Most Promising Young Athlete Cross Country

Freya Williams - Female
Although the youngest in the under 13 girls team has consistently been the first scorer. In her first year at u/15 level,Finished 15th overall in West Yorkshire CC League
28th in the Yorkshire Championships, and 203 in the National at Leeds. Also represented Kirklees in the West Yorkshire Schools CC Championships where she finished 14th in the junior girls race.
s well as her own enthusiasm for racing, she is also instrumental in encouraging other girls to compete, including her elder sister Ama.

Sam Hever - Male
Also in his first year at the under 15 age group, Sam has been a consistent competitor in all races this winter. He and Robert Morris have had some tremendous tussles all season but on the whole I think Sam has just come out on top. He finished 22nd overall in the West Yorkshire CC League (just one place above Robert) 36th in the Yorkshire Championships, 145th in the Northern Champs and 228th in the National at Leeds. Still in the under 15 next year, he will be joined by last years winner, Lewis Crank so There should be good competition between the three of them. Sam, Robert and Lewis.

Contribution to Young Athletes League

Rachel Moore
For this award I usually look at the athletes who have scored the highest number of points throughout the season and last season as I mentioned earlier the highest scorer was Greg Moreno who we have already acknowledged. This dosen’t have to be the only criteria, however, contribution can come in many forms, in fact Brian Jackson put himself forward for his contribution in officiating at all the meetings and his claim was considered before deciding that the award should really go to an athlete. Rachel was actually the ninth highest scoring member of the team but we felt she deserved the award for her willingness to compete and help the team in all events. She has competed in long and short running events , throwing and jumping and was a member of the 4x 100m relay squad. Never one to complain, a team managers dream.

Best Marathon Performance

Donald Kennedy
Last year this award went to Donald kennedy and this year once again it goes to Donald. Donald completed the London Marathon in a time of 3Hrs 14mins 5secs which was the fastest marathon run by a Longwood Harrier last year.

Best Field Event Performance

Greg Moreno
Looking at the performances for last year, it appeared that none of our senior athletes had really produced any outstanding performances on the field, so we decided to look at the junior ranks. One performance that really stood out was the long jumping of Greg Moreno at the young Athletes match at Cleckheaton. Greg jumped 4.65m in the under13 boys event which gave him a AAA Grade 1 standard. Not only did he achieve this once, he achieved it twice during the course of the competition, so the trophy for best field event performance 2009 goes to Greg Moreno.

Best Veteran Performance

Gordon Booth
For these awards, we don’t normally say who has not been awarded the trophy but in this case I am going to make an exception because undoubtedly, one of the leading contenders for this award would be Andrew Pearson. Although he is one of the leading runners in the country, and is winning road races in fantastic times, at 39 he is officially a veteran. I and many others in the club cannot consider Andrew as being a veteran and thought it wrong that he was denied the West Yorkshire CC League title because of his veteran status. I am sure Andrew will win this award later in his career but for this year we have just considered the “true” veterans such as Peter Dibb over 70 and Gordon Booth over 75. Both of the two mentioned appear in the National Rankings for their age categories and it is hard to compare there performances but with wins in the Meltham, Harrogate and Richnond 10k’s, the Grizedale. and Burnsall 10miles and the Wharfdale, Burn Valley and Benidorm half marathons, This year we have decided to award the Bob Mathieson Trophy to Gordon Booth.

Contribution to the club

Graham Morris
The Cyril Foster trophy awarded annually for outstanding contribution to the club is always a difficult one to award. There are many club officials and coaches who give outstanding service to the club year after year without reward. It would be hard and unfair to single one out so when awarding the trophy we tend to look at newer members to the club who have made a considerable contribution throughout the year. This year we have decided to award the trophy to Graham Morris. Graham has taken on the role as team manager for the young athletes league, a role which will become increasingly difficult as our numbers increase. He has also helped during the winter by coming out on the road with the young athletes when we require a minimum number of coaches and helpers to make it possible. He is a willing volunteer in many ways as seen when he took charge of the race numbers at the recent National Championships. Richard is always saying how we should involve parents more in the club, and Graham is an example of how they can help

Athlete of the Year

Donald Kennedy
Donald is a deserving winner of this award for the performances he has achieved throughout the year. He was second in the Road Race League and won the Cross Country league.
Although primarily training for distance on the road, this did not prevent him from turning out to run 1500 or 5000 metres for the club in the Northern League. He usually does a leg in the 4x100 or 4x400 metres relay as well. He was our best marathon runner, and this winter, apart from Andrew Pearson he has been our best performer on the country, competing in the West Yorkshire League and all the championship races, He was our leading scorer in the National Championships finishing 623rd after being on the course for four hours doing his stint at marshalling. Donald has recently taken his level1 coaching award so I hope he will be able to pass on his knowledge and enthusiasm to some of our younger members