News

Club Record at the NIA & golds at LVC

The Clubs high flyer, Daniel Gardner, surpassed his previous performances when winning at the England Athletics National Championships meeting held in the National Indoor Arena at Birmingham. He set new club record for the pole vault clearing 4.30metres which keeps him at the top of his under 17 age group national rankings.

Two girls were high jumping at the same championships, Moe Sasegbon (under20) clearing 1.72 for 5^th place and Alice Rackham (under 17) jumping 1.56 for equal 12^th.  Joel Daramola set a new PB in his first national championships of 7.41secs for 60m in his heat followed by a semi-final time of 7.65secs;Billie Vernon Hamilton recorded 7.59secs in his heat but didn?t progress any further..

Meanwhile at the Lee Valley Centre?s Young Athletes Minithon competition , which attracted over 250 youngsters from all over the South of England, two girls collected gold standard medals in their respective age groups.  Alisha Levy (year 5) competed in the 200m, 600m, and shot put and Melissa Doran (year 7) took part on the 60m, 60m hurdles, and 600m races.

Following on their heels, Louise Phillips (60m hurdles, 200m and long jump) and Katie McCroy(60m, 200m, and shot)  won silver standard medals in their year 7 competition.

Bronze standard medals were presented to Laura Bird and Eleanor Hopcroft in the year 5 age group; year 6 bronze medals were won by Bethany Harley, Bethany Dean, Kairah Carty, Rebecca Beddall, and Paige Taylor.  Bronze standard medals for year 7 went to Rebecca Pickard, and Lauren Phillips.    Being too young to become a club member didn?t stop year 3 youngster Kayla Carty from collecting a gold standard in her age group.

Chiltern League overall 2009-2010 season placings

The final races of the winter?s Chiltern Cross Country League took place at Wing. 27 club members raced in their own age group events in Division 2.                                                                             

Highest placer in 2^nd place was Lewis Keeble (u17), who was followed by Chris Hilton (3^rd), Gregory Evans (5^th), Paul Spicer (6^th) and Tom Sloan (7^th) with the team placing 1^st in the race. The lone under 13, Dominic Stevens, finished in 3^rd place as did senior man Adam Searle. Callum McKechnie (u20) placed 4^th followed by Sam Poulton returning from a long-term injury in 5^th place. Owen Todd was rhe 34^th under 11 boy to finish.

Eight under 13 girls ran leading to their 3^rd team place of the 9 clubs in the event. They were led home by Danielle Murphy (4^th), then Janie Latchford (8^th ), Olivia Hazell(13^th ), Melissa Doran (17^th ), Sarah Feely(19^th ),Sophie Keeble(21^nd), Rebecca Pickard(31^st ), and Louise Phillips (34^th ). Under 17s were led by Sarah Pike (7^th), Charlotte Baird (9^th ), and Julia White (10^th ) and the Seniors were Jasmine Forde (12^th ), Tilly Scheuber (23^rd ) and Nikki Andrews(24^th ).  Three under 11 girls raced with Rivers Cook (24^th ) Bethany Harley(49^th) and Abigail Pickard (64^th) placing 9^th of 17 teams.

The Club collected 5 individual medals for the overall season of 5 races, with the runner?s best 4 being scored for the final points.   Adam Searle collected the gold for the seniors men age group, Lewis Keeble collected the silver in the under 17s, and bronzes were won by Callum McKechnie (u20), Gregory Evans (u17) and Danielle Murphy (u13). Three team medals were also won by the club; silvers went to the under 17 boys and the under 13 girls and bronze was won by the under 17 girls.

Further results can be found on the club?s web-site;  www.snhac.org.uk.  as well as information about the Club

Chiltern League- race 5- February 13 2010

Tonderai in the USA

Press Report for 30/31 January

Stevenage and North Herts AC had four young members running in the Southern Cross Country Championships at a very muddy Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday.

Janie Latchford placed 63^rd, clocking 14.04m and Melissa Doran placed 175^th, clocking 16.03m in the under 13 girls race over 3000m where over 200 girls finished.

Gregory Evans placed 146^th, in a time of 25.30m in his under 17 race over 6000m.  Hannah Dewhurst started her under 17 race later in the day and found the very heavy ground too much for her, despite the good form she has shown so far this winter.

Other club members opted for the warmer ambience of the Lee Valley Centre for their weekend competitions in the London Indoor Games. Alice Rackham (u17) set a new personal best by clearing 1.60m in the high jump; also in the high jump Moe Sasegbon(u20) with 1.70m, Chloe Vernon-Hamilton (u20) with 1.55m  Laurence Levy (u17) with 1.75m and Paul Spicer(u17) with 1.65m all set new indoor PBs.  Janet Browne (u17)  and Anne Rees (u20) both jumped 1.45m.

Billy Vernon-Hamilton set two new indoor PBs, 7.53s for 60m and 5.47m for the long jump; Joel Daramola, in his first indoor race ran 7.48s for 60m. Triple jumper Charley Nightingale (u20) with 10.11m and Alex Gates (u17) with 46.03s for 300m also set indoor PBs.

Connor Winters led the club?s pole vaulters equalling his PB with 4.00m, Louise Shortland cleared 3.50m, Daniel Gardner 3.90m and Tillie Farman 2.30m. Club hammer coach Mick Shortland, set an indoor PB in the 5kg shot (60+) with 9.29m.

Three high jumpers from the club represented Hertfordshire in the East Region (6 counties) Sportshall finals at Norwich. From shortened run-ups they performed well with Nathan Gardner clearing 1.40m for 1^st in the B string, Sophie Keeble- 1.35m and 2^nd in the A string and Rebecca Pickard- 1.25m for 3^rd in the B string.

The previous weekend at Sutton saw Louise Shortland pole vaulting 3.63m which was an indoor PB.  Newly crowned Comet Award Veteran, John Mayor was at Lee Valley for the Eastern Vets championships winning the 50+ age group shot with a new 6kg PB of 10.65m.

The Comet Sports Awards

Congratulations to John Mayor for winning the VETERAN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD at the Comet Sports Awards for 2009.  He won many medals during 2009, including the bronze in the World Masters Championships in Finland in July.
At the same ceremony, Norma Harris received a runner-up certificate in the COACH OF THE YEAR category and Janet Browne and Hannah Dewhurst represented their school, St Francis College as runner-up in the SCHOOL OF THE YEAR category.

Press Report for 16 & 17 January

SEAA Indoor Championships 16 & 17 January

First Championships of 2010

Five club members competed in Area Indoor Championships, one coming home with a silver  medal and a fifth place.  In the Southern Championships held at the Lee Valley Centre, senior woman Emma Kemp ran a heat of the 400m (2^nd in 59.59s), then placed second in the final of the 800m for her silver medal (2m 18.3), following this with a fifth place on the 400m final (59.58s)

Also at this meeting, under 17 woman Claire Ward, competing in the 5 discipline pentathlon, set 3 new personal bests (60m hurdles, long jump and 800m) to just miss out on the bronze medal by 21 points with her total of 2682 points.  Her 60m hurdles time (9.64s) qualifies her for her first national individual championship bid at Birmingham in February. 

In the under 17 men?s age group, Daniel Gardner and Laurence Levy finished in 5^th and 6^th places respectively. Daniel did two personal bests; his best points score and a personal best came in the 60m hurdles (9.23s) and another PB in the long jump(6.13m) to score a total of 2680 points.  Laurence?s best points came in the high jump (1.75m) after setting a PB in the shot (11.08m), building up to his points total of 2604.

Now an under 20 man, Connor Winters had to travel to Sheffield for his Southern Championship, (held with the National); his combined event now has 7 disciplines.  He placed 5^th in the Southern , 10^th in the National events with a total of 4138 points.  His best points, both PBs, were scored in the 60m hurdles (9.05s) and 60m (7.65s) showing the increase in speed he has developed while continuing to train for his pole vault event.

NB:  The Herts County Cross Country Championships, due to be held on Sunday, were cancelled due to the snow and ice and they may be re-arranged for sometime in March.

Stevenage Awards

January 4 2010
The Club has been awarded the Mayors Cup for Club Achievement for 2009,as decided by the Stevenage Sports Council.   This is in recognition of the success of both individual members and the various teams within the Club. It was collected on behalf of the Club by Norma Harris and Margaret Powell.

At the same presentation, no less than nineteen members received awards from the Stevenage Borough Councils Talented Young People programme.
The awards go to residents of Stevenage, who may represent clubs or belong to other organisations outside of the Borough.
The Club members honoured are Hannah Dewhurst, Melissa Doran, Jake Exton, Tyler Exton, Tillie Farman, Daniel Gardner, Nathan Gardner, Georgia Hazell, Renee Hector, Lewis Keeble, Sophie Keeble, Becky Knapp, Laurence Levy, Matthew Mardle, Danielle Murphy, Shannon Rapacchi, Liam Vooght, Connor Winters and Julia White.

Congratulations to all- 

(nb;North Herts District use a very high criteria for their awards therefore not so many recipients; Stevenage BC like to spread their goodwill wider)

Metaswitch Indoor Open- New Club Record

The very best start to a new year was the performance of Daniel Gardner at Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Centre where he vaulted 4.25m which besides being a personal best is the first Club Record of the year.  Further personal bests in the same pole vault discipline were posted by Tillie Farman (2.40m) and Nathan Gardner (2.00m).  Connor Winters didn t quite reach his PB, clearing 3.95m having previously run two 60m hurdles races, clocking 9.19secs in the first, then improving to 9.13secs.

Next weekend sees the first winter championships events. Around 30 members will be running in the Herts County Cross Country championships at St.Albans, two members will be in the National and Southern under 20 indoor combined events at Sheffield, and a few more will be at the Southern under 17 and under 15 indoor combined events at Lee Valley.

Sponsored Hill Runs

SPONSORED HILLS;  DECEMBER 27 2009
Congratulations and thanks to those listed below who supported this Club Fund-Raising event;
Charlotte Baird;  Allison Barber;  Elena Cervi;
Phil Farman;  Tillie Farman;  Chris Feely;
Laura Feely;  Lucy Feely;  Sarah Feely;  Steve Feely;
Alex Gates;  Jan Gates;  Beth Harris;  Lewis Keeble;
Sophie Keeble;  Janie Latchford;  Laurence Levy;
Matthew Mardle;  Danielle Murphy;  Rebecca Pickard; 
Julia White;  Connor Winters;  Les Winters;
(and to the helpers, parents and supporters);

Anyone else not yet involved is very welcome to make a donation to boost the total funds raised by making a contribution in an un-named envelope (marked sponsor money) to the table at the track.

MINITHON- Lee Valley December 20

Despite the snow and ice, 17 young club members competed in a Minithon event at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Sunday. They all compete in 3 disciplines, their performances are given points and the totals are then graded into gold, silver, and bronze standards.

Three boys gained the gold standard in the boys 10-11years age group, with Nathan Gardner coming out on top, winning the overall gold in this age group. Daniel Ballard and Jamie Philpott were also gold winners, with Matthew Spicer collecting bronze.

Three more golds were collected in the boys 12-13 years age group by Kim Sobotie, Dominic Stephens and David Spicer.

The girls were not far behind; Rebecca Pickard (10-11 years) and Elena Cervi (12-13 years) achieved the gold standard, Melissa Doran (12-13 years) won silver and Abigail Pickard (8-9 years), Bethany Harley, Paige Taylor, and Alexandra Ralph (10-11 years) and Sarah Feely and Lauren Phillips (12-13 years) all collected the bronze award.

Stevenage 5K and Metaswitch Indoor Open

Stevenage 5k series 

Stevenage & North Herts have only a few members who compete regularly in road races; in the recent Stevenage 5k series, Jeremy Rackham finished in overall 7^th position in the veteran men (40+) age group and Nikki Andrews placed 11^th senior woman.

Metaswitch Indoor Open Meeting

At the first of the winters Indoor track and field meetings, two female members posted personal bests at Lee Valley, Enfield, on Sunday. Under 17 Claire Ward improved her 60m hurdles time to 9.84secs and her high jump indoors best to 1.40m.  Under 13 Melissa Doran also PBd in the 60m hurdles (12.25secs), and in the 800m clocking 2m 45.07 and winning her age group race.

Next Sunday sees a large number of younger members also travelling to the Lee Valley Centre for a Minithon event where they chose 3 disciplines to compete in and their scores are added together to rank them in their age groups.

Chiltern League race 3 and Southern Students Champs

Chiltern League  RACE 3   December 5 2009

Thirty three club members travelled to Slough on Saturday for the third race of the winters Chiltern League programme; not all are distance specialists, but using the races as strength training for next summer.

The under 13 girls team, with 9 members running, finished in 1^st place of 8 teams on the day, to consolidate their 2^nd place in the 10 club league table. Danielle Murphy , in third place, led them home followed by Janie Latchford (5^th), Olivia Hazell (13^th), Melissa Doran (17^th), Elena Cervi (18^th), Sarah Feely (21^st), Sophie Keeble (22^nd), Louise Phillips (29^th) and Kirsten Ingram (31^st).

The six strong team of under 17 boys finished 2^nd team to stay 2^nd club in the league table. Lewis Keeble (3^rd), Gregory Evans(6^th) Warren Herridge (7^th), Luke Langley (9^th), Tom Sloan (10^th) and David Pickett (11^th) made up the team.

The under 17 team had four runners; Hannah Dewhurst was first home in 4^th place, followed by Sarah Pike (9^th), Temi Fajobi (10^th), and Charlotte Baird (11th) to come in 4^th team and in 3^rd place of the seven club league table.

Matthew Mardle, improving race by race, took 4^th place, but was the only under 13 from the club, as was Liam Vooght (21^st) in the under 15 boys. The two girls in the under 15s were Georgia Hazell (8^th) and Alex Gates (11^th), who keep the club in 4^th place of 7 clubs in the league. There were 3 senior women running, Jasmine Forde (12^th), Nikki Andrews (17^th), and Tilly Scheuber (21^st) and three in the mens age groups- Adam Searle finished as 4^th Senior Man, Callum McKechnie was 4^th under 20 man and Steve Pickett 29^th Veteran men over 40.

The women & girls are in 2^nd place of the 19 clubs and the men & boys are in 10^th place after the 3 matches.

In the under 11 race , which do not count towards the league positions, Rivers Cook, Bethany Harley, and newcomer to league racing Abigail Pickard placed 17^th, 30^th and 47^th.  Another newcomer, Owen Todd placed 41^st.

Southern FE Students Indoor Championships Deember 2 2009

The first club member to compete in the indoor track and field season was Cameron Webb who took second place in the Southern FE students championships at Lee Valley in the 400m where he clocked 51.1s.

FVS 5k road race series

Results from Race 1  November 12 2009

7        Adam Searle        16.45                                7th in Herts Champs
53      Jeremy Rackham  19.27    (16th men 40+)
115    Jasmine Forde       21.46    (13th woman)        10th in Herts Champs
138    Nikki Andrews       22.57    (20th woman)        14th in Herts Champs
246 finishers;

Results from Race 2 November 26 2009
30      Jeremy Rackham   18.36    (8th men 40+)      7th in Herts VM40+ Champs
132    Nikki Andrews        23.12    (25th woman)
236 finishers

Results from Race 3  December 10 2009
31      Jeremy Rackham   18.16    (7th men 40+)
210 finishers
 
Series reults based on best two times added together
Vet men 40+          7th Jeremy Rackham
Senior Women        11th Senior Women 

Chiltern League November 7th 2009

Runners from Stevenage and North Herts AC spent Saturday at Wigmore Valley in Luton, bathed in sunshine with a brisk wind, for race 2 of the Chiltern Cross Country League. Divisions 1 and 2 races are run together; SNHAC is in Division 2.

                The highest place of the day was by Gregory Evans in second place in the under 17 men?s event. With Lewis Keeble coming in 3^rd and Luke Langley in 4^th, the team won the age group. The club?s other runners were Chris Hilton, Warren Herridge, Paul Spicer, Tom Sloan, David Pickett, and Tom Kinsella.

                Under 13 girl, Danielle Murphy, ran brilliantly to take 3^rd place, leading Janie Latchford (6^th) and Olivia azellHazell      HHazell (19^th) to 3^rd place team. The other under 13 girls were Sarah Feely, Rebecca Pickard and Charlotte Bott.

                The under 17 women, also took the third team place, led in by Hannah Dewhurst (4^th), and Claire Ward (8^th), and Julia White (10^th). They were supported by Temi Fajobi, Sarah Pike, and Charlotte Baird.

                Not to be outdone, the under 15 girls also bagged third place, the scorers were Georgia Hazell (8^th), new member Caroline Willis (11^th) and Alex Gates (14^th). Grace Mann backed them up.

                Two fifth team places were taken by the under 15 boys; Peter De?Ath (11^th), Harry Day (17^th) and Jakob O?Connor (21^st) and the under 13 boys ; Matthew Mardle (10^th), Anson Devi (14^th) and Nathan Gardner (24^th), followed in by Ziddan Juneja and Matthew Livesey.

                With only three senior women, when 4 are needed to score highly, the team placed 10^th with creditable placings from Jasmine Forde (13^th), Nikki Andrews (26^th) and Tilly Scheuber (27^th).  The same applied to the senior men where Adam Searle had a storming run for 3^rd place, Sam Poulton, coming back from injury was 39^th and Vet 40+ Stephen Pickett was 107^th and the team was 11^th.

                In this League, although under 11s have their races, they do not score in the main competition. The boys race saw Jamie Philpott place 16^th in the race of 74 finishers. In the girls race, Rivers Cook (31^st), Claire Bottomley (49^th), Lisa Barber (55^th), and Bethany Harley (61^st) combined to be 8^th team out of the 17 teams competing- there were 68 finishers in the race.

Many of the club?s members will be running on Thursday in the Stevenage and North Herts Schools? District Championships, at Fairlands Valley Park; the primary schools are in the morning and the secondary schools students show their paces in the afternoon.

New Web Site

The new web site has launched. Results will be fed back through and should be 100 % up to date shortly. There is an RSS feed on the new site such that you can get updates straight to your computer or phone. If you have any pictures or result amendments please advise Barry Mainstone at the track. Thank you for your patience. BM