Knight 100m 3rd 15.00s, JT 4th 10m51, SP 4th 5m62

Hannah Marsh 200m 2nd 31.92s, DT 3rd 10m00, JT 3rd 8m41

4x100m 2nd 57.43s

Under 17 Ladies

Julia Loveridge 100m 3rd 14.28, 300m 3rd 47.28s

Emily Baker 200m 2nd 27.52s (4), 300m 1st 42.74s (2)

Sarah Williams 200m 1st 28.32s, 100m 3rd 13.64s

Isobel Hayward 300mH 1st 50.88s (4), HJ 1st 1m40, TJ 2nd 9m51 (2)

Nikita Morgan HT 1st 29m84 (2), DT 1st 18m98, SP 1st 6m86

Kate Yhnell HT 1st 38m26 (1), DT 1st 18m22, SP 1st 7m46

4x100m 2nd 53.48

Under 13 Boys

No participants

Under 15 Boys

Luke Mills 200m 3rd 31.00s, LJ 3rd 4m36, 100m 3rd 14.75s

Michael Greene 200m 2nd 27.85s, LJ 2nd 3m88, 400m 3rd 64.3s

Lee Merchant 800m 3rd 2:52.01s, DT 3rd 12m88, 400m 3rd 78.3s

Tim Williams HT 2nd 44m03 (1), SP 2nd 7m93, JT 3rd 28m01

Jimmy Coleman HT 1st 28m03 (4), SP 2nd 5m36, JT 3rd 15m08

Under 17 Men

Dale Price 200m 2nd 24.56s (4), 100m 1st 12.19s (4), 400m 1st 55.60s (4)

Michael Tommy HT 1st 41m67 (3), SP 2nd 9m70, JT 3rd 24m88

Richard Lambden 800m 3rd 2:40.15s, LJ 4th 3m74, JT 1st 19m00

(x) denotes graded standard

Midland Men’s Track & Field League Division 4 (2nd fixture – Newport)

Points for Graded Officials – 15

Final Team Totals: 1 Gloucester 261, 2 Banbury 234, 3 Newport 223.5, 4 Shrewsbury 195, 5 Wolverhampton & Bilston 170, 6 Burton 167, 7 Nuneaton 148.5, 8 Owls 133 Positions after 2 matches: 1= Gloucester & Banbury 15, 3 Newport 12, 4 Shrewsbury 9, 5 Burton 8, 6 Wolverhampton & Bilston 7, 7= Nuneaton & Owls 3

Inter Counties Championships, Bedford

Emily Pidgeon's season is back on track after a superb victory in the senior women's 1500 metres at the Inter Counties Championships in Bedford.

Despite having hardly trained since being forced to drop out of the steeplechase at the Loughborough International after clattering into a barrier, the Gloucester Athletic Club international, who celebrates her 17th birthday on June 1st, showed her champion's mentality with a typically tenacious performance. Adopting different tactics due to the blustery, cold conditions, Pidgeon waited until the final 200m to sprint by Tina Brown and then dug in down the home straight to hold off a late challenge from Jessica Spark and claim the title in a time of four minutes, 24.22 seconds.

"I think a lot of people were really surprised to see Emily in the race after what happened to her at Loughborough," said her coach David Farrow. "While her knee is still heavily discoloured, it has proved to be just bruising and there wasn't any serious damage from hitting the barrier. "We had done some gym work since then but only very little running and had there been any problems she would have dropped out. "Obviously we went there to try and win the race but it was not expected this time so victory was a real thrill for her, especially after what she has gone through recently."

Arguably an even bigger stir was caused by clubmate and training partner Sarah Hopkinson after she won bronze in the 2000m steeplechase.

Lining up in a decent senior field for her first serious steeplechase race, the 14-year-old stunned her rivals and the spectators with a performance beyond her years to claim third spot in a time of 7:03.23, a Great Britain Age 14 record and good enough to put her second in the UK All-Time Under-17s rankings.

"I knew Sarah could hurdle from what I have seen in training but this was the first serious effort after making her debut at the end of last season," added Farrow. "Realistically I thought she might finish in the middle of the field so to get a bronze was a huge bonus. "And she did it in the middle of a hailstorm in horrendous conditions."

Midlands Under 17 and Under 15 Championships, Alexander Stadium

U17G – 80m hurdles Ht2 5 Julia Loveridge 14.76

U17B – 400m Ht1 5 Dale Price 54.60

U17G – 300m Ht1 6 Isobel Hayward 45.97; Ht2 3 Emily Baker 42.25

U17B – 100m Ht4 5 Dale Price 12.53

U15B – 1500m Final 2 Ben Coldray 4,22.40 pb

U17G – 300m Final 3 Sarah Hopkinson 41.78

U15B – Hammer Final 2 Tim Williams 44.77; 5 Jimmy Coleman 31.16

U17B – Hammer Final 2 Michael Tommey 41.86

U17G – Long jump Final 12 Isobel Hayward 4.34

U17B – 200m Ht1 5 Dale Price 24.62

U15B – 3000m Final 1 Ben Coldray 9,27.05 pb

U17G – Hammer Final 2 Kate Yhnell 37.82

Midland Ladies Athletic League, Sunday May 28th at Nuneaton

Having just missed out on promotion last year by the closest of margins Gloucester A.C. Ladies team found themselves among stiff competition at the first of this season’s Midland League match at Nuneaton. An administrative reorganisation of the League has placed Gloucester in Division Four against six other clubs but in leading for much of the day they accounted themselves very well.

In particular Kathryn Purcell was on fire. Having taken over the responsibility of team manager from her father and coach, Bob Purcell, she lead her team from the front gaining three first places in the B event 100m, 200m and Long Jump and destroyed the field in the difficult third leg of the 4 x 100m relay leaving club mate and training partner, Sophie Lambert a safe passage to the line to win by over twenty metres. To put the cherry on the icing for Kathryn she ran the 100m in a lifetime best coming home in under 13.0 seconds for her first time.

Sophie Lambert was slightly under par with painful quads which caused her to struggle a little in the events which she might otherwise have been expected to win. Second place in the A 100m and third in the 200m in 12.7sec and 26.7 sec respectively but knowing that there were faster runners than her on the day she took no chances in the anchor leg of the sprint relay and no-one made any impression on her as she crossed the line in her accustomed slot.

Kathryn’s sister Alex gave her usual excellent support in the 100mH, Long Jump and Triple Jump. Kate Davies although under par in her favoured 400m won the B 800m race and acquitted herself well in the 1500m. Gemma Collier and Amy Whitcher teamed up in a quality 400mH race and took a leg each of the 4 x 400m with Izzy Hayward and Emily Baker.

Along with the sprinters, Lorraine Shaw’s team of throwers kept Gloucester in the lead with excellent contributions from Lorraine herself, Paula Whitcher and Nikita Morgan who between them covered all four A and B throws events. Indeed the Senior Ladies dominated the competition on the track and in the field.

In the U17 squad the best results came from Emily Baker and Izzy Hayward in the 300m. Emily won in some style and comfort but still just disappointingly shy of the English Schools qualifying time for this event in 42.7sec. Izzy seemed to be settling for second place but instead got a second wind and cruised past the front runners in the home straight to win the B event. Emily had earlier come 3rd in the U17 100m in a time of 13.5sec. with Katie Edwards matching that achievement in the B race in 15.2sec.

Disappointingly though, Gloucester could field only three athletes in the U15 age group and of those two were making their debuts in this league. For the first time in many years Gloucester’s U15 girl’s squad seems to be lacking strength in depth and this, coupled with a distinct shortage of dedicated middle and long distance athletes in the female ranks, caused a slippage from first to an eventual fourth place at the close of competition.

Individual Results

Senior Ladies

Paula Whitcher HT A 4th 13.42m. JT B 2nd 17.35m. DT A 6th 14.10m

Lorraine Shaw JT A 4th 23.77m. SP A 1st 10.86m

Nikita Morgan SP B 2nd 6.80m. HT A 2nd 30.42m

Kathryn Purcell LJ B 1st 4.01m. HJ A 5th 1.30m. 100m B 1st 12.9sec. 200m B 1st 26.7sec.

Alex Purcell TJ A 4th 8.72m. 100mH A 4th 21.1sec. LJ A 4th 4.39m.

Amy Whitcher TJ B 2nd 8.57m. 400mH B 2nd 83.7sec. 400m B 6th 73.1sec.

Gemma Collier 400mH A 5th 76.4sec. 800m A 4th 2.42.3min. 1500m B

Kate Davies 800m B 2.52.1min. 1500m A 5th 5.51.3min. 400m A 6th 65.1sec.

Sophie Lambert 100m A 2nd 12.7sec. 200m A 3rd 26.7sec.

4 x 100m Relay 1st 52.5sec.

4 x 400m Relay 5th 4.31.0min

U17 Ladies

Emily Baker 300m A 1st 42.7sec. JT B 4th 6.29m. 100m 3rd 13.5m

Isobel Hayward LJ B 2nd 4.51m. 300m B 1st 46.0sec. 80mH A 5th 16.0sec

Katie Edwards LJ B 6th JT A 6th 8.94m. 100m B 3rd 15.2sec.

Sarah Williams LJ A 4th 4.72m

U15 Girls

Cleo Lambert SP A 4th 6.97m. 200m A 4th 28.8sec. 100m A 3rd 13.4sec.

Dina Atkins LJ A 3rd 3.61m. HJ B 1st 1.05m. 100m B 5th 15.7sec.

Kayleigh Kelly-Taylor LJ B 2nd 3.39m. HJ A 4th 1.05m. 200m B 5th 30.2sec.

Provisional Match Totals

Corby 248.5, Nuneaton 243.5, DASH 234, Gloucester 217, Birmingham Rowheath 200, Leamington 200, Shrewsbury 155.

Young Athletes League (2nd fixture – Swindon)

After a last minute change of venue, Gloucester Athletic Club participated in their second Young Athletes league fixture of the season at Swindon with a slightly depleted team due to the foul weather and lack of hammer facilities.

With the persistent rain and gusting wind good performances were very hard to come by, Tim Williams managed to gain third in the Discus backed up by Lee Merchant with a first in the B string. Rachel Davies showed her all round ability out in the field with an excellent victory in the Shot Putt. Following on in the field Tim was third in the Shot Putt, ably assisted by all rounder Liam Harding with third place in the B event.

Onto the track Julia Loveridge ran well to gain second place in the 200m, soon followed over the same distance with Ben Coldray also gaining a second place, Dale Price then made it a hat-trick of second places with a strong performance in his Under 17 boy’s race. In the 150m under 13 girls race Melissa Baverstock continued her early season form with a well run second place, and new recruit Amber Watson winning the B string event, with both performances gaining grade 4 standards.

Out in the field with the rain easing, Sarah Williams produced an excellent first place in the Long Jump, followed by debutant Andy Knight with victory in his Long Jump event.

With a slight break in the rain, the club 800m athletes took full advantage with Amber Watson dominating her race to win in a magnificent grade 1 time that also gained her the female track athlete of the day award. Jack Evans and Harrison Coldray both making their team debuts for the club in what was probably the most exciting race of the day, Jack just being piped into second place close behind team mate Harry getting the first place B string with both athletes times being within the grade 3 standard. A further second place in the 800m by Ben Coldray also inside the grade 3 standard for his age. In the under 15 girls 800m race Emma Wilkinson produced another hard fought second place, along with a gutsy second place run by debutant Clare Tuckfield in the B string.

As the heavens open once again, the track referee in consultation with team managers took the sensible decision to abandon the hurdles races in the interest of athlete safety. This also allowed the athletes and officials to gain a bit of respite from the elements.

In the Shot Putt, Michael Tommy gained a valuable second place in the under 17 boys event, backed up with a third place for another debutant Sophia Knight who managed third in the under 15 girls event. On the track Rachel Davies and Melissa Baverstock both ran well in a tight finishing 75m race both gaining second places in pouring rain.

As the rain lashed down yet further and with the wind trying its best to uproot a number of tents sheltering athletes around the track side, Emily Baker ran an outstanding race ignoring the elements in the 300m to blow away her opposition and winning in a near grade one performance time while just missing out on the English schools qualifying standard by fractions of a second in the process.

Dale Price continued his excellent season with victory in the 400m, and later ran a tough 100m to gain third place, with team-mate Andy Knight winning the B 100m race. In the under 17 ladies 100m race Julia Loveridge managed second place with Sarah Williams coming in first in the B race.

In the last field events of the day Michael Tommy threw the Javelin into second place and with Andy Knight capping off a great debut in Gloucester colours with a second place in the triple jump.

A big thank you goes out to all the club officials and team mangers for braving the awful weather to help the athletes out on the track and in the field. The next fixture is on Sunday June 4th in Yeovil.

Final team results

1st Marlborough 375, 2nd Dudley & Stourbridge 267.5, 3rd City of Bath 201.5, 4th Gloucester 150

Individual Results

Under 13 Girls

Rachel Davies Shot 1st 5m46, 75m 2nd 11.3s (4), LJ 3rd 3m51 (4)

Melissa Baverstock 150m 2nd 22.9s (4), 75m 2nd 11.7s (4), LJ 2nd 3m38

Amber Watson 150m 1st 22.2s (4), 800m 1st 2:30.3(1)

Under 15 Girls

Cleo Lambert

Abby Hulls 100m 4th 15.4s

Emma Wilkinson 800m 2nd 2:54.8

Amy Waite LJ 4th 3.50m, 200m 4th 30.9s

Clare Tuckfield 800m 2nd 3:19.2

Sophia Knight Shot 3rd 6m16, 100m 4th 14.5s

Under 17 Ladies

Julia Loveridge 200m 2nd 28.8s, 100m 2nd 14.1s, Shot 3rd 4m37

Emily Baker 300m 1st 41.8s(2)

Sarah Williams LJ 1st 4m10, 100m 1st 14.2s

Under 13 Boys

Ross Barwood 200m 4th 36.8s, LJ 4th 2m75, 1500m 4th 6:37.8

Harrison Coldray 200m 3rd 33.6s, 800m 1st 2:35.0 (3)

Jack Evans 800m 2nd 2:33.5 (3)

Under 15 Boys

Luke Mills 200m 4th 31.4s, 100m 4th 15.3s, LJ 3rd 3m78

Michael Greene 800m 4th 3:14.5, 400m 4th 74.7s

Lee Merchant Discus 1st 12m34, 400m 4th 74.5s, 1500m 3rd 5:59.5

Tim Williams Discus 3rd 12m44, Shot 3rd 7m74, Jav. 3rd 24m51

Liam Harding Shot 3rd 5m69, 1500m 3rd 5:33.5

Ben Coldray 200m 2nd 28.0s, 800m 2nd 2:12.7 (3)

4 x 100m 4th 62.0s

Under 17 Men

Dale Price 200m 2nd 25.0, 400m 1st 57.3s, 100m 3rd 12.9s

Michael Tommey Shot 2nd 8m99, Jav. 2nd 23m65

Andy Knight LJ 1st 4m54, 100m 1st 13.1s, TJ 2nd 9m28

(x) denotes graded standard

Gloucestershire County Championships

Gold

SL

Kathryn Purcell 200m 27.1

Marion Loveridge shot 7.30; 80m hurdles 17.6

U20 women

Emily Pidgeon 1500m 4,22.0

Sophie Lambert 100m 12.6; 200m 26.6

U17 girls

Sarah Hopkinson 1500m 4,24.6

Isobel Hayward 300m hurdles 49.8

U15 girls

Stephanie Brown javelin 12.02

Kate Yhnell hammer 39.38

U13 girls

Becky Summers 1500m 5,31.4

Amber Watson 800m 2,31.4

SM

Steve Millward 1500m 4,05.9

Brendan Goss triple jump 12.99

Wayne Powell hammer 49.06

Ryan Preddy 100m 11.3

U20 men

Curtley Phillips long jump 6.16; triple jump 13.05

Scott Jose 100m 12.1

U17 boys

Dale Price 200m 24.8; high jump 1.50

U15 boys

Ben Coldray 1500m 4,29.4

Michael Greene 400m 62.4

Tim Williams hammer 43.00

Ben Coldray 800m 2,10.9

Silver

SL

Kathryn Purcell 100m 13.1

Amy Whitcher 400m 72.5

Paula Whitcher shot 6.39

U17 girls

Nikita Morgan discus 21.61; hammer 29.67

Isobel Hayward high jump 1.45

Emily Baker 300m 43.3

U13 girls

Bethany Wells 1500m 5,47.6

SM

Wayne Powell discus 33.35

Brendan Goss long jump 5.81; 100m 12.3

U20 men

Christopher Clee 400m 71.3

Scott Jose 200m 25.0

U17 boys

Andy Knight long jump 4.95

Dale Price 400m 54.5

U15 boys

James Light 400m 69.6

Jimmy Coleman hammer 28.60

Luke Mills 80m hurdles 19.5

Tim Williams javelin 26.81

U13 boys

Sean Varley shot 5.76

Jack Evans 1500m 4,59.2

Bronze

SL

Amy Whitcher 100m 14.5

Paula Whitcher javelin 18.05; discus 16.29

U17 girls

Isobel Hayward triple jump 9.48; long jump 4.78

Kate Yhnell discus 20.32

Sarah Williams 300m 46.8

Julia Loveridge 100m 14.0

U15 girls

Abby Hulls 200m 29.5

Danielle Currie 800m 3,01.6; long jump 3.43

U20 men

Sedale Rose high jump 1.45

U17 boys

Andy Knight triple jump 10.06

Dale Price 100m 12.1

U15 boys

Gareth Jones 200m 26.9

Lee Merchant 400m 76.5

U13 boys

Luke Mills long jump 3.58

Ross Hannaford 100m 15.1

Midland Men’s Track & Field League Division 4 (1st fixture – Banbury)

Gloucester Athletic Club got off to a flying start in their first Midlands League Division 4 fixture finishing in second place behind the home team Banbury.

The city club gave teenagers Scott Jose, Curtley Phillips and Dale Price their senior debuts and also new signing Wayne Powell had his first outing. Brendan Goss and Wayne Powell were the star performers amassing more than a third of the clubs total score between them. Powell recorded wins in the Hammer, Discus, Javelin and added a third place in the shot. The signing of Powell means Gloucester possibly have three of the best male throwers in the county with Justin Sysum and Dafydd Farr also at the club. Powell's signing was mainly down to the fact that he has joined Lorraine Shaw's coaching group.

Andrew McKenzie was third in the "B" Hammer after recently getting back in training after a shoulder injury. Brendan Goss again was rushing around the field competing in up to three events at one time despite badly twisting his arm in the first event the Pole Vault. Brendan typifies the spirit of the Gloucester club putting the team first before his own personal performance and he won the Triple Jump by over one metre. OllieCooper was first in the "B" Triple Jump and made his debut over the 400m hurdles coming third in the "B" race, and he was pleased to be two seconds quicker than his step father Jeremy Mower who ran the "A" race.

Curtley Phillips had trouble with his run up in the Long Jump due to the driving rain and was unable to produce his normal 6 metres plus. The running surface produced many difficulties for the jumpers and hurdlers as their take off foot was slipping on a greasy track. Ironically the team manager complained about the surface before the meet started and he was a victim himself in the 110m hurdles when his foot slipped causing him to fall badly, however he continued to pick up valuable points. Ian Summers picked up a 3rd in the steeplechase and 4th in the 5000 metres which enabled Mower to pick up high points as the "B" race finisher with the "A" and "B" races being combined.

Seventeen year old Scott Jose had great runs in the sprints with a 5th in the "A" 100m and a second in the "B" 200m. Dale Price the youngest of the team at age sixteen ran with maturity beyond his years, beautifully pacing his "B" 200m and "B" 400m to finish second and fourth respectively. In both races he was around sixth place at the bend with 80 metres to go and surged through the field as everyone else tied up. Dale is one of those sprinters who seems to float across the track rather than a power sprinter. Another sixteen year old Ashleigh Naylor produced an 11.7 seconds time in the 100mto come 5th in a quality "A" race, this time was more remarkable as earlier he ran his first ever competitive 800m race. New team manager Mower had to admit that this was probably his only error of the day, "I had hoped the 800m would go off slow and maybe Ashleigh could use his 400m speed, but a 60second opening lap put paid to this".

Club stalwart Neil Scowby and Vet 55 Keith Short covered the other middle distance events picking up valuable points. Overall it was fantastic team performance, and covering all the events bar one gave Gloucester the edge over third placed Newport.

Seeing Wayne Powell picking up 38 out of a possible 40 points was immense and really inspirational to the team. The only area of concern was Gloucester dropped 10 valuable points as they had no timekeeper and hopefully this won't affect them at the end of the season.

The next fixture is at Newport on 3rd June and the club hope to have returning international runners Ryan Preddy and Peter Kellie available to bolster their squad. The club feel they are moving forward this year and team manager Jeremy Mower is looking out for an experienced hurler who could do a job for them at this level as Richard Davenport, last years number three 400m hurdler in the UK, will be outfor a year with a back injury. 

Points for Graded Officials – 5

Final Team Totals: 1 Banbury 253, 2 Gloucester 222, 3 Newport 207, 4 Burton 198, 5 Shrewsbury 192, 6 Wolverhampton & Bilston 166, 7 Owls 151, 8 Nuneaton 134

Brewer Games, Cheltenham

80m

Dale Price U17 10.2

150m

Dale Price U17 18.7

Emily Baker U17 20.2

Sarah Williams U17 20.8

Keith Short M55 21.0

Angie Alstrachen F40 21.6

Julia Loveridge U17 21.7

300m

Dale Price U17 39.5

Emily Baker U17 42.9

Keith Short M55 44.7

Angie Alstrachen F40 46.7

Julia Loveridge U17 48.0

300m hurdles

Isobel Hayward U17 50.7

Long jump

Curtley Phillips U20 6.21

Isobel Hayward U17 4.46

High jump

Isobel Hayward U17 1.40

Shot putt

Marion Loveridge SL 7.36

Julia Loveridge U17 4.58

Hammer

Marion Loveridge SL 25.67

Javelin

Isobel Hayward U17 17.83

Young Athletes League (1st fixture – Yate)

On a cold blustery Sunday morning, Gloucester Athletic Club travelled the short distance to South Gloucestershire to the first Young Athletes league fixture of the season and thus returning to the league after a three-year absence. With the strongest ever young athletes team assembled in recent years, and new team management structure in place hopes were high for some good results.

Early indications were very promising in the Hammer with A & B string victories in the Under 15 boys for Tim Williams and Jimmy Coleman. This was soon followed up with a third win in the event by Kate Yhnell making her debut for the club winning the Under 17 ladies A string.

Moving out on to the track events Emily Baker and Sarah Williams recorded excellent victories in the A & B string Under 17 Ladies 200m. Meanwhile back on the field events Sarah Williams and Katie Edwards achieved second places in the A & B string Under 17 Ladies Long jump. Adding to this were second places in the Under 13 Girls High jump for Alica Green and Rebecca Summers, also in the Under 15 boys discus Liam Swattridge and Lee Merchant gained valuble points with second and first places respectively.

With early team scores being announced, Gloucester at this point were lying in a fantastic second place to the home side Yate, who with strength in numbers at this early stage looked odds on favourites to win the match.

Approaching the 800m races the meeting starting to fall behind schedule due to the match being a double header, but this failed to deter the team. A great run by brothers Kieran and Daniel Meheran in the Under 13 boys 800m for two more second places. Out on the field Rachel Davies was victorious in the Under 13 Girls Shot, followed closely by a second place also in the Shot for Under 13 boy Morgan Hatton. The good work continued out in the field with victory in the Under 17 Mens A string Long Jump for Ashleigh Naylor and a B string second place for debutant Michael Tommey. A second place for Kate Yhnell in the Under 17 Ladies Discus added more points to the board.

Back to the track further second places were achieved in the Hurdles races over 80m for Izzy Hayward in the Under 17 Ladies and over 70m for Rebbeca Summers. Then on to the Under 13 girls 1200m where Alica Green and Rebecca Summers ran perfectly timed finishes to gain two more second places in the A & B string races.

Without the depth in hurdlers and 3K distance runners in the team and older girls in the high jump, at just over the half way mark Swindon narrowly took over second place in the team standing with Plymouth breathing down Gloucester’s neck for third place.

In the Under 17 Mens 400m, a thrilling finish saw Ashleigh Naylor piped on the line for first place closely followed home by team mate Dale Price who gained second in the B race. Continuing her outstanding form in the Under 17 Ladies 300m, Emily Baker stormed home to take victory in the A string with Sarah Williams an excellent second in the B string.

With the cold starting to bite, the 100m races came fast a furious with tough competition from the other three clubs; points were hard to come by. Notable performances were in the notoriously tough Under 17 men with Scott Jose another debutant just piped into third in the A string and a strong finish for Dale Price giving victory in the B string. In the final field events of the afternoon Jimmy Coleman and Tim Williams achieved another pair of second places for the team in the Under 15 boys Javelin A & B strings respectively.

Strength and depth of the other teams now started to take its toll with only one 1500m runner, Morgan Hatton in the Under 13 boys race bravely running much of the race on his own to take second place.

With just the relays to go, Plymouth had sneaked ahead in the team scores leaving Gloucester trailing into fourth place. The Under 17 Men’s 4x100m squad fought hard for second place in their race, but with the lengthening delays to the programme and minor injuries creeping in through the day only third places could be gained in the 4x100m relays by the Under 15 boys, Under 17 ladies and Under 13 girls squads.

Overall the club athletes all individually performed very well gaining a number of personal bests and graded standards very early on in the season. Most notably Tim Williams and Kate Yhnell’s performances in the hammer competition won them male and female field athlete of the day awards and also looks likely to gain them both entries to the finals of the English schools track and field championships.

A big thank you goes out to all the new team managers for sorting out the teams in various age groups, and to the officials for their hard work on the track and in the field.

Fourth place out of four teams may not look like progress to some people, but after three years of hard work by the club coaches and personnel behind the scenes, today’s turn out of athletes and results show that Gloucester Athletic Club are back… and the glory days of the past are in sight… just watch this space!!

Provisional team results (prior to scrutiny)

1st Yate 469 2nd Swindon 239 3rd Plymouth 202 4th Gloucester 182

Stop Press……..

After scrutiny the results have been amended and it turns out that Gloucester have been awarded third place, which is a great start to the season and certainly something to build on for the next fixture on 21st May at the Dell Stadium, Brierley Hill.

Final team results

1st Yate 473 2nd Swindon 246 3rd Gloucester 192 4th Plymouth 181

Individual Results

Under 13 Girls

Rachel Davies 75m 3rd 11.5s (4), 150m 3rd 22.7s (4), Shot 1st 6.69m

Melissa Baverstock 75m 2nd 11.5s (4), 150m 2nd 23.1s, LJ 3rd 3.44m

Alica Green 1200m 2nd 4m27.1s (4), HJ 2nd 1.15m, LJ 3rd 3.29m

Rebecca Summers 1200m 2nd 4m27.4s (4), 70mH 2nd 14.5s (4), HJ 2nd 1.05m

4x100m 3rd 62.1s

Under 15 Girls

Cleo Lambert 100m 4th 29.8s, 200m 4th 29.8s, Shot 3rd 6.18m

Abby Hulls 100m 3rd 14.6s

Lyndsey Coleman 200m 4th 31.0s, Shot 3rd 5.26m

Emma Wilkinson 800m 4th 3m00.5s

Amy Waite LJ 4th 3.27m

Under 17 Ladies

Julia Loveridge 100m 4th 14.4s, Shot 4th 5.64m

Katie Edwards 100m 4th 15.2s, Javelin 2nd 6.73m, LJ 2nd 3.41m

Emily Baker 200m 1st 27.1s (4), 300m 1st 42.6s (2)

Sarah Williams 200m 1st 28.3s, 300m 2nd 46.3s, LJ 2nd 4.25m

Isobel Hayward 80mH 2nd 14.2s, Shot 2nd 5.06m, TJ 3rd 9.10m (3) (Club Record)

Kate Yhnell Hammer 1st 37.92m (1), Javelin 3rd 10.60m, Discus 2nd 19.14m (Club Record)

4x100m 3rd 55.8s

Under 13 Boys

Kieran Meheran 100m 3rd 15.1s, 200m 3rd 30.4s, 800m 2nd 2m24.7s (4)

Daniel Meheran 100m 2nd 15.9s, 200m 2nd 31.7s, 800m 2nd 2m51.9s

Morgan Hatton 1500m 2nd 6m58.3, Shot 2nd 4.43m, LJ 4th 3.12m

Under 15 Boys

Luke Mills 100m 4th 14.8s, 200m 4th 30.3s, LJ 3rd 3.48m

Miles Hatton 100m 3rd 16.6s, Shot 3rd 4.77m

George Williams 200m 4th 29.6s, 400m 3rd 65.7s

Michael Greene 400m 3rd 64.1s, 800m 4th 2m48.0s

Lee Merchant 800m 4th 2m51.5s, Discus 1st 11.24m, Shot 3rd 5.53m

Liam Swattridge 80mH 4th 18.0s, Discus 2nd 12.67m, LJ 3rd 3.31m

Jimmy Coleman Hammer 1st 28.80m (4), Javelin 2nd 27.06m

Tim Williams Hammer 1st 40.54m (1), Javelin 2nd 11.87m

4x100m 3rd 62.2s

Under 17 Men

Scott Jose 100m 3rd 12.0s (4)

Dale Price 100m 1st 12.3s, 200m 3rd 26.4s, 400m 2nd 55.8s (4)

Ashleigh Naylor 200m 2nd 24.1s (4), 400m 2nd 54.3s (3), LJ 1st 5.47m

Richard Lambden 800m 4th 2m44.3s, Javelin 3rd 18.30m

Michael Tommey LJ 2nd 4.19m

4x100m 2nd 48.7s

(x) denotes graded standard

Grizzly 20 mile multi terrain

94 Dominic Malsom 2,40.32

187 Dave Gresswell (V40) 2,52.40 (1528 finishers)

British Masters Indoor Championships

Keith Short just missed out on the medals in the British Masters Indoor Championships in Cardiff. Short had run his first ever half marathon the weekend before and was lacking some speed. Competing in his first year as a Vet 55, he finished third in his 400m heat in 60.59 to miss out on a place in the final by .21 of a second. In the 800m, he was involved in a very close finish, just getting pipped for a bronze by .24 of a second, finishing 4th in 2,19.27.

Torrevieja Half Marathon, Spain

Dave Gresswell and Keith Short both won prizes at the 23rd Torrevieja International Half Marathon in Spain. Seventeen Gloucester AC members went on a club trip at the end of February to the town of Torrevieja near Alicante to compete in the race and take a few days holiday.

Weather for the race itself was mercifully cool and damp. Luke Herbert was the early pace-setter for the club, running in the top twenty for the first quarter of the race before his lack of fitness due to recent injury and work commitments caused him to slow. First Dave Gresswell caught him at 18Km, then Ian Summers passed him in the last kilometre. Gresswell was first finisher for the club in 44th place overall in a personal best of 1,20.37 which gave him the fifth prize in the Male Vet 40-45 age category. Summers finished 50th in 1,21.16, just ahead of Herbert, 51st in 1,21.19. The race was won by Moroccan athlete Dahhoui Abdelaziz in 66.44. Keith Short was running in his first ever half marathon and was only intending to run at an easy pace, having never covered this distance before and knowing that the following weekend he would be competing in the British Masters Indoor Championships in Cardiff. When he saw the depth of the prize list, he thought he might as well have a go for a fast time and was rewarded with a 143rd place finish in 1,28.02 to claim fifth prize in his Male Vet 55-60 age category.

All finishers received a well-stocked goody bag with such things as food and drink, a race sweatshirt, hat, medal in presentation case, cd carrying case and pen.

Gloucester AC finishers (first brackets are positions in age category; second brackets are positions and times at halfway)

44 Dave Gresswell (MV40 – 5th) 1,20.37 (55th 40.44)

50 Ian Summers (MV35 – 10th) 1,21.16 (58th 40.45)

51 Luke Herbert (SM – 22nd) 1,21.19 (51st 40.13)

113 Neil Scowby (SM – 45th) 1,26.21 (129th 43.28)

143 Keith Short (MV55 – 5th) 1,28.02 (183rd 44.40)

166 Lee Smith (MV35 – 35th) 1,29.08 (130th 43.28)

361 John McClean (MV55 – 11th) 1,36.50 (317th 47.29)

787 Billy Poole (MU20 – 6th) 1,52.57 (746th 54.54)

867 Andy McKenzie (MV45 – 98th) 1,58.55 (865th 58.46)

929 Glenda Stanley (LV35 – 11th) 2,05.27 (932nd 1,01.28)

956 Richard Poole (MV50 – 57th) 2,10.30 (923rd 1,01.04)

957 Mike Storey (MV50 – 58th) 2,11.12 (962nd 1,04.32)

960 Gill Gresswell (LV35 – 13th) 2,12.50 (972nd 1,05.34)

Bourton 10K

328 Anne-Marie Edwards 50.02

MCAA Open Meeting, Birmingham NIA

Sarah Hopkinson set a UK Age 14 indoor best in the 800m with a time of 2,11.46

Dursley Dozen

15 Ian Summers 86.44, 30 Peter Lloyd (V45) 89.51, 64 Dave Gresswell (V40) 93.56, 103 Neil Scowby 98.31, 222 Arnold Yeomans (V50) 112.07, 387 Andy McKenzie (V45) 137.05

Wyvern Tough Ten

16th Dominic Malsom 62.58, 35th Peter Lloyd (V45) 65.56

Birmingham Cross Country League (4th fixture) – Wolverhampton

Gloucester AC just failed in their bid to remain in Division Two of the Birmingham Cross-country League.

After three races, Solihull & Small Heath and Trentham were both a long way adrift, lying in 12th and 13th. The battle to avoid the final relegation spot was between Gloucester, Sphinx and Cannock & Staffs.

Going into the final fixture in ninth, they had a lead of 16 points over Sphinx and 119 points over Cannock and Staffs AC, who had a disaster in the third race.

On the day, Cannock and Staffs brought out their big guns and packed their first three finishers in the top eight, scoring 173 to ensure safety. Gloucester came in with 358 to Sphinx's 325 over a twisting, technical course with sharp climbs and descents, leaving Sphinx 17 points clear of Gloucester in the final standings.

The six scorers were Bill Griffiths 50th, Luke Herbert 53rd, Jeremy Mower 60th, Dave Gresswell 64th, Ian Summers 65th and Mark Ingram 66th.

Team captain Ian Summers said: “We were hampered by unavailability all season and knew we would struggle. The first race proved that, although I still can't work out why we had such a poor score at Senneleys Park with much the same team as we had in the subsequent three races. We managed to claw our way back in the second and third races and gave ourselves a chance. It's disappointing to have missed out by such a narrow margin, but everyone gave their all and we'll bounce back in Division Three next season.”

Other Gloucester AC positions out of 175 finishers: Neil Scowby (89th), Alistair Wakefield (104), Lee Smith (105), Keith Short (107), Paul Nash (109), Anthony Lake (132), Arnold Yeomans (150), Martin Chopping (167) and Andy McKenzie (174).

Results:1 Birmingham Rowheath 134, 2 Rugby & Northampton AC 144, 3 Cannock & Staffs 173,4 Wolverhampton & Bilston 201, 5 Northbrook AC 263, 6 Kenilworth Runners 286, 7 Bromsgrove & Redditch 296, 8 Solihull & Small Heath 301, 9 Sphinx AC 325, 10 Gloucester AC 358, 11 Warwick University 360, 12 Birchfield Harriers 376, D.N.S. Trentham RC

Juan Muguerza Memorial Cross Country International - Spain

Sarah Waldron finished in fourth place in her category on her second England appearance when competing in the Juan Muguerza Memorial cross country international in Elgoibar, Spain.

The 17-year-old student from Pudleston, Herefordshire who was recovering from a heavy cold, just failed to get among the medals when she battled to fourth in the Under-20 category.

UK Cross Challenge – Cardiff

European Junior 5,000 metres champion Emily Pidgeon made a stunning senior debut by winning at the UK Cross Challenge meeting in Cardiff.

She was given late permission by the meeting organisers to move up from the under-20s race - and won the senior women's 6km by 50m from Hattie Dean and Kate Ramsey.

Pidgeon said: "It was really good having Hattie there. Going up a little slope in the woods, I sensed she had begun to falter. I tried to keep the pace going and luckily she did not come with me."

Dean added: "Emily was relentless. Every time I made a move, she was there. It was impossible to break away. Then when she got five metres away, I couldn't get back to her. I felt I had a good race but she ran a great race."

Birmingham Cross Country League (3rd fixture) - Northampton

Gloucester AC's men’s team pulled themselves further away from the relegation zone with their best performance of the season in Division 2 of the Birmingham Cross-Country League.

The club's inform runner Luke Herbert had twisted his ankle only few days earlier but despite it being swollen and bruised he decided to run even though his colleagues said they would understand if he chose not to run. Herbert defied the odds and finished in 28th place (36:39), followed by Bill Griffiths in 37th (37:07) and Dom Maslom 53rd (38:00). The last three scorers for the team were involved in a close finish between themselves with team captain Ian Summers 58th (38:23) out sprinting Dave Gresswell 59th (38:24) and Tom Randles 60th(38:33).

Summers was pleased to out sprint Gresswell as last year Dave had out sprinted him in the County 10K Track championships. Returning from university Tom Randles debut was impressive as he made the scoring team despite feeling under the weather due to a course of injections as he sets off for South America. The improved form of all the Gloucester runners meant that for the first time since 2001 Jeremy Mower failed to make the scoring team coming home as the clubs first "B" team scorer in 65th (39:02).

The club are now 2 positions off relegation due to Cannock & Staffs having four of their star runners away have gone from promotion candidates to relegation candidates in this closely fought league. Gloucester are now 16 points ahead of Sphinx AC and 119 ahead of Cannock & Staffs. The city club know Cannock & Staffs are capable of gaining 200 points in one meeting and realise it is still a battle between them and Sphinx for the last match on February 11th at Wolverhampton.

The clubs “B” team were 5th on the day and are 7th overall.

Other Gloucester AC positions out of 169 finishers: 92 Keith Short 40:54, 94 Arthur Daley 41:08, 108 Paul Nash 41:42, 118 Angus Wells 43:17, 125 Anthony Lake 43:56, 155 Martin Chopping 50:39, 165 Bogdan Jochym 54:50, 168 Andrew McKenzie 55:39

Results: 1 Rugby & Northampton AC 83, 2 Birmingham Rowheath 169, 3 Birchfield Harriers 218, 4 Wolverhampton & Bilston 224, 5 Kenilworth Runners 240, 6 Northbrook AC 274, 7 Gloucester AC 295, 8 Sphinx AC 308, 9 Bromsgrove & Redditch 308, 10 Solihull & Small Heath 372, 11 Warwick University 429, 12 Cannock & Staffs 607, D.N.S. Trentham RC