Annual Track and Field Awards Presentation, Romford 30 November 2001  

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Good evening everybody and on behalf of Havering Mayesbrook Athletic Club, welcome to this the annual disco for the presentation of the 2001 track and field awards. As you can see, there are a lot of awards to get through but before we start, it would be remiss of me not to mention the exceptional season the Club had in track and field. In all age groups, the Club had its best season for many years with highlights including the under-17 girls’ team reaching the McDonald’s National Final at Birmingham, the Junior Women reaching their National Final at Derby and the Senior Women securing a place in the UK Women’s League. There were many individual performances of note throughout the season, many of which will be referred to this evening. Our thanks once again to the coaches, team managers and parents for their efforts throughout the season in getting athletes to the starting line on time and many, many congratulations to the athletes for a job well done.

There are two groups of awards – the Club awards for Best Performance and Endeavour and the Tony Tester Track and Field Awards. Winners have been selected by the respective team managers.

The first award is the Club Best Performance award for under-13 girls and the winner is a girl who in the recently published national rankings has been ranked No 1 for High Jump. She smashed the Club record with a leap of 1.53m. For good measure, she has also been ranked 7^th in the UK at 150m. The very talented Helen McDonnell.

The under-13 girls’ Endeavour award goes to a young lady who always gives 100% in whatever she is asked to do. She had a good season in sprinting and Long Jump and she is Lauren McVicar.

The winner of the Club Best Performance for under-13 boys goes to a young man who remained unbeaten all season at 1500m in his first season for the Club. His performances have seen him enter the Statpack at No 5 and he has an excellent future in athletics ahead of him. Ashley Reece.

The under-13 boys’ Endeavour award is shared this year. Both athletes have demonstrated a willingness to compete at every opportunity. The first winner had an excellent season on the track with solid performances at 100m, 800m and 1500m. The other joint winner has thrown very consistently in both Shot and Discus and has made good progress in both events in addition to personal bests in the Long Jump. Matthew Watkins and Anthony Williams.

The Club Best Performance award for under-15 girls goes to a young lady who was selected to represent Essex at the English Schools’ Championships and she returned from Exeter with the silver medal in the Discus competition, a wonderful achievement. In the UK rankings, she is placed 6^th. The award goes to Lynsey Clark

The Endeavour award in this age group goes to a young athlete who has another year as an under-15. Her team manager believes that she could achieve great things next season. She always gives 100% and can be spotted anywhere in the Stadium with her unique hat. Christina Kalejaiye.

 The Club Best Performance for under-15 boys goes to an exceptional sprinter.   Club records at 100m and 200m, top three UK ranking at 400m, a McDonald’s Man of the Match award, and 5^th place at English Schools in the 200m, he is Andrew Bartlett..

The Endeavour award goes to a young man with Statpack top ten positions for the Hammer, Shot and Javelin. In addition, he was 10^th in the Javelin Final at English Schools. He always gives his best and sets himself high standards. Terry O'Leary.

The Best Performance Award for under-17 women goes to a thrower and top performer amassing a large amount of points in the Discus, Shot, Javelin and Hammer competitions. She is in the UK rankings for both discus and hammer and she is Melanie Harrison

The Endeavour award in this age group is also a shared award. The first recipient is a young women who will do anything for the team including running, hurdling and throwing. The second winner is somebody who competed regularly in an event she hated for the good of the team. The points they scored in the McDonald’s league helped to ensure that the Club won the league. Mary Munson and Amy Ashwell.

The winner of the Club Best Performance Award for under-17 boys is an exceptional high jumper. He set a new Club record of 1.95m not only for the under-17sbut also for under-20s. He is a mature and reliable athlete who has also gained a top ten place in the Statpack for Long Jump and, for good measure, he made his debut for the Senior Men’s British League team at Rugby and won the event. Steven Prady.

The winner of the Endeavour award in this age group is another high jumper. He wasn’t placed lower than second in league meetings all season and has made tremendous progress in a  technical event. His pb is now 1.80m and like Steven, he appeared for the British League team at Derby. Also an accomplished sprinter, he is Mark Connelly.

One athlete staked an unchallenged claim to the Junior Women’s Best Performance award from the start of the season. She went on to make her mark on the club all-time lists at 800m and 1500m. Her performances brought her selection for Great Britain under-18s in the World Youth Games in Hungary. With two more years in the junior ranks, her potential to go all the way to the top has been recognised when she was added to Sport England’s World Class Potential Programme. She is of course, Faye Fullerton.

The Endeavour award for Junior Women goes for the second consecutive year to an excellent team captain and invaluable team member. As well as piling up points in the sprints and long jump she ended the season as the Club junior and senior pole vault record holder. Hannah Gamester.

The Best Performance Award for Junior Men goes to a young hammer thrower who had an excellent season in his first year as a junior. Essex Champion, 4^th in the South of England Championships, and also competed for the Men’s Southern League team and in the crucial final British League match at Rugby. Bronze medallist for Havering in the Shot at the London Heathrow Youth Games - Kevin Deacon.

The Endeavour award for Junior Men goes to a fine athlete who will do anything to gain points for the team. He had a fine season with the Discus and was the Junior Team’s highest points scorer. Tom Melrose.

The Best Performance award for Senior Ladies goes to an athlete who set new PBs in no fewer than eight events, accumulated a vast points score for the Southern Women’s team, broke two Club records and won two County Championship titles. She represented Great Britain at under-23s, both indoors and outdoors. In the AAA Senior Championships she won silver in the heptathlon with a performance that takes into the UK all-time list in 69  place. Kate Brewington.

The Endeavour award in this age group goes to a multi-event athlete who over the years has had her fair share of injuries. It was a pleasure to see her compete in six different events for the Southern Women’s team last season none more so than her return to the high jump in the final league match. Claire Brennan.

The Club Best Performance award for Senior Men goes to a fine middle distance athlete who won the silver medal in the South of England Championships in the 800m on a wet and windy weekend at Haringey. An invaluable points scorer for the British League team, Gavin Maley.

The Endeavour award for senior men goes to a young man who competed for the Southern Men’s team always willing to compete in other events in addition to his favoured 3000m Steeplechase. Also appeared in the final British League meeting, recording a personal best. Rob Warner..

The Best Performance award for a lady veteran goes to an athlete who had a superb season for the Southern Women’s team and also had exceptional success in veterans championships. She won gold in the 200m and 800m at the County Championships and in the 400m and 800m in the Southern Counties. There was another gold and a bronze in the 400m and 800m respectively in the South of England Championships and she took the silver medal at 800m in the National Championships. Lesley Felton.

The Best Performance award for male veterans goes to the Club’s strongman. In addition to going to the World Championships in Australia and picking up medals and records on the Vets circuit all season, he still made time to represent the Club at every opportunity. As recently as two weeks ago, he also set new world records in two specialised events – the 28lb shot and the 56lb shot. Steve Archer.

The best track performance for male vets goes to a senior athlete who had a fine season competing regularly for the Southern Men’s team.  Gary Howard.

We move on now to the Tony Tester awards and the first of these is the track  award for under-13 girls. The team manager couldn’t separate two girls so the award is shared this year. Both the athletes are hurdlers scoring numerous 1^st places between them. One of the winners also sprints and long jumps whilst the other has done well in discus and long jump. Regrettably, Lucy Sargent cannot be here this evening and her award will be collected by the other joint winner,  Lisa Schofield.

The field award in this age group goes to a young athlete who only joined the Club this year but scored many points in both discus and shot. She is ranked 11^th on the UK list for the discus and she is Louise Yard

The Tony Tester Track award for under-13 boys goes to a young man who has entered the Statpack for 800m even though he only joined the Club halfway through the season. He shows great determination and effort at whatever he does. Ross Clarke.

The field award in this age group goes to a high jumper who remained unbeaten all season in league meetings and who has achieved a top-ten Statpack ranking. Also a successful middle distance runner he is Jay Ryan.

The Tony Tester track award for under-15 girls is yet another shared award. Both winners are multi-talented with the first selected to compete for Essex at English Schools, returning with the bronze medal at 800m. She is now ranked 5^th in the UK at that event and is also a good sprinter and excellent high jumper. The second award winner was a top points scorer in hurdles and sprinting and was an ever present in the relay squad. The joint winners are Sara Luck and Nicola Schofield but Sara’s award will be collected by her coach, Pat Gahagan.

The field award in this age group goes to a young lady who was a regular winner throughout the season in the high jump and also contributed well in the hurdles. One of the characters of the team – Katie O’Sullivan.

The Tony Tester track award for under-15 boys is yet another situation where the team manager couldn’t separate two boys. Both athletes had an excellent season competing against each other over 400m and 800m with both thriving from the challenge. One would always come out on top over 400m with the situation reversed over 800m. The first achieved a top-ten place in the StatPack and remained unbeaten in the league all season whilst the other produced personal bests at 400m and 800m. Joe Golding and Danny Skelt.

The field award for under-15 boys goes to a young man who entered the Statpack for high jump (2^nd with a height of 1.80m) and long jump (3^rd with 6.11m).  Tremendous potential for the future – Scott Keating.

The Tony Tester track award for under-17 girls goes to an athlete who scored high points all season with her excellent hurdling (she is ranked 22^nd in the UK) and long jumping. Sadly, she cannot be here this evening but we will ensure that the trophy finds its way to Clare Sargent.

The field award in this age group is also shared this year. The first winner only joined the Club this year but did exceptionally well in javelin and high jump. The second award winner leaves the under-17s now for the junior ranks and will be very much missed. She was the team captain and did well in discus, javelin and hurdles. Eloise Crush and Nina Brennan.

The track award for under-17 boys goes to a fine sprinter whose season was marred by injury but who nevertheless achieved a Statpack top-ten placing for the 100m. Matthew Kelsey.

The field award for under-17 boys goes to an excellent thrower particularly in the javelin event where he is ranked 4^th in the Statpack. Also entered the top-ten this year for the shot and has thrown consistently well all season. Gold medal winner for Havering in the javelin at the London Heathrow Youth Games. Greg Smith.

The Tony Tester track award for Junior Women had a string of good performances at distances from 400m to 3000m. Her excellent summer was rewarded with an English Schools silver medal at 3000m and the following day she competed for Havering in the London Youth Games winning gold in the 800m.   Lauren Deadman.

There was only one possible winner of the field award for junior women, a young lady who rewrote the Club’s hammer record  lists almost weekly. She thrives on regular competition in all four throwing events and ended up as top points scorer for the Junior team. With another year as a junior, the all-time list is likely to change regularly due to the efforts of  Sarah Deacon.

The Tony Tester track award for junior men goes to a fine sprinter whose season was cut short by injury but who nevertheless put up some excellent performances.  A latecomer to the sport, things can only get better for Andy Green.

The field award for junior men goes to a young man who, during the season,  accumulated a large number of points. Mainly a thrower – winning the gold medal in the discus for Havering at the London Heathrow Youth Games – he also covered pole vault, high jump and triple jump for the Southern Men’s team and appeared for the British League team at Rugby. He cannot be here this evening and his award will be collected by Lee Foley on behalf of Andrew Tierney.

The Tony Tester track award for senior women goes to a young lady who in addition to road racing at the highest level, also had a tremendous season on the track winning eight of her nine ‘A’ string races for the Southern women’s team. She represented Essex in an inter-counties match winning the 1500m and finished 6^th in the 5000m at the combined World Trials/AAA Championships. Debbie Sullivan.

The winner of the field award started the year by breaking the Club long jump record at the winter warm-ups only to improve it on two occasions during the season. She won gold at the County Championships in both the long jump and high jump and bronze in the shot. For the second time this evening – Kate Brewington

The Tony Tester track award for senior men goes to an athlete who achieved a number of personal bests throughout the season in a number of events culminating with an excellent pb in the 400m Hurdles in the final British League match at Rugby. Kevin Benton.

The Tony Tester field award for senior men and the final award of the evening  goes to a Club stalwart who despite not being fully fit and getting very old (team manager’s words not mine!) kept the Club in the British League almost single-handedly. Tremendous performances from Mark Bishop.

Results