First WADAC Open meeting, open for entries

The first of our traditional 4 home open meetings takes place on Sunday the 14th April.

This is available for entry in the usual way through the link below in Opentrack. Early entry is advisable as the events do get full rather quickly and the hammer and discus events are already full and closed for entry.

WADAC Open Meeting 14th April

Weekly track & field preview

More action from the London indoor games takes place in Lee Valley this weekend, this time for the younger age groups with 8 WADAC names on the start lists including Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) making her seasonal debut.

The walkers are also in action at the Ray Hall memorial meeting in Aldershot tomorrow and look out for new member Marcin Wojtowicz (coach Derek Smith) who has been impressing at training and will walk alongside Derek.

At the latest Brunel Open Meeting on Wednesday vaulters Lexie Trott & Tom Price (both coached by Elias Mtshweni) will be in action along with Elodie Trott (coach Elias Mtshweni) in the sprints and jumps.

Good luck to all.

Indoor Track & field round up

I was away last week so apologies there was no track & field preview. I am therefore rounding up results over the last week or so.

In Loughborough on the same weekend as the South of England age group indoor champs, Aeryn Hurst (coach Elias Mtshweni) made her debut for the club and did so in some style vaulting 2.31m to go 3rd on the clubs all time indoor lists. Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) also competed for the first time since injury last Summer blowing the cobwebs away in the shot putt.

Last weekend, at the London indoor U20 games at Lee Valley both Amy Wall (coach Andy Fisher) & Carys Jeffries (coach Andy Fisher) jumped over 5m in the long jump with Carys also running the 200m.

Also last weekend on Sunday, Annie Mann (coach James Mann) had a race to forget in the 1500m at the BMC meet in Cardiff but Thomas Jacobs (coach James Mann) had a solid run in his 1500m breaking the clubs indoor club record with a time of 4 mins 09.62 secs. Well done Tom.

Amy opens her indoor season

Many athletes are beginning their indoor seasons and Amy Wall (coach Andy Fisher) is no different competing at the 2nd of Brunel University’s indoor open meetings last night.

As is normal at this time of year, athletes can be a little competition rusty but Amy improved with each of her 4 jumps finishing with a best effort of 5.13m.

Esme moves to joint 3rd on indoor age group lists

In addition to Abi Belward’s performances reported on yesterday, 3 more WADAC athletes competed indoors at the weekend.

In Eton on Sunday, Philip Krinks (coach Dave Sherry) took over half a second off his 60m pb to run 9.08 secs not too far off the V50 indoor club record showing just how much Philip has improved under Dave’s tutelage in the last year or so. At the same meeting Tabitha Williamson (coach Andy Fisher) blew the cobwebs away with a time of 8.18 secs.

In Carshalton on Saturday, Esme Buchanan (coach Andy Fisher) jumped 1.55m in the HJ to go joint 3rd on the clubs all time indoor age group list alongside Kathryn Burroughs. Esme will be part of a dynamic trio of U15 girls competing at the South of England indoor champs on Sunday and I have a feeling the indoor lists may be due for some further revision.

Carys tops early season club indoor 60m rankings

Track & Field results from the weekend

Just two track & field ndoor performances to report on from last weekend.

In Eltham on Sunday at the Sutcliffe 60’s, Carys Jeffries (coach Andy Fisher) recorded a best time of 8.16 secs to top the WADAC early season indoor 60m rankings ahead of training partner Jess Howells. In Cardiff, Annie Mann (coach James Mann) broke the clubs U20W indoor club record with a time of 10 mins 19.79 secs at the Cardiff Met Christmas Classic in Wales’s capital city.

Weekend Track & Field preview

Annie races in Cardiff.

Annie Mann (coach James Mann) begins her indoor season on Sunday at the Cardiff Met Uni Christmas Classic indoor meeting. Annie is running the 3000m in a classy field and we wish her well as she races 15 laps of the Cardiff indoor track.

Indoor club records continue to fall

Track & Field results from the weekends indoor action show WADAC young athletes in great early season form.

At the Loughborough Open meeting at the weekend, Rebekah Smith (coach Dave McManus) sent the 3kg shot out to a new pb of 10.52m on Sunday after running 9.14 secs in the 60m hurdles on the Saturday. Also in hurdles action on the Saturday Abi Belward (coach Andy Fisher) opened her season with a time of 9.67 over the senior specifications.

At the BFTTA open meeting in Lee Valley on Sunday, U13G Hallie Eldridge (coach Andy Fisher) broke the club’s age group indoor 60m hurdles record with a time of 10.38 secs and followed this up with a long jump pb of 4.06m which is good enough for 2nd place on the club’s all time age group lists. Training partner Frankie Bertacchini (coach Andy Fisher) went 3rd on the club’s all time indoor age group hurdles list with a time of 10.85 secs and also jumped a pb of 4.02m in the long jump. Holly Poore (oach Dave Sherry) was another to pb with a time of 9 secs flat in the 60m. Sister Chloe (coach Andy Fisher) ran the 800m in a time just inside 2 m 30 secs. Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) highlighted that javelin throwers can run and jump too with a pb of 8.18 secs in the 60m and a long jump of 5.16m.

Our youngest athletes were in record breaking form at the Lee Valley minithon on Saturday. Brothers Niko & Teo Sledz (U13 & U11 academy respectively) broke their respective age group indoor club records in the 200m with Teo also equalling the indoor age group club record in the 60m. Hugo Fox (U11 academy) ran a remarkable time of 1.54.70 in the 600m to break both the U11 & U13 age group indoor club record. Leo Davies-Pratt (coach Andy Fisher) went 2nd on both the age group high jump & 600m lists as well as breaking the club’s imndoor age group club record in long jump. Furthermore, Leo & brother Ivor met with Sir Mo Farah after Leo had competed against Mo’s daughter in the high jump. Sean Xie, Ivor Davies-Pratt and Harry Moreton also took part with pb performances in a great weekend for the club.

Weekend Track & Field preview

WADAC athletes competing in London and Loughborough.

The indoor season continues with a busy weekend of track & field for our young athletes.

It’s great to see 8 WADAC U11 & U13’s from the clubs academies on the start lists for the Lee Valley Minithon in North London tomorrow and a further 8 WADAC athletes on the start lists for the same venue on Sunday when the first of the popular BFTTA open meetings takes place amongst these Holly Poore (coach Dave Sherry) makes her seasonal debut.

It is also the first of Loughborough’s indoor open meetings at the weekend and both Rebekah Smith (caoch Dave McManus) & Abi Belward (coach Andy Fisher) are on the start lists.

Good luck to everyone competing in the black & gold this weekend.

Lexie breaks club pole vault record

Results from last nights Brunel indoor series

Lexie Trott (coach Elias Mtshweni) showed what a fantastic addition she will be to the club by making her WADAC debut in the Brunel indoor series in Uxbridge last night.

14 year old Lexie equalled her pb of 2.90m in her first competition of the indoor season and her first as a WADAC athlete. This is the highest distance a WADAC female has ever vaulted and therefore breaks both the indoor and overall club record. Good going Lexie.

More young athletes open their indoor season

All time top 3 indoor performances recorded in Cardiff & Lee Valley.

4 more young athletes opened their indoor season and some were in record breaking form at Open Meetings in Cardiff and Lee Valley respectively. Zac Reynolds (coach Andy Fisher) ran his first ever 400m and his first ever race at the U17 age group and in doing so went 2nd on the clubs all time age group indoor list with a time of 53.37 seconds. This came off a first 200m of 25 secs and in lane 1 so Zac will have learned a lot from the experience.

Lily Flute (coach Andy Fisher) ran both 60m & 300m in Lee Valley and went 2nd on the clubs all time indoor 300m age group lists with a time of 42.35 secs which is a nice season opener. Isobel Jordan (Coach Andy Fisher) also did the 60m, 300m double recording pb’s in both and her time of 44.10 secs in the 300m was a 2 sec indoor pb. Poppy Crook (Coach Andy fisher) blew the jumps cobwebs away with a distance of 4.27m in the long jump and 1.53m in the high jump.

Many more WADAC names are on the Open Meeting lists for next weekend, look out for the results.

Weekend Track & Field preview

I can’t quite believe that just 9 weeks after the clubs last Open Meeting here we are at the start of the indoor track & field season.

The season starts with the first championship event of the season, the South of England indoor Combined Event Champs at their traditional home at Lee Valley in North London. Moved this year from the end of December to 1 month earlier there are going to be some rusty athletes on display but nevertheless the black and gold of WADAC vests will of course be represented over the course of the two day event.

Good luck to those WADAC athletes taking part.

Charlie breaks his own club record

Well the track & field season didn’t take a break for long did it. Throws are the one event group that continue to compete outdoors in the Winter months and Charlie Elford-Pond (coach Eric Davison) took advantage of this. With complete disregard for a wet throwing circle, Charlie threw 59.79m in the Winter throws event in Basingstoke on Saturday to break his own U20 club record and if this had been a World Athletics permit event would have seen Charlie break into the European top 100 in the World Athletics seasons lists.

Charlie’s return to form is a great reward for the hard work he puts in nearly always been the very last athlete to leave the track on a Thursday night and with Charlie remaining in the U20 age group for a further 2 years this will be the first of many records to come.

Results from Sunday's Open Meeting

All on Opentrack

The results both track & field from Sunday's open meeting can be seen on Opentrack through the link below.

https://data.opentrack.run/en-gb/x/2023/GBR/wadacseptemberopen23/

There was an issue that was entirely my fault with numbers 201-250 on the day and Opentrack therefore does not show all of the results for competitors due to wear these numbers but rest assured the results will be correctly reflected on pof10 and will appear on pof10 within the next day or so.

Casper breaks age group club record

Results from Watford

Casper Wilson (coach Nick Anderson) broke the club's U15B 3000m record in the Watford Open on Wednesday evening. Casper has been targetting the record since his apprearance at the national age group champs and his time of 9 mins 29.30 secs takes 5 secs off the previous mark held by training partner Ruben Price. Harry Wilson (coach Nick Anderson) returned to action at the same distance after a season ruined by injury and it was fantastic to see Harry run a pb in his one and only track & field race of the year.

Last Sunday at the Portsmouth Open, a number of Winchester athletes were in action and notable performances came from training partners Felix Bowyer and Hayden Rogers (both coached by Dave Sherry) who ran pb's in the 200m despite the strong negative wind which can often be a feature at the Mountbatten track. The wind put paid to some other pb's but Phillip Krinks (coach Dave Sherry) ran well in the 100m. Owen Watts (coach David Vosser) ran a seasons best time in the 800m as well as competing in the 200m and training partner Tim Smales (coach David Vosser) also ran a nice 800m time in the same race. Ethan Skipwith (coach Niock Anderson) smashed his 1500m pb returning from injury to run 4 mins 25.75 secs.

Lucy breaks British record

Results from Aldershot last Thursday

Lucy Elliott (coach David Vosser) broke the V55 British Masters 3000m record on Thursday at the AFD Open Meeting at the military stadium in Aldershot.

Lucy clearly has a love of the track at Aldershot as she ran a time of 10 mins 08.58 secs which beats the time she set at the same meeting last year which was outside the british record. The British Masters Athletics federation website has already been updated with Lucy's new record which sits proudly alongside the 5000m record she set at Tooting Bec last year and the V70 200m record that Moira West set earlier in the season at our home track in Winchester. Both records can be seen through the link below.

https://bmaf.org.uk/outdoor-track-records/

This wasn't the only WADAC performance that night. Derek has already reported on the walkers but Philip Krinks (coach Dave Sherry) ran a huge new pb in the 200m as did Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) going 3rd on the clubs all time U17W age group list with a time of 24.84 secs. Training partner Laura Clark (coach Mark Upton) ran just outside her pb and Owen Watts (coach David Vosser) also ran a 200m pb of 25.18 secs breaking the clubs masters V35 record in the process. Vicky Gill (coach David Vosser) ran just outside her seasons best time in the 1500m.

Aldershot Open Track & Field Meeting on Thursday 17th August (includes Racewalk event)

Full event listing

The third of the Summer open series takes place on Thursday 17th August at the Aldershot Military Stadium and includes a 2000 metre Racewalk.

Event schedule is as follows:-

18:00 2000m Walk U13 and older age groups

18:15 150m U11 only

18:30 200m U13 and older age groups

18:55 1000m U11 only

19:00 1500m U13 and older age groups

20:00 3000m U13 and older age groups


18:00 Javelin U13 and older age groups

19:00 Shot Put U13 and older age groups

Under 15s can enter either the 1500m or 3000m but not both

Entries close on Monday 14th August or when events are full

Entries via race-results.co.uk

Results from Watford last night

Will Atkins (coach Nick Anderson) continues to impress this season as he put down another PB at the Watford Open graded meeting yesterday.

Running in race 7 of the 1500m in dreadful conditions, Will ran a pb of 3 min 57.01 secs to improve his time in 2nd place on the clubs all time U17 mens list.

Harry Wilson set the club record just last year and Will still has 2 months of the track & field season left to make up the 1.5 secs required to overtake Harry whose record stands at 3 mins 55.69 secs.

Track and Field Catch Up

Quad kids retain Wessex League title

I am now back from holiday so track & field news can continue and there is a lot to catch up on which is going to take me a few days but I'll try to work through the action over the last few weeks chronologically.

The last of the clubs Wessex league matches took place on the Isle of Wight on the 2nd July and the clubs youngest athletes the U11's won both the girls & boys quad kids matches and with it defended the overall quad kids Wessex league title that they won last year finishing nearly 500 points ahead of nearest rivals Swindon. In addition, the leading and third place individual boys throughout the league came from Winchester with Declan Dew (U11 academy) winning the individual boys quad kids title and Samuel Barton (U11 academy) in 3rd place.

The U11's academy continues to be a great foundation for the club and huge congratulations to all the coaches and parent helpers who make it such a success. The Wessex league quadkids table makes great reading and can be found through the link below.

https://www.wessexleaguetandf.co.uk/league_table.htm

On the same day in Oxford the South of England Senior & U20 inter-counties championships took place with Alex Beck (coach Mark Upton) winning the U20 mens 400m title and Laura Clark (coach Mark Upton) coming 2nd in the senior womens 400m. Sam Clifton (coach Jeremey Clifton) won the senior mens hammer and Charlie Elford-Pond (coach Eric Davison) won the U20 mens title and was 6th in javelin. Jasmine Gordon (Martin McBriar) was 6th in the U20 womens javelin. Gus Bowden (coach Andy Fisher) was the other Winchester athlete to wear the green & white Hampshire Athletics vest but unfornately no heighted in the U20 mens HJ.

The next day in Nuneaton (3rd July) the National Prer schools champs took place in Nuneaton where Darcey Thorne-Henderson (coach Martin McBriar) won silver in shot and discus.

12 WADAC Runners record PBs at the BMC Event in Winchester

In an effort to bring quality track racing to Winchester and give the club's athletes some great opportunities to run against strong fields at our home club, last night WADAC hosted its first British Milers Club event.

From Seb Coe to Jake Wightman, the BMC has played a vital part in developing athletes' careers with opportunities for athletes to compete against some great competition.

The Winchester meet did not disappoint, with 92 athletes from 28 different clubs turning up to race.

With the weather holding out for perfect conditions, an amazing 51 of the 92 athletes recorded a PB.

Amongst those were no fewer than 12 Winchester athletes who recorded a PB (Will Boutwood, Thomas Jacobs, Thomas Evans, Eddie Chambers, Ieuan Thomas, Seb Murray, Casper Wilson, Tom Savill, Fran Joslin, Rosie Sharrock, Will Atkins and Ruben Price).

In the 1500, special mentions must go to Will Boutwood, who dipped below 4 mins for the first time with a run of 3:57, and Thomas Jacobs, who ran a 4:04.

In the 3k, special mentions for Ruben Price, who ran a PB of 21 seconds to record a time of 8:46.3 and Will Atkins 8:35, which will rank them 10th and 3rd in the Power of 10 when the rankings are updated.

Thank you to all those that turned out to race, to the officials for making the event happen, to Andy Fisher for hosting the meet, and to Bella Wilson, Annie Mann, Luke Shaw and Ben Brown, who did a suburb job of pacing to enable the runners to PB!.

We are looking forward to the next one!