|
 Friday
29th February 2008 saw the annual club presentations for the 2007/08 season
hosted at Newquay Sports centre.
Dave Varney
summed it all up in his comparing:
"First of all, I’d like to say a big thank you to Steve & the guys in
Newquay for once again setting up this evening’s event. We’re very pleased
to be able to welcome some guests to our awards, people who give up their
time for you as athletes, these are the hard working officials, team
managers, schools representatives & important contributors of Cornish
athletics who we would like to say a huge thank you to.
"This has been a tremendous year for the club. There are all sorts of
activities going on to help & support you as athletes & coaches & I must say
that the club committee is probably the most pro-active I have known it &
just maybe, I will be able to release some of the things I do this year!
"You should have noticed by now, the new Website format. After several years
Phil Linaker was unable to continue with the site he set up for us & Adrian
Cayton-Smith kindly took this on & have developed the website with all sorts
of stuff on it. This is an important show piece for the club & it’s
achievements for both sponsors & for getting information on events, results,
rankings, etc. If you have pieces of news or stories, please pass it on to
them.
"What you could not have failed to have noticed is the performances &
headline making of Jemma Simpson. I’m so pleased for her that Lowenna Homes
have seen her potential & have helped her transport problems by providing
her with a car. Jemma has been very keen to remain a member of this club,
despite some tempting offers to lure her away by the larger clubs & Lowenna
have recognised her desire to say I’m Cornish & proud of it as something
they aspire to. Once again, we’re very pleased to have some of Jemma’s Great
Britain kit, some from her Commonwealth Games trip & hopefully there may be
some Olympic memorabilia this summer. Sadly, neither she or her parents
could make it tonight.
"We had some very good early results in the South West League which meant
that we were not doing our usual last match survival plea for athletes. We
need to get our Men’s team up but are too reliant on the younger talented
athletes that we miss every year when the matches clash with the National
Schools Champs & the SW Schools. But the team performance of a lifetime must
be the Women’s team who finished half way up in Division 1 & are now in the
new Premier Division following a revamp of the top end of the Southern
League
"Talking of the English Schools Championships, I’m sure you will have been
told by now, but it’s worth repeating, that almost three quarters of the
Cornish team came from this club last summer with an unprecedented four
medal winners, followed by Jay & Lee taking Silver & Gold at the
International meeting in Newport. Next week sees the athletes going off to
Liverpool for the National Schools Cross Country Championships & the
following weekend back up to Nottingham for the National Inter Counties, so
please wish all those athletes the best of luck & hope we can get the mops
out again in recognition of Dean’s performance last year.
"Tonight we want to celebrate the achievements of our athletes & show the
potential they have by saying ‘these are athletes who have something special
& are our club’s future’ . We’ve shared trophies again &, please, if you are
sharing, can you make sure that all winners have the trophy over the next 6
months, if you haven’t received it, don’t be afraid to ask!! We also have a
high number in the UK Rankings listings & will be presenting our unique club
momento of your achievement by presenting you with a boxed medal
"We start with awards for the youngest age group, with trophies for a boy &
girl from both the Newquay area & Par, focussing on their attendance record
as well as their general behaviour & getting enjoyment out of athletics.
"For the Newquay nominations we have
James Shannon
for the Boys & for the girls it’s
Alisha
Tamblyn
"Unusually at Par, over the last twelve months, we have two ties. The Marsh
trophies for attendance go to
Maylah Chapman
& Katie Edginton
for the girls with 32 attendances & with 33 attendances,
Brandon Keast
& Leon Fugler
share the boys trophy.
"We also
have trophies for more performance based awards for the Under 11’s but also
taking into account not only performance but also their attitude towards
coaches & officials
"This Year,
the
J.W.HOWLETT TROPHY
for Under 11 Girls, goes to a young lady who has been so outstanding that
she even made the UK rankings for Under 13, plus breaking some pretty
impressive County Records, of course, it’s Charlotte Cayton-Smith.
"We are
sharing the under 11
ECC INTERNATIONAL TROPHY
between
two boys who showed great progress on the track & one, later in cross
country, they are James Channon & Corey Cross.
"There were
some pretty special under 11’s this year & we are giving the first of our
Merit Awards to one of these & that is Maylah Chapman.
"We also
have a tremendous group of under 13 Girls but overall we felt one had eased
out in front to be a worthy single winner of the first of the
ALAN LEATHER ASSOCIATES
shields & that is Maria Brett.
"Such is
the strength of this group that we are awarding six SPECIAL MERIT SHIELDS to
Evie Parish-Roberts, Katie Yeomans, Karis Harrington, Ailsa
Sharrock, Charlotte Lowe & Sophie Stockburn.
"Equally
outstanding & richly deserving to share the second
ALA
UNDER 13 BOYS SHIELD
are Hobie Martin & Aidan Evison.
"We also
want to reward three lads who made up the back-bone of the SWAL U13 team &
they’re Will Harvey, Aaron Evison & James Housman.
"We debated
long about the Under 15 winner of the
UNDER 15
TRIPLE C SHIELD
but decided
in the end that There would be one winner & that is April Hogg.
"As with
the Under 13’s we have some special U15 Girls as well & I’m trusting I’ll
see lots of these under 13 & 15’s in our Women’s league matches this near!
For coming so close in the nominations we are giving six SPECIAL MERIT
AWARDS to Philippa Brett, Claire May, Anne-Marie Keast,
Charlie Notman, Caroline Harvey & Holly Brown.
"Comparing
field & track events is a difficult task but in the end, we decided that
The UNDER 15 BOYS FRANCIS ANTHONY SHIELD
should be shared by two that are a complete contrast. As we said earlier,
Dean Scott has been at the forefront of both Cross Country & track
whilst Matthew Halton has smashed most of the County throws Records &
finished third in the English Schools & long may this continue.
"Three
other boys have shone in this age group & they are: Dexter Cater,
James Barker & George Linaker, each receiving a merit shield
"This next
shield is going to arguably one the most improved athletes at the club &
we’re extremely pleased to award the
LARRY MARSH
SCAFFOLDING SHIELD
to
Nicola George.
"Two others
that we felt should be rewarded for their performances are Anna Sharrock
& Vicky Mark.
"I said
last year that our under 17’s have been outstanding & we bettered the two we
had then in the UK Rankings by another in 2006, so once again we will share
THE
KWIKPRINT SHIELD
between three of our athletes of the highest high quality. Jordan Henwood
who became our first athlete to clear 4.00m in the Pole Vault, Lee
Hamilton who took Silver in the English Schools, won the International &
was fourth in the UK Games & finally, Jay Hill, runner up in both the
Schools Finals & the International & a bronze winner at the UK Schools
Games, what a trio!
"We have
one last of the SPECIAL MERIT AWARDS to hand out, to someone who was closely
considered & we would like to say well done to Daniel Pearce.
"Our final
Junior award is the
ANDREW BALME
MEMORIAL TROPHY TO ENCOURAGE JAVELIN.
Andrew loved the event until his untimely death & each year, his parents
wanted us to give this trophy to a youngster who has shown a talent for
throwing. There are some excellent female junior throwers coming through &
I’m sure one will win this next year but for 2006 we felt that Aaron
Evison was the most improved young thrower.
"Before we
get on to the Senior awards, we always like to reward our athletes who have
performed to such a high standard that they have been ranked in the Great
Britain T & F listing. Once again, we have used the Official Power of Ten
Lists for the Awards with a check on the Athletics Data site & AW listings
as a comprehensive method of checking who managed this superb achievement.
It’s not quite as many as the superb list last year but still impressive. As
before, we have purchased special commemorative boxed medals to anyone in
the top 25 juniors & 50 Seniors & I think for the first time ever, the boys
outperformed the girls! But starting with the Under 13 Girls:
UK RANKINGS MEDALS
go to:
U13 Girls
Charlotte
Cayton-Smith
- (U11) 600m
12th
Marie Brett
– Pentathlon 14th
Charlotte
Lowe - Pole Vault 6th
Under 20 Women
Jasmin Hicks
- Pole Vault 5th
Women
Jemma Simpson
- 800m 3rd, 1500m 8th
Tessa Wiliamson
– 3Km Steeplechase 22nd
Under 13 Boys
Aidan Evison
– LJ 18th
Under 15 Boys
Isaac Vassell
- Pole Vault
Eq 13th
Matthew Halton
- Shot 3rd, Hammer 13th
Dean Scott
– 1500m 8th
Under 17 Men
Lee Hamilton
- 400m Hurdles
3rd, 100mH 4th, Octathlon 10th & LJ 17th
Jay Hill
- Hammer 4th
Jordan Henwood
- Pole Vault
Eq 9th
"Starting our
Senior & Club Members section, we have:
SOUTHERN LEAGUE TROPHIES
Men:
Always a permanent fixture in the past, as team manager, mini-bus driver &
athlete, Tarquin Hill has once again got involved in the team as a
result of Jay competing & it’s good to se him back
Women:
For travelling to the meetings by car or train over the last few years, even
though most of the time we were standing at the hammer circle with her
number or ready to put a reserve in, this year the trophy goes to Kim
Marsh.
SENIOR TRACK & FIELD PERFORMANCE
Each year we select what we consider to be an outstanding track & field
performance. This may not be the fastest time, longest throw or highest jump
but a performance which stands out above the rest.
MEN
This could have gone to three terrific under 17 athletes & it’s likely one
of them will get it again next year but for a milestone in the club’s
history, this year it goes to Jordan Henwood for being the first ever
club athlete of any age group to clear 4 metres in the pole vault with
4.10m.
WOMEN
The last two years has seen Jemma win this with her 800m, in 2006
breaking the 2 minute barrier but last year & again this winter has seen she
can also produce quality 1500m times & for her County Record time of
4:10.08s, she once again wins this award.
"The final
three awards are for athletes or club members that firstly Martin & myself
feel have done something special to deserve the Chairman’s & Secretary’s
personal vote of thanks. The last is for the person who has made a huge
contribution to the development of the club.
"Martin has
selected for his
CHAIRMAN’S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR,
Glynis Keast. A club needs someone who keeps the finances in order to
survive, Glynis has put in a tremendous amount of effort to make certain
everyone pays their way, collecting membership & training fees & then
banking the money for the treasurer in such a way that it makes life easier
for Phil. As well as keeping the membership lists up to date.
"I’ve
normally given the Varney Mug for
SECRETARY’S ATHLETES CHOICE THE YEAR
to a Senior athlete or member, who I personally think has given something
special to the club. I’m breaking with tradition to award this to a younger
athlete who has made a significant contribution to our coaching squad & in
particular over this winter I’ve been immensely impressed by the way she has
taken on the warm up & training sessions in the Table Tennis Centre & I’d
like to say a very big thank you to Philippa Brett.
"The final
Award is to our choice of the
CLUB MEMBER OF
THE YEAR
. This is for someone who we can all admire & has benefited the club in ways
that go beyond the normal bounds of membership. I coached our recipient for
this year from the age of 14 through to him going off to university. I knew
he was back in the County when I bumped into a befrocked priest going into a
pub around the corner from Truro Cathedral! Since then Chris has been a
tremendous influence over her in Newquay, he’s helped & encouraged most of
the younger ones & would not flinch from taking on the daunting task of
travelling to Nottingham to give comfort to Kevin Sharp’s parents, who as
you will know was sadly lost in the Andes this winter. We will remember
Kevin for his warm smiling face & miss him greatly both at the club &
County. But this is a night to think of the contribution Christopher
McQuillen-Wright is making to the club, to say congratulations on his
medal winning performances at the indoor Championships over the last two
weeks & to say a huge thank you with the Club Member trophy for 2007."
Dave Varney
Hon Secretary |
