City of Plymouth Athletic Club

Club News 2013

Southern Men’s and Women’s League Fixture at the Brickfields 20^th April 2013

This was the opening match of the season for the cities club in Division 3 South.

Competing Teams : City of Salisbury , Poole, Newbury and Plymouth

With a few female athletes missing on the day the team performed very well to record 2^nd place on the day with some very promising early season performances. Team Manager Tamzin Gribble pulled together a very strong men's team and a competitive ladies team with grit and determination.

The fixture got underway in glorious sunshine with the Mens’s Hammer competition with Luke Sings and Paul Stewart both throwing well to take 2^nd places in the A & B String matches. Luke followed up with a very strong Javelin throw of 43.23 metres to win the A String with fellow athlete Matthew Campbell 2^nd in the B String with a throw of 39.49 metres. Luke also came 2^nd in the Discus with a throw of 37.86 metres with Matthew 1^st in the B String with 37.15 metres. Matthew Gilbert on his return to the Club jumped 1.90 Metres to win the High Jump Competition. James Manthorp a track athlete performed well in the Triple Jump achieving 2^nd place in the B String with 10.08 metres to add valuable points.

On the track Plymouth fielded a mixture of experience and youth. There were a number of noteable performances with Under 17 athlete Ben Gordon in his first competition running 11.9 secs  a personal best over 100 metres. The experienced Tyler Johnson won the 200 metres in a time of 22.1 secs to get his season underway and followed that up with a win over 400 metre in a time of 50.5 secs with Dan Kelland  winning the B String in 52.4 secs. Dean Smith and Ali Carpenter paired up for the 800 Metres with Dean Smith smashing his personal best in a time of 2.01.4 secs to take the A String with Ali recording a time of 2.06.0 secs. Ali had earlier taken 2^nd place in the 110 mete Hurdles. David Weir after a really good cross country season returned to the track to race over 1500 metre and win in a time of 4.26.0 secs with fellow training partner Jim Blackford winning the B String in 4.32.3 secs. Simon Anderson returning from European Vets competition and coach to Weir and Blackford claimed 2^nd place in the 5000 metres to show good early form for the coming season. In the 200 metre steeple chase John Cooper showed some real form winning in 6.29.00 secs with Matt Bradley taking 2^nd place in 6.40.2 secs. Matt also teamed up with Jack Tonkin in the 400 metre Hurdles with both taking 2^nd place in their races.

The mens 4x 100mtrs Team ran into 2^nd place but won the 4 x 400mtrs in a time of 3.31.4 secs. The ladies also worked very hard for the team with Team Manager and athlete Tamzin Gribble racing the 400 metre Hurdles alongside Carrie Robertson with Carrie 2^nd in the A race and Tamzin winning the B race. Carrie also took first spot in the 200 Metres and High Junp. Tamzin also teamed up with returning athlete Megan Hookins over the 100 metres and 100 metre Hurdles both matching times over both events and securing valuable points. Under 17 athlete Jess Strang took first place in the 200 metres and 800 metres to show good early form and gained a P.B. of 26.6 secs in the 200. Jess also joined up with Tamzin in the Triple jump and both secured maximum points. Jodie Allen won the B. Race. Poppy Tank also coached by Simon Anderson took first place in the 1500 metre with Lizzie Gard securing 2^nd spot in the B race. Hazel Crutchley and Megan Hookins gained valuable points in the Long Jump, whilst injured Hayley Harvey and Kiah Rosenstein both competed in the 400 metres to gain points to ensure points were not lost. Plymouth University Student Hannah Blair raced the 3000 metres and competed in the shot competition alongside Liz Edwards who had started the day with an impressive win in the hammer with a throw of 36.98 metres. Liz also competed in the Discus with Rosie Crosby both securing 2^nd places.

With a few athletes yet to open their season the Club is hopeful for a very competitive season.

Final Positions : Newbury 307  City of Plymouth 271  City of Salisbury 244 Poole 58

Next Competition for the Club is at Oxford next Sunday in the National Junior League.

 

National Sportshall Championships 2013

Congratulations to Jade Simson who came 3rd in the National Sportshall Championships all rounder competition. Jade achieved personal bests in both the shot and standing long jump competitions and also competed in the 2 Lap race at the NEC in Birmingham on Sunday 7th April.

Devon U13/U15 Regional Sportshall

Well done to the eleven City of Plymouth Athletes who represented Devon at the U15 & U13 Regional Sportshall Championships.

Chloe Bierton, Erin Spiller, Lauren Nelson, Megan Sidney, John Cowling and James Reader were all selected for the Under 13 teams and Jade Simson, Isla Golder, Hazel Crutchley, Ben Gordon and Reuben Gordon were selected for the Under 15 teams.

Devon came second in the U13 Girls, U15 Girls and U15 Boys, and third in the U13 Boys categories losing out yet again to Avon.

Jade Simson was awarded Gold as the best Female All Rounder and will now go on to the National Sportshall Finals in Birmingham in April.

 

Club Successes at the English Athletics Indoor Nationals

Congratulations to Dave King who became the Under 20 60m Hurdles Champion 2013, the UK Champion and 4th quickest ever in the UK.

Congratulations also to Jade Simson who came 4th in the Final of the Under 17 60m Hurdles.

 

Fun in Athletics Under 11 Regional Sportshall

Well done to the seven City of Plymouth Athletes who were selected to represent Devon at the Under 11 Fun in Athletics  Regional Sportshall Event at Torbay Leisure Centre.

Emily Bee, Jessica Mooney, Olivia Cross, Hannah Smith, Jack Thompson, Jack Skidmore and Riley Scott were all selected. Devon entered 2 teams in this event for both the boys and girls.

 

Children's University

City of Plymouth Athletic Club is now officially recognised as an accredited learning destination for the Children’s University. Children who have  a ‘Passport to Learning’ may bring them along to be signed at all training sessions.

 

Brooks Westward Cross Country League, Bovey Tracey, February 10th

The penultimate race in the Brooks Westward league series took place at Bovey Tracey on February 10^th. The conditions were extremely muddy and unfortunately the rain came for the latter stages of the men’s race and the Under 15 girls and boys race.

David Weir won the Under 17 men’s race with Luke Honey coming 2^nd and Jim Blackford coming 6^th. David is currently joint leader of this category with Luke 3^rd. The team is in third position but could win if all three are able to compete at the last race.

Poppy Tank won the Under 15 girls race with Victoria Weir coming third. Victoria is winning this category with Poppy and Emily needing to run one more race. Helped by Harriet Brocklehurst, the team are in first place.

Tom Blackford and James Reader came 5^th and 11^th in the Under 15 boys and Under 13 boys races respectively.

Paula Simson is winning the vet 35 category and Steve Burns is second in the vet 45.

In the men’s race, our top runner was Ashley Smith who came 8^th with Matt Bradley and Steve Burns coming 20th and 28^th respectively. Helped by two University of Plymouth students, the team increased their lead over 4^th place Newquay and Par and should retain their third position if we get a good turn out at the last race which is at Central Park in Plymouth on March 17^th.

 

South West Schools Cross Country Championships

Six City of Plymouth athletes took part in the south west schools cross country championships on February 2nd at Blaise Castle in Bristol.

Poppy Tank came third in the intermediate girls race with her team mates Victoria Weir and Emily Ackford coming 4^th and 5^th respectively. Together they helped the Devon girls win the team event.

In the senior boys David Weir finished 17^th and Luke Honey 21^st,while Tom Blackford came 24^th in the junior boys.

 

South West Inter-Counties Cross Country, Bicton (6th January 2013)

Nine athletes competed at this event from City of Plymouth A.C.

Emily Ackford and Victoria Weir, both running for Devon, came 3rd and 4^th respectively in the U15 girls’ race and helped the Devon team to win this category.Poppy Tank, who missed out on Devon selection due to injury, came 10^th which should help her cause to be picked for Devon for the nationals.

David Weir and Luke Honey, both running for Devon, were 8^th and 21^st in the U17 mens’ race.

Simon Anderson was 28^th in the senior men’s race and counted for the Devon team who won this category. Our other Devon runner was Jess Strang who came 19^th in the U17 women’s race.

Travis Bramley was 33^rd in the U15 boys’ race and Steve Burns was 66^th in the men’s race.

Jim and Tom Blackford were both picked for Devon but were unable to run due to illness.

 

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