Cannock & Stafford’s U20 team came 6^th in the final National Junior League meeting of the season at Mansfield on Sunday, a position that meant that they finished in 4^th place in the Midland Premier League.

It was the final Junior League meeting for a number of our athletes. Rachel Atherton, Chloe Boulter, Sally Clague, Dan Millerchip, Jamie Graham and Guy Mayer were all making their final bow at this age group.

Our only victory on the day was provided by Olivia Walker who won the 100m ‘A’ race in 13.1 into a strong headwind. Olivia also came 2^nd in the 200m.

Matt Mayne equalled his pb of 52.4 to take 3^rd in the 400m, Dan Millerchip and Dan Timmis took 3^rd places in the hammer ‘A’ and ‘B’ respectively. Dan Millerchip also finished 3^rd in the ‘B’ shot. Allee Rigby came 3^rd in the high jump and 2^nd in the triple jump. Richard Stanley finished 3^rd in the ‘B’ javelin.

Natalie Ainge ran 61.4 to finish 3^rd in the ‘A’ 400m and then came 3^rd in the ‘B’ 200m. Rachel Atherton took 2^nd place in the 800m behind former team mate Cally Reed and Teresa Hulme came 2^nd in the ‘B’ race as well as 2^nd in the ‘A’ steeplechase.

Grace Rossiter came 2^nd in the ‘B’ 1500m on her debut and Beth Clarke 2^nd in the ‘B’ steeplechase. Chloe Boulter came 2^nd in the high jump and Sally Clague threw 30.30 for 3^rd place in the ‘B’ javelin. Lucy Heap threw 33.59m in the ‘A’ event. Jess Leek and Ruby Coates were both 3^rd in the long jump and triple jump respectively.

The other athletes that contributed were James Lake (on his debut), Chris Morris, Jamie Graham, Ashley Wickett, Tom Baldwin, Stuart Davies, Alex Pinner, Megan Jones, Catherine Hulme, Becky Cooke, Beth Denning and Alicia Clarke.

As team manager, I would like to thank all the athletes that have turned out to represent the club this year and, occasionally, take part in events that they wouldn’t normally do in an effort to maximise the points earned for the team. Without these athletes, we would not have finished in the position we have for the past three seasons. Thanks also to Lynne Boulter for her help on meeting days and Bob Hughes, Angie Smith and the other officials who have given up their time to help out at meetings.

There were six C&S athletes that represented Staffordshire in the English Schools Track & Field Championships at Alexander Stadium on the 9th and 10th July.

Jess Leek equalled her pb in the IG long jump with 5.49m and, in a strong competition, this gave her seventh place. Olivia Walker ran 26.09 seconds in her IG 200m heat to finish 4th but, with only the first 3 definitely progressing, she missed out on a semi-final place by four one hundredths of a second.

Rachel Atherton qualified for the SG 800m final as her time of 2:16.24 in her heat gave her a fastest loser spot. In the final, she came 7th in a time of 2:19.25. Chloe Boulter came 5th in the high jump, clearing 1.63m and Gemma Smith came 5th in the triple jump with 11.55m.

Chris Perrin came 7th in his 1500m heat in a time of 4:02.37

The junior members of Cannock & Stafford's Disability Squad took part in the Disability Sports Events Nationwide Junior Athletics Championships in Blackpool over the weekend of the 3/4 July 2010 and came home with six gold, seven silver and two bronze medals between them.

Ellie Upton won four golds in the throwing events (dis club, prec club, prec bean bag and grip ball). Tyrone Williams won gold in his shot event and Jamie Graham ran 57.1 to win the 400m.

Daniel Bishop won three silver medals in the shot, 100m (12.9) and 200m (28.4). Jamie Graham added two silvers in the 200m (25.5) and the 800m (2:21.5) and Sarah Hickman and Richard Britton both won silver in the discus and bronze in the shot.

Cannock & Stafford's Martin Roberts won a silver medal in the M50 hammer competition at the national championships in Cardiff on the 4 July with a throw of 48.13. Martin also came 4th in the weight event.

Paul Edwards warmed up for the European Championships with a bronze medal in the M50 100m hurdles in a time of 16.22. He also came 4th in the 400m hurdles event with 65.58.

Graham Middleton just missed out on a medal in the M45 hammer with a throw of 35.77m. Graham also competed in the discus (5th with 32.49m) and the weight (5th)

At our home track at Rowley Park, the U20’s team managed a 5^th place finish to remain in third position in the National Junior League Midland Premier Division.

Richard Stanley gained maximum points in the ‘B’ high jump (1.70m pb) and javelin, Becky Bray won her second consecutive 3000m Junior League race and Chloe Boulter easily won the 400m hurdles ‘B’ race. Chloe also came 2^nd in the high jump competition and 3^rd in the 200m ‘B’ race.

Natalie Ainge was just pushed into 2^nd place in the 400m although she was given the same time as the winner from Birchfield (61.0). Natalie also came 3^rd in the triple jump with Ruby Coates 2^nd in the ‘B’ event. Allee Rigby once again equalled his pb (1.85m) to come 2^nd in the high jump. Alex Pinner came 3^rd in the javelin and Dan Timmis 3^rd in the shot (pb of 12.41m).

Olivia Walker came 3^rd in the 100m and Rachel Atherton came 2^nd in the 1500m. Charlotte Smith came 3^rd in her first run over 400m in the ‘B’ race (63.3) and also came 3^rd in the 1500m ‘B’. Beth Clarke and Jess Boulter came 3^rd in the steeplechase ‘A’ and ‘B’ races, Alicia Clarke came 2^nd in the ‘B’ discus and threw a pb in the shot and Megan Jones finished 3^rd in the ‘B’ long jump. Chris Morris achieved a pb of 24.2 in the 200m and Jess Leek was just short of her long jump pb with 5.32m.

Much credit must be given to Adam Johnson, Jamie Graham, Talent Gukwe, Stuart Davies and Ashley Wickett who all competed in additional events to gain points for the team. Matthew Mayne, Sam Derry, Max Johnson, Richard Brittain, Beth Denning, Becky Cooke, Lucy Heap and Harriet Thompson were the other athletes who took part.

In hot conditions, the British Masters 5k road racing championships took place at Horwich (near Bolton) on Sunday.

Several of our veteran athletes competed.  Christine Kilkenny contested the W55 age group and put in her usual gutsy run finishing in a time of 20min 21secs, this run secured the silver medal. 

Dot Fellows was in the W65 category and in a time of 22min 32secs won the gold medal, this was Dots 34^th British title. 

Malcolm Eustace was disappointed with his run in the M50 age group claiming he ran the first 1k too quickly and eventually finished 8^th in his age group with a time of 17min 07secs. 

Paul Edwards won four gold medals at the Midland Masters Championships in Leicester in the M50 age group. He triumphed in the 100m hurdles (15.9), 400m hurdles (69.0), 200m (26.4) and 400m (58.4).

Sue Kneil Boxley took gold in the W40 1500m and silver in the 800m (2:46.6) and Chris Kilkenny won gold in the W55 5000m in a time of 20 minutes exactly. Les Green came 1st in the M70 5000m.

On the field, Alison George came 1st in the W45 shot with 8.88m and Martin Roberts won the M50 hammer with 50.78m.

Graham Middleton took home three medals in the M40 age group. He gained bronze medals in the hammer with 37.75m and discus (31.35m) and silver in the shot (9.60m).

Cannock & Stafford athletes won three silver and one bronze medal at the Midland Counties Championships at Alexander Stadium on Sunday.

In the high jump, there was a silver medal for Chloe Boulter who cleared 1.60m and a bronze for Alasdair Rigby who equalled his pb with a jump of 1.85m. Gemma Smith took second place in the triple jump with 11.19m.

On the track, Rachel Atherton also took home a silver medal in the 800m in a time of 2:19.22.

Our other athletes competing were Adam Smith (400mH - 62.67), Chris Perrin (1500m - 4:02.69), James Perrin (1500m - 4:07.97) and Jon Biddle (400m - 51.86)

A back to back promotion is certainly on the cards after victory for our Senior team at Banbury on Sunday.

Veterans Martin Roberts and Graham Middleton usually give the club a good start and this was no exception, Graham finishing 2nd in the 'A' and Graham winning the 'B' string. The women were also given an early boost with Jess Leek finishing 2nd in the long jump with 5.27m and Megan Jones winning the 'B' with a pb of 4.98m. Jess also came runner up in the 'B' 200m and Megan runner up in the 'B' 100m.

On the track, Becky Cooke came 2nd in the 400m hurdles with Chloe Boulter winning the 'B' race. Chloe also cleared 1.60m to finish 2nd in the high jump and came 3rd in the 200m and Becky came 2nd in the 'B' high jump and 3rd in the 100m hurdles 'B'.

Jonny Anderson ran a pb of 11.9 in the 100m and Jon Biddle finished strongly to win the 400m in 51.7. In the women's 400m, Kate Leek came 2nd in the 'A' race in 62.5 whilst Natalie Ainge won the 'B' in 61.9. Kate also came 3rd in the 100m and Nat came 2nd in the 'B' triple jump.

Gary Myles and Adam Smith came runners up in their 110m hurdles races, Adam also finishing runner up in the 400m hurdles. Alasdair Rigby came 3rd in the 'A' triple jump, 'A' high jump and 'B' 400m hurdles.

Tom Humphries won both 1500m and 3000m races and in the 3000m he was closely followed home by Chris Harvey who ran a pb of 8:33.3.

Stuart Davies ran a pb of 4:37.5 in the 1500m 'B' race.

Charlotte Smith continued her impressive season with victory in the 800m 'B' race and Teresa Hulme finished 2nd in the 'A'. Rachel Atherton came 2nd in the 1500m and Catherine Hulme ran a pb of 5:18.2 to win the 'B' race.

Craig Pearson dominated the 3k steeplechase and John Bray stepped in at the last minute to make his track debut at the age of 46 and finished the 800m with a respectable time of 2:31.7. Adam Johnson recorded a pb of 10.87 to finish 3rd in the 'B' triple jump.

The throwers also performed well. Mathew Paynter came 3rd in the shot and threw a pb of 40.17 in the discus. Dan Timmis finished 3rd in the 'B' shot, and won the 'B' discus. Beth Denning threw the discus 25m for the first time and finally won with 26.58m. Beth also came 2nd in the shot. Alicia Clarke had a superb day with pbs in shot, discus and hammer 'B' events finishing 2nd in each. Gemma Smith came runner up in the triple jump.

The women's relay teams again won comfortably in both 4 x 100 and 4 x 400m and the men's 4 x 400m team came 2nd in their race.

Ashley Wickett broke through the two minute barrier for the first time in his 800m race at the BMC meeting at Birmingham University on Wednesday night. After knocking on the door all season, he finally achieved the milestone with a time of 1:59.92.

Chris Perrin achieved a sub 4 minute 1500m for the first time at the same meeting with 3:59.10 and brother James also achieved a pb of 4:02.00.

Olivia Walker and Matthew Mayne both came away with bronze medals from the Midland County Championships on Saturday.

Olivia, taking part in her least favoured event, the 100m, ran 13.13 seconds to earn her bronze. She also qualified for the final of the 80m hurdles by finishing 3rd in her heat. In the final, Olivia just missed out on another medal, coming 4th with a pb of 12.35 seconds.

Matthew Mayne won bronze in the 400m in a time of 52.65 seconds. James Lake came 6th in the same race.

Richard Stanley's pb throw of 45.94m was enough to earn him 5th place in the javelin.

Jess Leek and Megan Jones took part in the long jump, Jess finishing 4th (5.15m) and Megan 11th (4.85m). Jess also came 7th in the 100m final. Sarah Gough was our other competitor taking part on day 1. She finished 5th in her 80m hurdles heat in 13.11 and ran 46.30 in the 300m.

On Sunday, we had three athletes in action. Ashley Wickett made the final of the 800m by finishing 2nd in his heat but, unfortunately, he could not repeat the performance in the final and came 6th. Sian Karleusa came 6th in the javelin and Ruby Coates recorded a pb of 10.08m in the triple jump to finish 6th.

On a scorching Welsh afternoon, the Cannock & Stafford U20 team produced another magnificent team performance to finish 3rd for the second consecutive National Junior League meeting.

It was a great day for the throwers and middle distance runners. Alex Pinner achieved 50m for the first time, finishing 3rd with 51.02 and Dan Timmis threw a pb of 42.19m in the discus and came 3rd in the shot with 11.76m. Dan Millerchip came 3rd in the hammer with a pb of 42.19m as well as winning the 'B' discus and Shot and 2nd in the 'B' javelin. Beth Denning was also on form with a pb of 8.38m in the shot and Alicia Clarke came 3rd in the 'B' discus.

Our women steeplechasers seemed to revel in the heat. Teresa Hulme finishing 2nd in 6:06.2 and Beth Clarke recording a pb of 6:31.7 to win the 'B' race as well as gaining a pb of 66.6 in the 400m. Teresa also reduced her 800m pb by 1.5 seconds (2nd in B) with Rachel Atherton finishing 2nd in the 'A' race. Charlotte Smith knocked an incredible 25 seconds off her 1500m pb to finish 4th in 5:05.3, Catherine Hulme taking 2nd in the 'B'.

Chris Perrin won the 3000m in a pb of 9:06.2 and James Perrin came 3rd in the 1500m. In the women's 3000m, Rebecca Bray lead from early on to win.

Alasdair Rigby equalled his best high jump of 1.85m to finish 3rd and also came 2nd in the triple jump. Gemma Smith ran a rare 100m in the 'B' race and came 3rd before winning the 'B' high jump and the 'A' triple jump (season's best of 11.74m). Natalie Ainge won the 'B' triple jump, came 2nd in the 100mH 'B' and 3rd in the 200m 'B'.

Becky Cooke came 3rd in the 400mH and Chloe Boulter 2nd in the high jump (1.60m) and also 2nd in the 'B' 400mH. Jess Leek came 3rd in the 'B' long jump.

Two athletes were making their debuts in individual events in the Junior League. Megan Jones came 4th in the long jump with 4.81m and Olivia Walker came 6th in the 100m (13.3) and 5th in the 200m (26.7).

Praise must also be given to Jamie Graham who came expecting to run a 400m but ended up competing in the 100, 200, 400 and both relays! The other athletes that contributed towards the high finish were Matthew Mayne, Ashley Wickett, Tom Baldwin, Stuart Davies, Phil Pugh and Adam Johnson.

Thanks to all the athletes that got up ridiculously early to make the trip to Swansea and performed so well.

On a truly memorable day for our disabled athletes who competed in our regional championships, they secured an unprecedented twenty two medals spread among seven athletes even more astonishing twenty one were gold and one silver (even then the gold medal winner came from our club)

Starting with our youngest competitor in these championships Eleanor Upton in the u15 wheelchair, she contested four events : distance club, javelin ball, target bean bag and precision club and came away with four gold medals.

Daniel Bishop contested three events in the u17 category winning gold in the 100m, 200m and shot put.  Richard Britton in the same age group also contested the shot put and came away with the silver medal, he did gain some consolation by later winning gold in the discus.

In the u20 age group on the track Jamie Graham was in a class of his own winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 800m whilst on the field Tyrone Williams was adding another gold medal in the u20 shot put.

Ian Cope dominated his events in the Snr wheelchair winning gold at 200m, 800m and 1500m whilst the old man of the party, Dave Crutchley was looking after business, winning gold in the shot put and distance club field events

Just to round things off our team won gold in the 4x100 relay.

Dave and Geoff Phillips were justifiably proud of the teams achievements and there were a lot of proud parents at the end of the meeting.

Jamie, Daniel, Ellie, Sarah, Richard and Tyrone have all been selected to represent the West Midlands at the D.S.E. National Junior championships to be held at Blackpool on 3/4^th July. Our best wishes go with them.

Venue: Derby AC, Moorways, Moor Lane, Allenton, Derby, DE24 9HY‎