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Any interested athletes, please contact Bob Hughes
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With six runners needed to complete a scoring team they were able to scramble out that many on the day so it was vital that none of the six dropped out during the race or it would have meant instant relegation to the lower division but such was the team spirit that it would have taken broken bones to force any of the athletes to pull out.
With the course being three laps of two miles each it was Chris Powner and Rob Little that were the front runners for C&S with both athletes in the top six early on with team mates Paul Lester, James Houghton, Craig Pearson and Dave Constance running well in the middle of the pack. Going into the second lap both Powner and Little started to gradually move through the athletes in front to be placed in the top four at the end of lap two with Powner second and Little fourth while the rest of the team were also moving through the ranks quite strongly.
Although the leading pair closed slightly on the opposition in front of them they were unable to make any improvement so it was Powner that finished in second place on the day, but he now actually leads the division after two meetings, and Little in fourth place also striving for a medal at the end of the series. Giving these two great support and helping the team take sixth place overall were Paul Lester in 19th place James Houghton 23rd, Craig Pearson 31st with Dave Constance returning in 87th.
The team who did not fair too well on the first round in Birmingham produced an outstanding effort this time to move from ninth place overall to sixth place overall
Bob Hughes - Team Manager
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If any member would like to be considered for one of these places, please contact Karen Moody by e-mail to kazmoody@yahoo.co.uk by 20th December 2006. A decision will be made on their allocation shortly thereafter.
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The fixture dates are: Thursday 3rd May 2007 at Burton Wednesday 13th June 2007 at Stoke Thursday 12th July 2007 at Wolverhampton Wednesday 8th August 2007 at Sutton Coldfield
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In the first round at Birmingham he was placed in a superb second place so he needed to go one better to take first place overall and with further meetings at Cardiff and Nottingham he has set himself up for what could be a memorable victory. From the gun Chris moved to the front with four other rivals keeping him company, these five moved steadily away from the rest of the pack and at the end of the first of the two laps it was down to three runners all capable of winning the race. Starting the second lap Chris had David Forrester of Wigan and Scott Hawkins of Kilbarchan close at hand but as the pace quickened Hawkins dropped away leaving the remaining two to fight for the victory and turning into the long home straight they were side by side but with a hundred metres to go Harvey produced on of his devastating bursts of speed, which he has used to great effect on the track this summer, to cross the line ahead of Forrester and as stated he is now the clear overall leader. Other athletes taking the trip to Liverpool were Rachel Atherton who competed in the under 15 girl’s race and such was the quality of the opposition which included most of the country’s top runners she still finished in a creditable 46th place. In the under 13 boys Ashley Wickett also ran well against top opposition crossing the line in an excellent 19th place showing his steady improvement over the cross country. Bob Hughes UK Athletics Coach and Team Manager
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It was in February that we first learned the council planned to sell off the land our track is built on for housing. They promised to build like-for-like facilities elsewhere. Since then there has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes by your committee to guarantee that the new facilities do match those we have now at Pye Green Road.
The latest situation is that the council has agreed with Blake Valley Technology College that the track and field facilities will be built on the playing fields at the back of their school. We, as a club, are now waiting to start meeting with the council and the school to decide exactly what is built and the timescale of the works. The one thing we have repeatedly argued for - and will continue to do so - is a seamless transition ie Cannock Stadium stays open until the new facilities are up and running.
At Rowley Park in Stafford, we started to hire the track on a block-booking basis from April, which means we pay quarterly and collect in money from athletes on training nights - as at Cannock. This appears to be working well and thanks go to Simon Evans, Andy Weetman, Terry Faulkner and Bob Hughes, among others, for collecting the money in.
The club is in a far healthier state financially than it has been for a number of years and thanks go to Clive Watson, our treasurer, and Carole Jones, our membership secretary for all their efforts. While we're thanking people, mention must also be made of John Atherton for his twice-weekly stints collecting money at the front desk in Cannock and to the team of people who man the kitchen every Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks, too, to Steve Haywood, who has stepped down after maintaining our website for a number of years, and to Shaun Ainge, who has kindly agreed to take over from him.
Back to the athletics and it has been an enjoyable and successful year for Cannock & Stafford. We again made it to the Young Athletes League Finals weekend and finished a highly creditable fifth in the Auxiliary with a large clutch of medals and an Athlete of the Match in Chris Harvey.
A number of club members were picked to represent Staffordshire at the England Schools Championships in Gateshead in July and turned in some fine performances. Well done to them all.
The veterans section also had an excellent year with both men and women reaching the finals weekend. Derek Fellows has written a comprehensive round up of the season, which can be found on the website. Thanks to Dave Constance, Sue Kneill-Boxley and Alison George for doing such a great job in running the teams.
The one area we seemed to struggle on in 2006 was the men's and women's senior teams. As with other clubs, we find that athletes tend to drift away in their late teens - whether to college, to work, to other sports or out of athletics altogether - and this weakens our senior teams. It is an area to concentrate on in 2007.
Thanks to Bob Hughes and John Turner for their efforts in managing the teams. Thanks, too, to Carol Denning and Carol Clague, who managed the girls team in the Young Athletes League.
We held three meetings at Cannock in the summer - for the Young Athletes League, the Junior League and the Men's League. Thanks to Rose Dainty for providing refreshments, all who helped and to Mark Faulkner who organised the officials. Mark also deserves our thansk for his role in the 2006 Milford 21, the cross country race we organise over Cannock Chase each March. This year we raised about £1,000 for club funds. Sunday March 4, 2007 is the date - volunteers welcome!
The last vote of thanks goes to Karen Moody, our secretary, and Derek Fellows, our President, who do so much unseen work, and to our coaches and committee members who put in so much (voluntary) effort to help athletes.
Here's to a successful 2007
Gary Denning
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Cannock & Stafford take their place in the Central Division alongside: Border Olympians, City of Stoke, Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers, Halesowen, Solihull & Small Heath, Telford and Wolverhampton & Bilston.
The Provisional dates for the meetings are 29th April at Halesowen; 27th May at Wolverhampton & Bilston; 1st July at Dudley & Stourbridge Harriers and 29th July at Solihull & Small Heath.
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This fantastic performance helped her age group win the team gold.
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Congratulations and Best Wishes Christine!
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The race consists of a 21 mile run across Cannock Chase and apart from the prestige of completing the course, the first three men and first three women will receive prizes. Prizes are also awarded for veteran age groups.
Entry fees: £9 attached, £11 unattached - pre-booked. £11 attached, £13 unattached - on the day
For further details, contact Gary Denning on 01543 371830
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On Saturday the senior men and women were looking to qualify for the National Relays to be held in October also at Sutton Park. With six competitors in the men’s race the target was to finish in the top twenty teams to qualify for the Nationals and they did easily finishing 15th team overall. Tom Humphries again proved he is one of the best runners in the country with the fastest leg time against all of the top clubs in the Midlands. Craig Pearson was first leg runner returning in 34th place in a time of 20 minutes and eight seconds handing over to Chris Powner who overtook nineteen runners to finish his leg in 15th place in 18.35. Taking over on third was Humphries who stormed round the three and a half mile course in the days best time of 17.24 overtaking nine athletes to cross the line in 6th place. Going fourth was Paul Lester running a good lap in 19.57 and finishing in seventh spot handing over to James Houghton who ran 20.23 coming tenth giving last leg runner Dave Constance the job of keeping the club in qualifying position which he did in 15th place in a time of 21 .40.
The senior ladies also performed well as they finished in a brilliant eighth place with Sue Harper finishing 29th in 17.15 giving Stacey Johnson the chance to overtake 20 athletes to finish ninth in 15.16. Third leg was Sarah Pickering finishing tenth in 16.57 handing over to Christine Kilkenny who took two runners to finish in eighth place in 16.43
The under 13 boys were the only team to take medals as they finished third with outstanding runs from Jack Lockett 14.35, 3rd, George Smallman 15.58, 5th, with Ashley Wicketts 14.43, 3rd. The under 15 girls were 8th, Rebecca Cooke 16.18, 14th, Rebecca Bray 16.19, 12th and Rachel Atherton 15.32, 8th. The under 15 boys were 14th Huw Owens 14.15, 10th, Alex Jackson 15.03, 14th, and Ryan Bromley 15.24 also 14th. The under 13 girls were 9th, Shanie Read 16.24, 8th, Jade Bird, 16.25, 6th and Harriett Jones 17.32, 9th.
Cally Read was the only under 17 C&S runner but she performed brilliantly to finish in the second best time of 14.10 finishing well clear on the first lap.
Yours in Sport
Bob Hughes UK Athletics Coach and C&S Team Manager
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Consequently, a FREE course has been organised for new officials on 5th November at Rowley Park, Stafford (10.30am - 3-00pm). You don't need any prior experience and the course will enable you to:
For an application form please contact Catherine Pendlebury at Sport Across Staffordshire on 01785 619 606, e-mail cpendlebury@staffordbc.gov.uk or see Gary Denning on track nights at Cannock
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One week later the North Staffs Road Running Association held their annual awards presentation at Burslem cricket club at Stoke and again Dot came away with three trophies, including veteran female runner of the year, one of the association’s major awards. This is the 10th major award from the association and only one other runner (Christine Kilkenny) has achieved more in their 30 year history.
On Sunday 22nd January the Midland Veterans held their cross country championships at Perry Barr Birmingham, Christine Kilkenny led the team home with a tremendous performance finishing 4th overall in the women’s race and winning the W50 gold medal. Dot was 9th overall and won the W60 gold medal and they were backed up by Chris Rollason racing for the first time in 12 months who finished 16th and took the W50 bronze medal, the placings were sufficient to give the team the gold medal in the W45 section. Lawrence Kilkenny contested the men’s championship, but on this occasion was unplaced and out of the medals.
5th March saw a clash of championships with the indoors taking place in Cardiff and the cross country in Bournemouth. In Cardiff Alison George started her campaign with a bronze medal in the W40 shot throwing just short of 10 metres, Gary Myles went one better picking up silver in the M40 60m hurdles with a time of 8.81secs. Shaun Ainge contested the M40 pentathlon and finished a creditable 5th. At Bournemouth we were represented by Dave Constance and Dot Fellows, Dave put in a strong performance but finished out of the medals but Dot, running in the W60 group put in a dominating performance and finished up with a gold medal in her age group winning by over two and a half minutes.
The first week in May saw the Uttoxeter half marathon take place, and this was the race selected for the county championship at that distance. Chris Kilkenny ran a superb race finishing third in the championship and winning the W50 gold medal, Dot ran her usual steady race and was rewarded with the gold medal in the W60 age group.
The 10th of May saw the start of the veterans track & field season at Telford with our teams under new management, our men’s team had two individual winners with Martin Roberts winning the M40 Hammer and Shaun Ainge winning the M40 400m “B” race. Though those were the only victories from our men, we were consistently featuring near the top of the results and managed a fine second place overall beaten only by last years champions Stoke. In placing second we achieved our very first triumph over Royal Sutton Coldfield who have been one of the top teams in the league for a very long time. Our women’s team had 6 individual wins with new team manager Alison George showing the way with victories in the W35 Shot putt and Javelin competitions, assistant team manager Sue Kneill-Boxley succeeded in the W35 1500m B race, Chris Kilkenny ran and won a rare 400m race and Dot Fellows had victories in the 2k walk “B” race and also the W45 1500metres. In spite of all of these victories we were edged into second place on the night by 2 points by royal Sutton. Overall I would say that both teams have made promising starts to the season.
Towards the end of May we fielded a female team in the British Masters road relay championships held at Sutton Park. Though we had two athletes in their fifties and one in her sixties they were actually contesting the W45 race. Chris Rollason got the team off to a fine start and came back in 4th position overall in the W45s, she handed over to Christine Kilkenny who stormed round the course in a time that was to give her 3rd fastest time of the race and win her an individual bronze medal for that achievement, she lifted the club into 3rd place and handed over to Dot Fellows who was giving 16 years to some of her competitors, and despite a strong run from Dot she slipped back to 4th and a place just outside the medals. Considering the age differences this was a tremendous team performance and shows just how strong our veteran middle distance runners are, remember that this was a national championship.
The 7th June saw the start of a busy period of competition with the second round of the track and field league held at Stoke. In the men’s competition our team continued their fine improvement and again finished second to a strong Stoke team, Terry Faulkner provided our only win of the night in the M60 800m but with several athletes finishing second in their events, Andy Weetman M40A 200m, Paul Edwards M40B 200m, Brian Peacock M40B 3000m, Kristian Lundby M50 Javelin and our 4 x 100m relay team we now sit second in the division with a healthy 4 point cushion to the next clubs, with the top 2 to qualify for the “A” cup final at the end of the season our men have put themselves into a strong position. Our women’s team perhaps still smarting from a narrow 2 points defeat to RSC in the first meeting came out with all guns blazing and a string of victories saw them win the second meeting and go top of the league after 2 fixtures. Anne Wainwright recorded 2 wins in the W45 200m and W50 long jump, Sue Kneill-Boxley had two fine victories in the W35B 800m and W35B 3000m, Dot Fellows likewise had victories in the W50 800m and W50 3000m, Gillian Russon had an excellent win in the W35 2k Walk, Christine Kilkenny won the W35A 3000m (Even though she is in her 50s) and team manager Alison George rounded it off nicely with success in the W35 Discus.
On the 11th June we had a strong representation at the Midland Masters Track & Field Championships held at Solihull, a total of 15 medals were won with 11 gold and 4 silvers. Paul Edwards contesting his first championship had a win in the M45 110m hurdles and silvers in the 400 hurdles & 200m, Terry Faulkner had victories in the M60 400m & 800m, Shaun Ainge had gold in the M40 High Jump(A seasons best) and silver in the long jump (It was hard to decide which gave him most pleasure), Alison George in a busy afternoon had gold in the W40 Shot, and silver in the Hammer and Javelin, Martin Roberts had his customary win in the M45 Hammer and Gary Myles stormed to victory in the M40 Hurdles. Sue Kneill-Boxley had a strong run in the W40 1500m to secure the gold medal and Christine Kilkenny, Dave Constance and Les Green all won their respective age groups in the 5000m. Christine’s run was particularly dominant. All in all it was a fine day for the club with us showing our strongest representation at these championships for a number of years, well done to all who took part.
The 18th June saw the BMAF 5k road racing championship held at Horwich and we had two representatives from our club competing, Dave Constance ran a strong race in the M40 section but was unplaced, Dot last year ran an age group course record when winning her age group, but even though she ran seven seconds quicker this year she had to settle for the silver medal in a highly competitive race. One week later and Dot was contesting the Staffs County 10k road championships held at Stone and she successfully defended her W60 title for the third year running.
On the weekend of 8th/9th July BMAF held their track & field championships at Birchfield’s Alexander Stadium and once again our women showed the way winning 2 gold medals, Christine Kilkenny won the W50 10,000m whilst Alison George had success in her main event the shot put and also won the silver medal in the weight competition. Martin Roberts had to settle for 2 silver medals in the M45 Hammer and weight competitions, Terry Faulkner ran a superb 400m in the M65 category and was only beaten by the European silver medalist in the last few strides, a tremendous effort which drew applause from the crowds watching in the stands. Gary Myles contested the 110 hurdles and came away with a bronze medal. There were also strong performances by Andy Weetman and Dave Constance although on this occasion they both finished outside of the medals.
With competitions coming thick and fast, the third round of the veteran’s league fixtures was held at Wolverhamptons’ Aldersley Stadium on 11th July. Our women’s team continued to dominate and were again convincing winners. There were victories for Anne Wainwright in the W45 100m, Dot fellows in the 2k walk, W50 400m and W50 3000m, Sue Kneill-Boxley tasted success in the W35 1500m and Gillian Russon was victorious in the Long Jump, in turn they were backed up with the team having 5 second place finishes and 6 third places, truly a team performance. The men’s team found victories hard to come by but Gary Myles in the 100m and team manager Dave Constance in the 1500m both had outstanding wins, again they were well backed up by the rest of the team and managed to finish second on the night and all but secure qualification for the “A” cup final later in the season. The 4th and final round of league fixtures was held at Sutton on 9th August and our ladies team again took the honours by becoming Northern league champions for the 4th year in succession, such was their domination that in this final league fixture none of our athletes finished out of the first 3 in any event. Anne Wainwright won the W50 200m, Christine Kilkenny won the W45 800m, Gillian Russon won the W35 2k Walk and Triple Jump, Sue Kneill-Boxley tasted success in the W35B 3000m and Chris Rollason won the W45 3000m. A lot of credit for the teams continued success must go to the new team management team of Alison George and Sue Kneill-Boxley, well done to both of you. Our men’s team only had to avoid a complete disaster in the last fixture to qualify for the “A” cup final in their own right and this they duly achieved. Again individual victories were hard to come by and only Paul Edwards in the 400m and Chris Hollinshead in the 3000m were to accomplish 1st places, they were however well supported by the rest of the team to finish 3rd on the night and secured the all important 2nd place in the league to a powerful Stoke side. Again our men’s team is under new management with Dave Constance taking over the reins and having qualified for the cup final in their own right for the first time it is obvious that team progress has been made, well done Dave.
The cup final was held at Solihull on 3rd September and just when we needed to get our strongest teams out, both teams suffered selection problems with several of our top athletes unavailable through illness or holidays. Our women’s team was missing Christine Kilkenny and Tracy Gee whilst Anne Wainwright was unable to run and Dot Fellows was far from fit. Even with a much depleted team the girls performed magnificently to finish 3rd overall behind full strength Birchfield and Rugby Lions teams. Equally our men’s team suffered through athletes being unavailable or injured, we had Andy Weetman, Chris Hollinshead, Ian Evans, Gary Denning and Terry Faulkner all missing whilst Paul Edwards ran with a broken arm and Shaun Ainge competed in the jumps but could not race on the track. As you can imagine with such a catalogue of disasters it was amazing that on the day we only had 4 gaps and we do not have sufficient strength in depth to overcome losing so many athletes, still our men competed well and equaled their best ever finish in the “A” final with 8th place, this year however they qualified for the “A” final in their own right and not as one of the best placed 3rd teams so obviously progress has been made. It was worth noting that in the finals our athletes set twelve veteran age group club records and over the course of the season no fewer than 43 new age group club records were set (these are only the ones I know about, there could be more).
So a highly successful cross country and track and field season comes to an end and both our men and women’s teams can be proud of the way that they have competed this year.
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 03-09-06
NYAL Final (Aux)We enjoyed great success against some of the best young athletes in the country at the weekend in the Young Athletes League national finals at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Cannock & Stafford finished fifth in the Auxiliary Final, ranking us 13th in the country out of more than 300. Chris Harvey was male track athlete of the match after winning the under-17 800m and 1500m and anchoring the 4 x 400m relay team to a silver medal. We had other gold medal successes against some big clubs such as Sale Harriers, City of Leeds and Shaftesbury and Barnet Harriers. Well done to everybody who competed at the finals and all the League matches. Thanks, too, to Bob Hughes, John Turner, Carol Clague and Carol Denning on the day and all the coaches and parents who helped us to reach the finals again. For a small club like ours it is a great achievement. MEDAL WINNERS Gold: Chris Harvey - U17 men's 800m A; Sam Evans - U17 men's 800m B; Chris Harvey - U17 men's 1500m A; Adam Lampitt - U15 boys 400m B; Ashley Graham - U15 boys shot putt B; Ashley Wicketts - U13 boys 800m B; Katie Silcox - U17 women's 300m B; Cally Read - U17 women's 800m A; Harriet Tompson - U15 girls 75m H A; Jodie Murphy - U15 girls javelin B; Beth Denning - U13 girls shot putt B. Silver: Keiron Walsh - U17 men's 400m hurdles A; Josh Tunnicliffe - U17 men's hammer B; Chad Barton - U17 men's javelin A; Sam Derry - U17 men's javelin B; Adam Rigby - U17 men's high jump A; Chad Barton - U17 men's high jump B; Daniel Millerchip - U15 boys hammer A; Ashley Graham - U15 boys hammer B; George Smallman - U13 boys 800m A; Jack Lockett - U13 boys 1500m A; Cally Read - U17 women's 1500m A; Leanne Jones - U17 women's long jump B; Laura Simmonds - U17 women's triple jump A; Elisha Bateman - U15 girls 75m H B; Gemma Smith - U15 girls long jump A; Isabel Rogers - U15 girls long jump B; Jane Bourne - U15 girls discus B; Jade Bird - U13 girls 1200m B; Georgie Chandler - U13 girls shot putt; Gemma Smith/ Elisha Bateman/ Isabel Rogers/ Harriet Tompson - U15 girls 4x100m. Bronze: Guy Mayer - U17 men's 100m A; Matthew Shaw - U15 boys 100m B; Matthew Gwylam - U15 boys 400m A; Alex Jackson - U15 boys 800m A; Daniel Millerchip - U15 boys discus A; Toby Bowett - U15 boys long jump B; Alistair Rigby - U15 boys high jump B; Craig Ridgeway - U15 boys pole vault A; Katie Silcox - U17 women's 200m B; Emma Barton - U17 women's 300m H B; Catherine Hele - U17 women's hammer B; Laura Simmonds - U17 women's long jump A; Katie Silcox - U17 women's triple jump B; Shanie Read - U13 girls 1200m A; Harriet Jones - U13 girls high jump A; Lucy Dubberley/ Hannah Greaves/ Cally Read/ Natalie Edwards - U17 women's 4x300m relay; Adam Smith/ Jamie Waring/ Sam Evans/ Chris Harvey - U17 4x400m men's relay. |
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23-08-06
Club Prize Night - Thursday 7th September 2006 We have decided to hold a prize presentation night to cover the winter season 2005/06 and the summer season 2006. The night is Thursday September 7 (6.45 for 7pm start) at Cannock Civic Centre. Former Olympic athlete Keri Maddox, an ex-Cannock & Stafford AC member, has agreed to be our guest speaker and to present the prizes. Tickets are priced at £5 each and include a buffet and a disco. They are available from the front desk at Cannock Stadium each Tuesday or Thursday or from Gary Denning on 01543 371830 or from Karen Moody on 01543 685057. Categories include male and female young, senior, disabled and veteran athletes. We hope you can come along. |
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18-08-06
A Message from your Chairman After three months of little communication, the council has finally contacted us regarding the future of Cannock Stadium. In the week commencing July 10, a group of councillors and council officers met representatives of Blake Technology College to consider the finer details of relocation our track and field facilities to the school. They believe there is enough space at the rear of the college to accommodate all we need. The next step is for us to become involved as a club. Rest assured that the committee will be fighting tooth and nail to ensure the new facilities are on a par with – and hopefully better – than those we have now. As for timescale, the council says it is looking to have the new track in place by summer of next year. That may be ambitious. The real bone of contention is the short-term future of our present home. We have always argued that the Pye Green Road Stadium should stay open until the very day any new facilities are up and running. We will continue to do so. We took over the hire of Rowley Park on a block booking basis from April. Previously members had paid at a trackside kiosk. So far we have managed to more than break even each month, which is all we were aiming for Thanks to Simon Evans, Bob Hughes, Andy Weetman, Terry Faulkner and all the other coaches for collecting in the cash each club night. It's a pain but it really does help the club, and it means we can continue to offer facilities twice a week at a very reasonable cost. At Cannock we have been hiring the stadium on Tuesdays and Thursdays for more than a year now. Again we are managing to break even with any surplus helping to pay for Young Athletes League coach trips and minibuses for the Junior League and men's and women's League matches. Thanks to John Atherton, a fixture on the door every week and to John Turner who regularly brings in £20 from his Tuesday night Junior session. Thanks too, to Karen, Carol, Maggie, Mandy, Lesley, Alison, Lynne and Trevor for manning the kitchen through the week and to Rose for doing a superb job at the matches we have hosted this year and at the many schools meetings we have opened the kitchen for. We have decided to hold a prize presentation night to cover the winter season 2005/06 and the summer season 2006. The night is Thursday September 7 (6.45 for 7pm start) at Cannock Civic Centre. Former Olympic athlete Keri Maddox, an ex-Cannock & Stafford AC member, has agreed to be our guest speaker and to present the prizes. Tickets are priced at £5 each and include a buffet and a disco. They are available from the front desk at Cannock Stadium each Tuesday or Thursday or from Gary Denning on 01543 371830 or from Karen Moody on 01543 685057. Categories include male and female young, senior, disabled and veteran athletes. We hope you can come along. We are still awaiting official confirmation, but we have heard through the grapevine that Cannock & Stafford AC has achieved Clubmark status. This reflects the way the club is run and the way it takes care of its members. Thanks to Nick Cooke (and wife Ruth) who put in so much effort in gathering evidence and form-filling through the winter. As well as helping us to set our standards as a club, the Clubmark award will also hopefully open the door to obtaining cash through grants. On that subject, thanks also go to Roger Walker who obtained a donation to the club of £425 from his employers British Telecom. We do have some club vests in stock. On order are women's small and medium crop tops and men's large and extra large. They should be with us by mid-August – hopefully in time for the Young Athletes League finals weekend! See Carol Denning if you need to buy one (£13.50 each), Tel: 01543 371830. Congratulations to Jamie Graham who has been called up by the England team after a successful Grand Prix at Blackpool. Jamie has also been turning in some fine performances for the YAL and Junior League teams. Not be outdone, Martin Crutchley has been selected to represent Great Britain at the International Paralympic Committee European Championships in Holland in September. We wish them both luck. We are always looking for new coaches. If any athletes/parents fancy going on a course, the club will find the funds. All we ask is that the skills you learn are used to coach athletes at OUR club. Contact Gary Denning (01543 371830) for details. Congratulations to our 13 young athletes who were selected to compete at the English Schools Championships. They represented Staffordshire against some of the top talent in the country in Gateshead on July 6 and 7. In the girls, sprints Abbi Tyson was joined by middle distance runner Cally Read and hurdlers Harriet Thompson and Elisha Bateman. Laura Simmonds, Isabel Rogers and Gemma Smith were selected for the long jump with Chloe Boutler being picked in the high jump. Chris Harvey and Huw Owens went in the middle distance events for the boys, Dan Nash was picked for the high jump, Dan Millerchip the hammer and James Edwards the long jump. Well done to all 13. Cannock & Stafford veterans had a successful time at the Midland Veterans Championships at Solihull. Alison George led the way for the women with gold in the shot putt and silver in the hammer and javelin. Susan Kneill-Boxley took gold in the 1500 metres in her age group and Christine Kilkenny did likewise in the 5000 metres. For the men, Gary Myles and Paul Edwards won their respective age groups in the 110m hurdles and Dave Constance took gold in the 5000 metres. Les Green also won his age group 5000 metres and Edwards added to his medal haul with a silver in the 200 metres. Shaun Ainge took gold in the high jump and silver in the long jump while Martin Roberts won his category in the hammer. Terry Faulkner picked up a fine brace of golds with victory in the 400 metres and 800 metres. Thank you to all those who have helped the club at meetings this summer, whether on the track or field or serving in the kitchen. Special thanks to Bob Hughes, John Turner, Carol Denning, Dave Constance and Alison George for all their efforts as team managers. |
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28-05-06
Midland U15 / U17 Track & Field Championships 2006 Young athletes from Cannock & Stafford Athletic club had a very successful time last weekend when several they travelled to Birmingham for the Midland Championships. With athletes needing to attain qualifying times for the All England Schools finals at Gateshead in July this was the perfect opportunity to gain the required standards. Chris Harvey took the 800 metres and the 1500 metres titles with brilliant performances in both races with times of 1minute and 58 seconds in the 800 and 4 minutes and 5 seconds in the 1500 completely dominating both races against the best that the rest of the midlands could provide. Harriet Thompson in the under 15 girls 75metre hurdles proved that she is the one that the rest of the country must beat in the major championships this year as she destroyed a high class field to take the championship title with clubmate and traing partner Elisha Bateman also producing a fantastic effort to take the silver medal. In the under 17 ladies long jump and triple jump Laura Simmonds had a highly successful time as she took the gold medal in the long jump and silver in the Triple jump. Cally Read although only in her first year in the under 17 age group and training partner to Chris Harvey took on athletes twelve months older than herself and came away with excellent achievements taking silver in the 800 and bronze in the 1500. Further long jump success came from Isabel Rogers as she took the under 15 girls title leaving it a little bit late as she secured the title with her sixth and final attempt. Training partner Gemma Smith took a well deserved bronze medal. Huw Owens, not to be outdone by training partners Harvey and Read, was another gold medal winner as he took the under 15 boys 800 metre title to seal a great day for the middle distance squad coached by Bob Hughes. A bronze medal went to Adam Rigby for the under 17 mens High jump jumping a personal best of 1metre 85. Sam Gibbs was a bronze medal winner in the under 17 boys 100 hurdles as was Dan Millerchip in the under 15 boys Discus C&S athletes qualifying for finals were Sam Evans ( Under 17 men 800mts) Lucy Dubberley ( U17 Ladies 300mts) and Hollie Allen (U15 girls 200). |
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26-03-06
Save Our Stadium!!!!! All members, As many of you will be aware, Cannock Chase District Council has voted to close Cannock Stadium on October 1, 2006. This has obviously come as a real bombshell to us as a club and we, as your committee, have vowed to fight tooth and nail to have the decision overturned. There was no consultation with us before the announcement was made and, from our enquiries, the decision has been made on financial grounds. Long term, the council is looking to sell off the land for housing. Obviously, closing the stadium in October would have a massive effect on our club and a concerted campaign has been started to save the stadium. We hope all members can play a part in the fight. Last week we had some excellent coverage in the local press and we will try to maintain this to keep the council under pressure. We are also compiling a petition and your help would be appreciated. A loose sheet is attached – if you could copy this and fill as many as possible and return them to the stadium on a Tuesday or Thursday night or by post to me at 16 Berryfields, Stonnall, Staffordshire WS9 9EJ, we can build up a substantial number of signatures. Committee members have been sending out letters asking for support – to local MPs, schools which use the stadium, Sport England, UK Athletics, Lord Coe and Sports Ministers – as well as to Cannock Chase District Councillors, asking them which way they voted and their reasons for doing so. We have had offers of support from local sports organisations and we will take them up. With the 2012 Olympics coming to Britain and the current drive to tackle child obesity, we have some compelling reasons for the stadium to stay open. As a committee, we will keep you posted with developments on the club website www.csathletics.com If you have any queries, any suggestions or any offers of help, feel free to call me on my numbers below or talk to any committee member. With thanks, GARY DENNING CHAIRMAN .................................................................................................................................................. |
05-03-06
WMYACCL - Wolverhampton - Team Photo's  Top Left - Rachel Atherton & Cally Read Top Right - Natalie Ainge ,
Beth Clews, Laura Allan, Chole Boulter, Rachel Atherton &
Cally Read |
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12-02-06
Veterans Rankings 2005 C&S have 5 athletes that made the UK Vets Rankings in 2005. View Rankings .................................................................................................................................................. |
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12-02-06
Staffs School's X/C Champs -
Stoke - 04-02-06 Young athletes from Cannock and Stafford Athletic Club took part in the annual Staffordshire Schools Cross Country Championships last weekend at Stoke University hoping to qualify for the All England Championships at Mansfield in March. Two C&S athletes achieved brilliant victories in the Intermediate Girls and Boys competition consisting of year 10 and 11 pupils and Cally Read although only a year 10 athlete, produced an outstanding performance to take the gold medal. From the start Cally moved to the front and on a course of three miles she soon took a clear lead and after two laps on the playing field she crossed the bridge over the river Trent onto a series of hills but having trained on the hills at Milford Common many times this season they proved no problem and returning over the bridge she crossed the line fifty seconds ahead of her nearest rival. Other C&S athletes competing in the Inter Girls race were Kirsty Kelsall with an excellent 8th place and Laura Allan in 17th. The Inter Boys race went the same way as the Girls with Chris Harvey also scoring an emphatic victory leading from start to finish with a brilliant piece of front running reminiscent of another previous schools medallist called Tom Humphries, like Tom Chris is hoping that this year he to will earn an England Vest at the All England Champs. Fellow club mate Sam Evans also running in the Inter race came home in second place to take a splendid silver medal and with Ian McCann sixth these three should make the trip to Mansfield. Hayden Carter a first year in this age group showed promise for next year with a fine fifteenth place with Glyn Owens seventeenth, Ashley Williams eighteenth and Morgan Webberley twentieth. In the year 8 and 9 girls race Rachel Atherton showed tremendous form to finish second behind Katie Holt of Stoke who is predicted to be among the medals at Mansfield so on this performance Rachel can also feel confident of a good showing at the National event in March. C&S provided seven athletes in this race with Becky Cooke hoping her excellent sixth place will book her a place at the All England with Katie Hulme eighth, Chloe Boulter ninth, Rebecca Bray tenth, Hollie Allan fifteenth, Beth Archer 26th and Grace Bowden 35th. The year 8 and 9 boys saw Huw Owens take a great bronze `medal with Alex Jackson 10th, Alex Mason 15th, Chris Perrin 18th, James Perrin 20th, Tom Newman 22nd, Sam Derry 27th, Michael Edwards 34th, Henry Coley-Fisher 37th, and Alister Rigby 39th. In the Year 12 race Rachel Horsley and Emily Upton booked their places for Mansfield with Rachel taking bronze while Emily just missed out in fourth. Finally the year 7 races saw Shanie Read take fourth followed by Amy Winfield in 7th, while in the boy’s race Jack Lockett scored a splendid fifth with Ashley Wicketts 17th, Harvey Wain-Williams 19th and Tom Childs 20th. .................................................................................................................................................. |
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28-01-06
Midland X/C Champs - Leamington Several young athletes from Cannock and Stafford Athletic Club contested the Midland Cross Country Championships last weekend and although there were no medals achieved there were some very good outstanding performances. In the under 15 girls it was the duo of Cally Read and Rachel Atherton who both excelled as they finished just outside the medal positions in fourth and sixth respectively. In a race of almost a hundred runners and a course of just over two miles the pair were always in contention but were unable to get among the medals at the finish. Also running in the race was Chloe Boulter who finished in a creditable 36th but as there was not a fourth finisher who would have give them team medals they were not able to record a team score. The under 13 girls returned in 8th team place with splendid efforts from Becky Cooke in 16th followed by Shanie Read in 42nd, Amy Winfield 46th, Rebecca Bray 48th and Hollie Allan 67th. The under 13 boys also ran well as finished in 13th place with good runs from Alex Mason in 50th followed by Tom Newman 54th, Michael Edwards 78th and Sam Derry 86th. The under 17 Boys were unable to field a team but Chris Harvey ran an excellent race to finish in eighth place with Ian McCann 49th and Glyn Owens 64th. The under 15 Boys were also short of a fourth runner but Huw Owens performed well in 31st with Hayden Carter 61st and Alex Jackson 7th. Finally Emily Upton was the sole runner in the under 20 Ladies finishing in a well earned 17th place. .................................................................................................................................................. |
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16-01-05 Staffordshire
Cross Country Champs Results .................................................................................................................................................. |
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16-01-06
Veterans Annual Report In November of last year Christine Kilkenny was selected to represent England in the veteran's cross-country international held at Croydon. Running in the W50 age group Christine ran a superb race finishing third overall in her age group and and second English scorer, she helped her team to a convincing victory, well done Christine on your selection and performance. On Saturday January 15, Christine helped the Cannock & Stafford senior team to first place in the county cross-country championships held in Sandwell Valley. She was third scorer in the team who were most surprised at their success. On the following day Christine and Dot Fellows contested the Midland Veterans cross-country championship at Birchfield and both were successful in winning their respective age groups, Christine winning the W50 age group and Dot the W60. For the first time in a long time we failed to field a team in this competition and had to settle for individual successes. On the following Friday the North Staffs Road Running Association held their presentation evening and again we had a successful evening with Dot picking up one of the major awards when she was presented with the Veteran Female of the year award, there were also awards for Gillian Russon, Jeanne Bryan and Gill Caldwell. Towards the end of January BMAF held their indoor championships at Cardiff and Anne Wainwright performed brilliantly to win the gold medal in the W50 Pentathlon, during this competition she lowered her PB in the 60m hurdles by two seconds and she gives the credit for this to Gary Myles who has been coaching her over hurdles. I do not normally comment on individual road races but in the Alsager 5miler held in February 2005 Dot ran 34min 21secs which put her top of the W60 all time rankings, breaking a record set in 1996 by 25secs. To say that she was pleased would be slightly understating it. On May 4 Dot and Jeanne ran in the Clayton 10k road race which had been designated as the Staffs championship for that distance. Dot ran 43min 50secs to win the gold medal in the W60 age group and though slightly slower Jeanne beat all of the W55 runners to pick up that gold medal. On the following night the veteran's track & field league started with a meeting at Telford, our women's team was far from full strength on the night with several athletes dropping out at the last minute and to come away with a victory was really quite astonishing. I don't know why I am surprised at our women's team because they always seem to pull out superb performances. There were wins for Anne Wainwright (W50 100m, W45 400m and W45 high jump, Gillian Russon won the W35B 2k Walk, Dot Fellows had wins in the W35A 2k Walk and W45 1500m (setting a league record) and Carol Lowndes won the W35 javelin. With great back up by Christine Kilkenny and Sue Kneill-Boxley this team simply refuses to be beaten. Our men's team competed well and there were victories for Andy Weetman M40A 100m, Gary Myles M40B 100m and Martin Roberts in the M40 Hammer. Terry Faulkner was unfortunate to pull his hamstring in the first event and took no further part in the meeting and with yours truly bombing out in the M60 shot and M50 triple jump (I could not reach the pit) we did well to finish fourth only one point behind Telford. On May 17 Dot was again in record breaking form on the road, whilst competing in the Stone St Michael's 10k she lowered the British record by running 43min 06secs to lower the old record by two seconds. Early in June we contested the second veterans track and field league at Stoke and once again our women rose to the challenge with a succession of victories, Anne Wainwright had wins in the Pole Vault and 200m, Kay Finch, Gillian Russon and Dot Fellows had a clean sweep in the 800m and Sue Johnson, Sue Kneill-Boxley and Dot Fellows repeated the clean sweep in the 3000m. Both of Dots runs were W60 age group League records. Our men's team failed to gain any individual wins but a solid team performance saw them gain third place on the night and move up to third in the league overall. MVAC held their Track & Field Championships at Solihull and again our athletes achieved great success, Shaun Ainge won gold in the M40 High Jump (P.B. 1.65m) Martin Roberts took gold in the M45 Hammer, Alison George took gold in the W40 Shot and Anne Wainwright took gold in the W50 Javelin & Shot. Two weeks later BMAF held their Pentathlon championships at Milton Keynes and Shaun exceeded all of his expectations by securing the Bronze medal in the M40 age group. Anne did likewise in The W50 age group. MVAC held their championship in conjunction with the BMAF event and Shaun took the gold medal with Andy Weetman talking silver, Anne again took gold. BMAF held their 5k Road running championship at Horwich and Dot Fellows won the W60 title in a time of 21min09secs securing her 27th British championship. In the second week in July the veterans held their third round of league fixtures at Stafford with Shaun Ainge securing the only two individual wins (H Jump and 100mB) in the men's team, they finished fourth on the night and remained third overall in the league. Our women's team continued their dominance of their division with a convincing victory at Stafford, Anne Wainwright had victories in the 100m, 400m and Long Jump and was also a member of the winning relay team, Sue Kneill-Boxley, Sue Johnson and Dot Fellows all won their respective age groups in the 100m and for good measure Sue Johnson also won her age group 400m. With one round of fixtures left both teams are in a position to qualify for the "A" cup finals at the end of the season. In the final round of league fixtures in August both teams competed at Wyndley (Sutton). There were no individual wins but a good all round team performance saw our men's team again secure third place. This meeting saw the debut in the veteran's ranks of club chairman Gary Denning who promptly set a veterans club record in the Shot. (Signs of more to come). Our women's team were very much depleted and we went to Sutton with only five athletes, Dot Fellows had three victories (200m, 800m and 3000m) whilst Anne Wainwright had two victories (200m & 800m) their victories were achieved in different age groups, but for the first time in a long time we were unable to cover every event and eventually finished second to RSC. This was sufficient to clinch the Northern division championship for the third successive season and a coveted place in the women's "A" final. When the results of the fixtures in the other divisions came through it became clear that our men's team had also qualified for the "A" final. This is the first time that the men had achieved this and I look on it as a sign of progress by the team. The finals took place at Worcester early in September and just when we wanted our strongest teams out our women's team were reduced to just six athletes, the finals consist of a full athletics programme and last all day, this put a tremendous strain on all of our athletes with wins from Anne Wainwright doing eight events, Sue Kneill-Boxley seven events and Dot Fellows six events bearing the brunt of the work. The team finished a magnificent third on the day only a few points behind favourites Rugby & Northampton and RSC. Dot had wins in the 100m & 3000m Anne won the 200m, 400m and Pole Vault and Alison George won both the Shot and Discus. What a superb team effort by all concerned and I was so proud to be team manager on the day. To draw a comparison RSC had 12 athletes competing in the final and unfortunately for one reason or another we had seven unable to compete. Our expectations in the men's final were a lot lower having secured the eighth qualifying place. Unlike our women we were unable to cover every event and went into the meeting with four gaps. It did not help when yours truly pulled a hamstring in the first field event and this caused me to drop out of two others, not to be outdone Tim Buss then pulled his hamstring in the 3000m and was unable to finish that race and also was unable to do his 1500m. Had we been able to compete in the events that we missed then the men would have finished sixth, a sure sign of progress made during the season but as it was we ended up eighth beaten by five points by RSC and three points by Leamington. At the end of the meeting the teams were presented with their trophies won during the season with our women collecting the shield for divisional champions and Dot was voted the outstanding female athlete in the division. Probably the six league records she set during the season had something to do with it. Just prior to the cup final, the veteran world championships were held in San Sebastion and two of our athletes competed. Alison George competed in two events, the weight throw (8th) and the shot put (14th) whilst Anne Wainwright secured bronze medals in both the Heptathlon and 80m hurdles, this is the highest standard of competition in the veterans section and we are so fortunate to have athletes of such calibre represent us. Such is the team spirit of our women's team that both athletes came back from the world championships early to represent us in the cup final and in Anne's case she almost certainly missed out on two gold medals in the relays. I simply cannot speak too highly of them and the rest of the athletes who have competed for us this season, the team spirit has been first class and it has been a pleasure to have managed them. SUMMARY OF CANNOCK & STAFFORD ACHIEVEMENTS 2005 Alison George W40 Shot BMAF Indoor Silver; Shot MVAC Gold. Christine Kilkenny W50 X/Country Selected to represent England; X/Country MVAC Gold; Road Relays MVAC Gold. Anne Wainwright W50 Pentathlon BMAF Indoor Gold; Long Jump MVAC Gold; Shot MVAC Gold; Javelin MVAC Gold; Penthathlon BMAF Gold; 80m Hurdles World Vets Bronze; Heptathlon World Vets Bronze; Heptathlon BMAF Silver. Dot Fellows W60 X/Country MVAC Gold; Road Relays MVAC Gold; 5 mile road British Record; NSRRA Lady Veteran Runner of the year; Staffs Championship 10k (Road) Gold; 10k Road British Record; 5k Road BMAF Gold; 5k Track BMAF Gold. Jeanne Bryan W60 Staffs Championship (W55) 10k Road Gold. Christine Rollason W50 Road Relays MVAC Gold. Shaun Ainge M40 High Jump MVC Gold; Pentathlon BMAF Bronze; Pentathlon MVAC Gold. Andy Weetman M40 Pentathlon MVAC Silver. Martin Roberts M45 Hammer MVAC Gold. .................................................................................................................................................. |
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15-01-06
Chairman's Report It's been a year since the new committee took over the running of the club and, hopefully, it's on a more stable footing so that we can now concentrate on the athletics. The first thing we tackled was the proposal for an amalgamation with Stoke AC and other Staffs clubs. The committee recommended that we did not amalgamate and this was carried at the EGM. Number two on the list was the clubhouse. This was owned by the council and we, as a club, paid overheads such as rent and electricity. After much consideration - taking into account the cost of maintenance and repairs, especially with the level of vandalism the building suffered - we decided it would be more beneficial if we cut our losses and let it go back to the council. This brings us to the decision to hire Cannock Stadium on Tuesday and Thursday nights. We took it on in early July and, nearly five months on, it seems to have been a success. Finance-wise, we are on course to break even for the year - allowing for the bad weather to come - but the real value has been the use of the upstairs rooms. These have proved invaluable for changing, warming up and training and have also allowed us to use the kitchen to provide refreshments. Thanks here go to John Atherton for collecting the money at the door and to Rose Dainty for providing our refreshments week in, week out. On the athletics side, John Turner organised his annual Cross Country Relays in April, which were another great success and the club staged the Milford 21 over Cannock Chase in March, which also went well and raised around £600 for club funds. Thanks to John for the Relays and to Mark Faulkner and the many other volunteers for the Milford race. Cannock & Stafford also hosted three track and field meetings in July and, again, these went exceptionally well. Thanks to Mark for organising the officials, Karen Moody and Carole Jones for compiling the results, Rose Dainty and Caren Johnson for providing the refreshments and officials' lunches and to all the coaches , officials and parents who helped on the days. A thank-you, too, to the stadium staff for all their efforts. Two of the meetings we staged were in the Young Athletes League and we again made it through to the Finals Weekend - this time the Auxiliary Final, just missing out to Birchfield and Stoke on making the Main Final. We must not lose sight of what a great achievement this was to be among the top dozen junior clubs in the whole of the UK. Thanks to Bob Hughes, John Turner and Carol Denning for managing the teams and congratulations to the athletes who performed so well on the track and field. Next year we want the Main Final again! The club also had 12 young athletes selected to compete for Staffordshire at the English Schools Championships and, from that, Laura Simmonds, Abbi Tyson, Dan Nash and Alex Shepherd were selected to represent English Schools in Dublin. Well done to all 12. Congratulations, too, to Catherine Jones and Tom Humphries, who were both selected to represent Great Britain Under-23s. We also enjoyed success in cross country during the 2004-05 season. And the disabled section did the club proud, more than matching the haul of medals in 2004 and, more importantly, bringing new athletes into the club. Martin Crutchley represented Great Britain in the United States, Jamie Graham was called up to join the England squad, Tom Docherty won the National Junior Championships representing the West Midlands and Ian Cope and David Ingram both had fine seasons. Well done to all the athletes and to their coaches. For the seniors, it was a tough year for both the men's and women's teams. John and Bob did a sterling job as team manager and all those who competed gave their all but we really need an injection of new athletes. Something to work on through the winter. It was another excellent year for the veterans on both the men's and women's side. More details in a separate report from team manager Derek Fellows. For the year ahead we can be full of hope. We have a core of talented young, senior and veteran athletes and a new crop of coaches to back up the experienced members of our coaching staff. The club owes them a huge debt for the time and effort they give so freely. Cannock & Stafford AC has embarked on the Clubmark development plan, which will help give the club a solid foundation to build on for the future, and we have a number of social events lined up for the new year, including a prize night for the 2005 track season and the 2005-06 cross country season, which we aim to hold in March. From a personal point of view, I would like to thank all members of the committee for their efforts throughout the past 12 months, particularly Karen, our secretary, Carole, our membership secretary, and Clive, our treasurer. Last, but by no means least, thanks to Derek Fellows, who steps down as vice-chairman and veterans team manager. I thank him personally and on behalf of the club for all the effort he has put in - not just over the past 12 months but for many, many years. His support this year has been invaluable. I thank you all for attending and wish you all a healthy 2006. Gary Denning Chairman |
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03-01-06 Stacey
Represents England!!! Stacey Johnson was selected to run for England in Brussels in the Iris Gross Cross-country Cup on the 18th of December. It was her first England Vest and she proved to put out a solid performance through what was an extremely tough course, finishing 7th. The race consisted of four 1000m laps with the mud just getting thicker with every lap. Stacey reported, "It was the muddiest cross-country I have ever ran and it just got churned up with every lap. I worked as hard as I could through the mud and went as fast as I could through the three little stretches where the ground was actually firm. It was a great experience and an honour to represent my country. I hope that it is the first of many England vests to come". .................................................................................................................................................. |
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18-12-05
C&S Veterans summary 2005 season. Summary by Derek Fellows - C&S President .................................................................................................................................................. |
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17-12-05
North Staffs League - Leek - 10-12-05 Race Report .................................................................................................................................................. |