Reading AC Athletes Compete at Southern Cross Country Champs

Girl's Report

Thank you to all the athletes that made the trip to Beckenham for the SEAA Championships. It turned out to be a pleasant day, with good running conditions and hard racing.

The top club result on the day came from U17W Holly Haldane, who got into the small chasing pack and stuck to her task to be rewarded by a 6th place finish.

In the U15G race, Eve James got into a good position from the start and ran strongly to finish in 58th, while Georgie Langdon had to make her way through the field having been boxed in off the start. Georgie made it through to finish in 68th and just 15s behind Eve. Only another 34s behind Georgie was Alex Marden in 91st, completing the Reading trio all in the top half of the field. Unfortunately, one more runner was required for a team.

Boy’s Report by Keith Whyte

Reading's lads competed against tough opposition in the South of England Cross Country Championships at Beckenham Place Park in SE London on Saturday. Our U15 team finished 23rd, and our two runners in each of the U13 and U17 races also did well. The undulating parkland courses may have been an improvement on those used last year at the same venue, with fewer stony paths, but for many this location, in contrast to Parliament Hill, still fails to provide the real test that a regional championships should offer, especially in relatively dry conditions such as Saturday's.

In the 4.5km U15 race Maddox Gillas made a brave effort to get among the leaders, but eventually he had to settle for 21st place in a time of 14.32. Second home for Reading was Elliott Hily, who ran strongly throughout to finish 100th in 15.44, and Noah Tyers and Ollie Shears both battled well for 141st and 161st positions in times of 16.30 and 17.00 respectively. The Reading team was weakened by James Titmas's withdrawal through illness, and in the end their total of 423 gave them 23rd place. Apart from the senior women this was Reading's only team result of the day.

As expected, Sam Weeks was our leading runner in the 3km U13 race, with another fine effort for 19th place in 10.33, and Harrison Hunter continued recent good form to finish 64th in 11.14. In the 6km U17 race team captain Ed Lewis was always a little way ahead of Adam Methven, and managed to maintain his advantage as both produced strong finishes, with Ed in 71st place and Adam in 78th, as they recorded times of 20.23 and 20.33.

Well done to all who took part, and to the parents who once again gave valuable support and assistance.

Women’s Report by Debbie Taylor.

The Southern Cross Country Champs this year was held at Beckenham Place Park on Saturday 28th January.

The race was over a 2 lap course of 8k with over 400 runners competing. Weather conditions were good and fairly dry underfoot, although the athletes had to navigate different terrains with some stony parts through the wooded area which made it more difficult with spikes.

Reading AC had a successful outing with Laurie Marlow finishing in 35th. She raced the race of her life and stormed through the course looking strong every step of the way. Next up with another strong run was Lydia Blythe in 109th position. Not too far behind in 137th place was vet 50 Helen Antrum whose strength in training is showing during racing.

Next was a battle throughout between Lucy Daniells and Shirley Ann Dix who both finished together on the line with the same time but positioned 174th and 175th. Shirley was given the 4th scoring place but she couldn’t have done it without working hard with team mate Lucy.

Then Claire Mills ran her strongest race of the season in 276th followed closely behind by Millie Dainton in 287th.

Kathryn Tolson had an incident near the race start when an athlete fell badly in front of her. She showed true sportsmanship when she had to go and find help from a Marshall and about 10 minutes later continued with her race, having to pip off runners in front, finishing in an impressive 344th place. This showed true grit.

The team finished in a very strong 14th place with 47 complete teams and should all be very proud of their excellent running.

Our Under 20 team unfortunately only had one athlete (Lara Tolson) competing over the 6k course, which was a big shame. Lara ran her best race and ran strongly to finish in 21st place. She should be very proud of her performance.

Overall it was a very successful day for the athletes.

National Gold for Reading AC Combined Eventer

Sammy Ball won gold at the recent England Athletics U20 Indoor Heptathlon at Sheffield. Sammy led the competition from start to finish in his second and final year in the U20 age group. Of particular note and satisfaction for Sammy was the 4.30m he attained in the Pole Vault which, if repeated outdoors would lead to a new club record. Sammy’s final score of 5,434 points was 646 points clear of the silver medalist and 168 points down on his own English record set twelve months earlier. After the competition Sammy rationalised the lower than some were expecting score by explaining that his sprint, his hurdles and his 1,000m were all completed at a more relaxed pace due to his ongoing rehabilitation work which he didn’t want to set back through an injury.

Also compting in Sheffield were Joe Frew in his first outing as a senior athlete at a national level competition and father and daughter duo Kevin and Hollie Cranmer.

Joe, now also a Loughborough Student, chose to compte in his Reading AC shirt and managed a personal best 3.20 m in the pole vault and a one second personal best in the 1,000m of 2:51.81 mins. Hollie, also in her first year as a senior athlete dipped upder 11 seconds for the first time in her 60m hurdles and also improved her shot put personal best by a massive 124 cms to achieve 8.16m. Kevin, who was silver medalist in the World v40 decathlon in 2022, was competing in the senior men’s age group meaning the hurdles are higher and the shot is heavier than his V40 age group, was close to his personal best in six of the seven events and was solid throughout, His 9.84 seconds in the 60m hurdles was his best performance for three years.

Well done to all athletes, all coached by Mike Dyer who was also in Sheffield for the weekend. Also in Shieffield as field referee for the weekend was Reading ACs Julie Dew and a big thank you to her and all officials for the time they give up to support the sport.

Hal wins Gold at Schools' International

Well done to Reading ACs Hal Rust-D’Eye, (pictured right below) who represented England at the Schools international pentathlon in Glasgow on Saturday 26 November 2022.

He finished in an excellent 5th place overall from the 16 participants from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and his result contributed to an overall victory for the England team in the intermediate boy’s age group.

Hal produced PBs in the 200m (23.78 secs), 800m (2.06.13) and long jump (6.13m) and was close to his personal bests in the 60m hurdles (9.46 secs) and shot (11.16m).

Congratulations on your selection Hal, and very well done on a good day’s work!

Reports and Photos from Recent Matches

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Recent Photos <::> Recent Match Reports 〰️

Click on the links below to see the photographs and any match reports from recent competitions.

Reading Athletic Club Recognises Outstanding 2022 Performances

As the outdoor track season closes, Reading Athletic Club held its annual awards ceremony at Palmer Park on Saturday 24 September 2022 with several other athletes nominated the list of winners and some photographs appearing below. Each Winner received a trophy for their award, a personal trophy and a certificate. All nominees received a medal and a certificate.

Well done to everyone who competed for the club during the past twelve months.

U13 Girls' Improver of the Year              Katie Nicholson

U13 Girls' Athlete of the Year                 Mia Bradbury-Findeis

U13 Boys' Athlete of the Year                Micah Hampden

U13 Boys' Improver of the Year             Taryn Guthrie

U15 Boys' Improver of the Year             Eddy Guta

U15 Girls' Athlete of the Year                 Molly Barnes

U15 Girls' Improver of the Year              Patricia Armah

U15 Boys' Athlete of the Year                Soham Das

U17 Men's Athlete of the Year                Finley Hanham

U17 Men's Athlete of the Year                Hal Rust D'Eye

U17 Ladies' Athlete of the Year              Kaya Slater

U17 Men's Improver of the Year             Kaylon Nneke

U17 Ladies' Improver of the Year           Moriah Hurst

U20 Ladies' Improver of the Year           Evie Warren

U20 Men's Improver of the Year             Gregor Jones

U20 Ladies' Athlete of the Year              Kayin Hurst

U20 Men's Athlete of the Year                Sammy Ball

Veteran Athlete of the Year                    Kevin Cranmer

Junior Top Points Scorer of the Year       Bisan Musa

Senior Points Scorer                              Kayin Hurst

Off-Track Athlete of the Year                 Jess Gibbon

Track Athlete of the Year                       Karen Burles

Sprinter of the Year                               Alex Mihalciuc

Field Athlete of the Year                        Michael Dzandu

Coach of the Year                                  Keith Whyte

Volunteer of the Year                             Joe Frew

Official of the Year                                 John Bayley

Performance of the Year                        U20 Men 4x400m team

Female Athlete of the Year                     Charlotte Payne

Male Athlete of the Year                        Joe Frew

World Silver Medal for Reading AC Athlete

A fantastic well done to Reading ACs Kevin Cranmer who won silver medal at the World Masters Championships in Tampere, Finland in the M40 age category last week.

Kevin, coached by Mike Dyer, surpassed his previous personal best performance by almost seven hundred points attaining a club record final score of 6,056 points. Going into the final event, the 1,500m Kevin knew it was close and there was every chance of being shunted off the podium by a competitor and so Kevin, known for his habit of always going off too fast in a 1,500m race and then paying the cost later in the race, deliberately set off at a moderate pace to carry him through the line and hopefully hold on to the silver medal position. With some encouragement from the spectating fans the plan paid off and Kevin attained the silver medal, his first world championship podium position.

Kevin’s performances in each discipline of the decathlon were:

100m: 12.54 secs

Long jump: 5.80m

Shot put: 9.76m

High jump: 1.71m

400m: 55.55 secs

110m hurdles: 18.61 secs

Discus: 25.73m

Pole vault: 3.60m

Javelin: 38.30m

1,500m: 4:59.65 mins

Charlotte Payne Hammers it to become British Champion

A big well done to Reading ACs Charlotte Payne who, in her first year as a senior athlete has become British champion with a club record setting 70.59m placing her in a fantastic third position on the UK all time list.

Leading throughout the competition, Charlotte took a six centimetre lead in the first round extending it a further two metres in the second round. With no throws in rounds three and four she extend her lead by a further metre in the fifth round and then by a whooping almost three metres in the sixth and final round to beat her closest competitor by 4.86m.

Well done Charlotte and coaching team.

National Decathlon Gold for Reading AC Athlete

Sammy Ball coached by Mike Dyer and Kevin Cranmer scored 7,361 points to win the 2022 England Athletics U20 Men’s Decathlon held at Bedford on 28 and 29 May. Sammy’s result surpasses the qualification standard for the U20 World Championships being held in Colombia in August and hopefully will secure his selection for the squad..

Scoring six personal bests over the two days and also securing the U20 Club Record it was a great weekend for Sammy. Along the way he ran his first ever sub eleven second 100m in 10.96 secs. He also broke the 4.00m barrier in pole vault finishing with 4.10m. With personal bests also in 110m hurdles (14.62 secs), discus (43.12m), javelin (44.23m) and shot put (15.10m).

Other Reading AC athletes competing at Bedford were U20 Men Joe Frew who scored 5,536 points, finishing in 13th position and attaining a personal best in the discus (28.27m) and close to his personal best in may of the other events.

Hollie Cranmer competed in the U20 Women’s heptathlon scoring 2,679 points and attaining personal bests in 200m (30.24 secs), high jump (1.38m) and shot put (6.55).

Kevin Cranmer, a M40 veteran athlete, competed in the senior men’s decathlon with senior men’s weights and measures scoring 4,850 points. In great form Kevin was 1/100th short of a 100m personal best with a 12.65 sprint into a head wind. Kevin then went on to record a 56.26 electronic timed best in the 400m.

Overall a great weekend of action in Bedford.