Longwood Harriers AC, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Longwood Harriers AC |Huddersfield | West Yorkshire

Founded 1888

Club Presentation evening 2008

On Friday 8th april 2008 the club held its annual presentation evening at Thurstonland Cricket Club. The text below is from the speech given by the Club Secretary (David Owen). David also took most of the photos as the awards were being presented

Athlete of the Year – Male

Once again a two horse race this year, between two multi-talented athletes, David Dempsey and Alan Marriott.

David won the award last year and has continued to make progress in his multi event career. He represented West Yorkshire in the English schools triple jump, and competed in the UK Schools games at 400Metres Hurdles.
He competed in the English Schools U/17 pentathlon championship and had an excellent score of 4702 points. He also competed in the AAA championships where he did his first decathlon. He is now in the Junior age category and will be competing in more decathlons this year and I am sure his best is still to come.

Alan continued his relentless performance in the throws and was once again the top points scorer for the club in the Northern Track and Field League. He won the discus and shot in the West Yorkshire Championship and was third in the National Throws Pentathlon. After eight years of competition, he even managed to improve his PB for the hammer this year with a throw of 37.18m. He trains regularly and Leeds Road and will be throwing for us again in this years competitions, so for his consistently good performances and massive contribution to the club we have decided to present the Athlete of the year award to Alan Marriott.

Athlete of the year – Female

There was little discussion this time on the choice of Female Athlete of The Year. The committee decided unanimously to present the award to Naomi Wareham.
Although still in the U/17 age category she represented the club in both Young Athletes and Senior Track and Field League fixtures, scoring valuable points in both leagues.
She has competed in all cross-country league and championship races except The National and was selected to run for West Yorkshire in the English Schools Championships at Liverpool.
If I were to grant her this award for one particular race it would be for her performance in the West Yorkshire Schools Cross Country Championships at Batley Grammar School. Lying in 13th place on the first lap, and knowing that only the first eight would be selected she steadily worked her way through the field and finished with a sprint finish (unusual for Naomi) to gain seventh position, and automatic selection to the Yorkshire Team.

She is still training regularly at Leeds Road and I hope she will continue and make a real impact into the senior ranks. Naomi Wareham.

(Naomi)

Most Promising Young Athlete – Track and Field – Female

I am becoming reluctant to present this award, because the last two recipients have decided to leave the club in the following season. I don’t think it will apply in this case though, because she is part of a family unit and will have to persuade the rest of the family to move with her. We have decided that the award this year should go to Kirst Leih.

I know Kirsty has not been the most successful athlete of the year and some girls here tonight may have beaten her on several occasions but this award goes to an athlete who shows promise, and I firmly believe that if she keeps at it sooner or later Kirsty will get results. She started modestly, attempting to run 800m in under 3mins. But I think she can do better than this and should be aiming for something around 2mins 40secs this season. She has a habit of starting a race too quickly, but I am reluctant to advise her against this because one of these days when she gets confidence she is going to stay in front all the way to the finish and achieve a time she never thought was possible.

Most Promising Young Athlete – Track and Field – Male

When this athlete was nominated for the award, I was very surprised that he had never received it in the past. I can remember times when our entire young athletes team comprised of him and his brother Tony. I refer of course to Chris Sampson.

Chris is now too old for the young Athletes team, where he dominated the throws for many years, and although still a Junior has firmly established himself as a regular member of the senior team. Throwing the senior implements, he set personal bests of 9.19 for the shot, 26.39 for the discus and 31.60m for the hammer, a massive improvement of 71/2 meters. He won many “B” string competitions for the club in the Northern League and even performed well for us as a member of our sprint relay team. A very promising young athlete. Chris Sampson.

award

Most Promising Young Athlete – Cross Country – Female

Our most successful team this year over the country was the U/13 Girls team who finished teams in both the West Yorkshire League and The Yorkshire Championships, so it is not surprising that the award this year goes to a member of this team. It was a hard choice to make because Rebecca Moore, Ama and Fraya Williams and Kirsty Leih have all put in some good performances. But for consistency throughout the season we have decided it should go to Ama Williams.
Ama will be surprised to receive this, because I don’t think she considers herself a cross-country runner at all. She started life as a sprinter and it was only her willingness to have a go at most things plus gentle persuasion from granddad that got her into cross country running.

Ama was a regular member of the team and I think her best performance was in the Yorkshire Champs at Fartown, where she was our first counter, finishing in 29th position. Ama also had a good run in the W York Schools races at Batley finishing in 28th position. She moves up to the U/15 age group this year and I am hoping she has a go at some middle distance races on the track this summer and another season of cross-country next winter.

Most Promising Young Athlete – Cross Country – Male

We are fortunate in this club for having two very good young cross-country runners in Lewis Crank and Robert Morris, and I know as handicapper that it is often hard to split them. But we have decided that the award for 2007 should go to Robert.

Robert has run consistently well all winter, he ran in the West Yorkshire League races, and all of the major championships. He finished 56th in the Yorkshire, 138th in the Northern and 250th in the National at Alton Towers. Running in the first year of the U/13 age group, he had to compete against some boys twice his size but size doesn’t always matter in cross country and he set about to prove it At Club level, Robert won both the Point to Point and Christmas Handicaps trophies. He just failed to make it a clean sweep when he finished second to Wesley Burton in the club road races but of all his races, I think his best performance came in our Trail Races held at Leeds Road in March. Robert led from the start, but was gradually pulled back by Elliot West of Pudsey and Bramley. Towards the finish it could have gone either way, but Robert kept fighting all the way to the line and eventually won with just 3 seconds to spare. We have Lewis, and Wesley joining him in that age group next year so things are looking good for the U/13’s in 2008.

Outstanding Contribution to Young Athletes League

This award is made annually to any athlete we consider has made an outstanding contribution to the Young Athletes League Team. It is not necessary the best athlete on results but performances are taken into consideration. I use a system for calculating points scored which gives additional points to “A” string competitors. The highest scorer in 2007 was Olivia Ashong, but of course she has left the club Second was Naomi Wareham, followed by Leanne Mcdonagh and Josh Kaye.
We have decided this year to present the award to Naomi. Not just for her performances which were excellent, but because by her own admission she does not like track running but she turns out at every fixture to help the team and always competes in her maximum number of events. It is this unselfish attitude that we need

if we are going to produce a successful team and I hope Naomi’s performances will be an inspiration to the younger girls coming up into the team in 2008.

(Naomi)

Outstanding Contribution to the Club

The Cyril Foster Trophy is awarded annually to the person who we consider has made an outstanding contribution. For 2007 the decision was unanimous and I am pleased to award the Trophy to Tom Reed. Described by one committee member as “a treasure” it is hard to match the outstanding contribution Tom has made in his short association with the club. First of all he is a qualified coach, and a working coach not just a coach by name. He can be seen every Tuesday and Thursday evening on the track at Leeds Road looking after our youngest members. He is reliable. I always know he will be there, if not he will always give me prior warning. Secondly he is a qualified track official, a regular member of the West Yorkshire Track and Field League Team, and a valuable track judge at our Young Athletes and Senior Northern League fixtures. Thirdly, he is an IT specialist and has resurrected and is developing our club website which was in danger of folding. Tom came onto the Club committee this year and is soon making a massive contribution by taking over our “club mark” documentation. For those of you who don’t know, “Club mark” is a standard set by sports governing bodies, to which all clubs must aspire to if they are to receive the full backing of the Governing body towards club development, grants etc. So it is vital that we achieve it. We have been struggling with it for many years. Now, thanks to Tom’s input we are in sight of a full submission and hopefully should receive full accreditation in this year.

I don’t think I need to say more to explain why Tom fully justifies this award.

Best Marathon Performance

Last weekend we had five of our members running in the London Marathon but those performances cannot be taken into account for this award this year because it is for performances in 2007.

From all records I can find, I think the best performance in 2007 was set by Leighton Medley, who completed the Edinburgh Marathon in a time of

(Leighton)

Best Field Event Performance

It seems strange, that the award for Best Field event performance should go to one of our competitors in last Sunday’s Marathon, and on the track, she has also been known to form part of our sprint relay team. I refer of course to Rachel Scholes.

On the field, in 2007 Rachel won shot and hammer competitions for the club in The Northern League and in the process set a new club record for the hammer of 28.71m which improved her PB by nearly 5meters. So for her performances on the field the award goes to Rachel Scholes.

Best Veteran Performance

Last years winner was Peter Dibb and I am indebted to him for providing me with the following information, which shows unquestionably that the trophy for 2007 should go to Gordon Booth. Gordon won this trophy in 2005 but when you listen to this you will realize he should be awarded it again

Grizedale 10

Guiseley Gallop

Great East Anglia Run

Wharfedale Half Marathon

BMAF 5K Champs

Kilburn 7

Eccup 10 Mile Y Champs

NVAC T&F 400m,800m.1500m

BMAF T&F champs

Lowther Half Marathon

Arncliffe Gala 4miles

Cinnamon Lodge Chase

Burnsall 10

Great Whernside Fell Race

Derwentwater 10

Ravensdale 10K

Travellers 6

78.06

50.45

45.32

133.02

22.24

53.54

76.20

1st in all

800 Gold, 400&1500m Silver

109.34

29.30

51.50

77.03

50.42

77.59

1st Vet 70

1st V70

1st Vet 65

1st Vet 75

1st Vet70

1st V70

1stVet 75

1st Local

2nd Vet70

1stVet70

(Gordon Booth?)

award

Gordon leads the British Rankings in his age category (over75) this year at 800m; 5K;10K;and 10miles and lies second at 400m and 1500m. I think you will agree that is a pretty good performance for a 75year old

Road Race Championship

The result of the 2007 Road Race League was:-

1st, Donald Kennedy, 179 Points

2nd, Ian Mitchell, 135 Points

Imitchell