July takes us to the halfway point of the T&F season and there’s still lots to play!
What an evening we had on 4th June at the 2nd EMAC T&F match of the series, at Cambridge. Both our Male and Female teams came 2nd in the first match at King’s Lynn. Here we went one better, both of our teams won! So our Ladies and Men’s teams are in a great position at the moment. However, we are only halfway through, we cannot rest on our laurels. The next event is on Tuesday 1st July at Peterborough, with the final one being on Wednesday 30th July at King’s Lynn. Be there if you can, and let’s create another memorable day for the Club by getting BOTH teams through to the final for the first time in years.
Above: A great team effort – C&C athletes, coaches, and officials following a wonderful evening of athletics!
C&C enjoyed further Masters success at the Eastern Masters T&F Championships on 28th June. We had many multiple medal winners in the searing heat at Sandy, some of whom are pictured below.
L. to R. above – Sarah Mcgrath (3 golds, 1 silver), Lisa Teverson (4 golds), Lowri Chatfield – 1 gold, 1 silver), Pamela Abbott (2 golds, 1 silver, and 2 bronzes), Rosie Abbott (1 silver, 1 bronze). Joan Lasenby (not in picture) also won a gold in the 3000m.
One more Masters success to mention for June – Congratulations to Stef Godfrey on winning the Essex Masters 5 mile County Championships. https://cambridgeandcoleridge.org.uk/podium-place-for-super-stef/
Unfortunately, not such a good day for the SAL team at Thurrock. We achieved a good solid result at the first match at Peterborough, and with the 3rd match being at home, we just needed another sound performance at Thurrock. It wasn’t to be however, and for the 2nd year running we were last out of the 6 teams on the day.
Firstly, well done to all those that were there. Well done to the team managers, who I know were working their socks off in an effort to fill the teams. The results show some excellent individual performances. Really great too, how many of you did different and numerous events to win those extra points for the team. Good on you for doing that.
The thing is, there are only 4 SAL fixtures per season. We can’t really let one of the 4 fixtures go each season and still have a hope of doing as well as we are capable. We now need to put in a powerful team performance at our home fixture on 13th July. We need to bounce back, and bounce ourselves up the league. That’s exactly what we did last year and we need to do it again! We are capable of beating any of the teams in this league, and none of them should come to our home ground and expect an easy ride. We have the athletes and the spirit to beat them, and July 13th is the opportunity to show that.
In the EAL, 7 out of 8 of our Age Group Teams are currently either laying higher, or equal, to their final finishing positions in the Leagues last year. That’s great progress, well done to all involved. The next round is at Peterborough on 6th July. Let’s see if we can get another great turn-out there.
In the EYAL we are in position for a place in the Plate Final, as last season. That is not securely in the bag as yet though, there’s still work to be done, so there can be no resting on our laurels here either. The third and final round is on 27th July at Luton.
It has been really brilliant to see new members turning out for all four of the above mentioned C&C T&F teams this year.
In June, Tom Keen move into the top 30 of the WORLD rankings for 1500m. Well done to Tom, his parents, and to long-time coach, Mark Vile. Tom joined C&C as an 11-year-old, and he is an inspirational example of what can achieved with talent, hard work and support.
Above, Tom, with proud parents, Simon and Katie.
There’s more, as three of our athletes have qualified for the World University Games to take place in Rhine-Ruhr in mid-July;
Deshawn Lascelles – Triple Jump,
Thomas Bridger – 3000m Steeplechase,
Alex Melloy – 1500m
Again, all three joined C&C as youngsters. These championships will be a really amazing experience for them. Here is a link to the event website:
Thomas Bridger is absolutely flying this season! Not only has he qualified for the World Student Games, but on Sunday 29th June, in Cardiff, he won the qualifier for the U23 European Championships, thereby booking his place in the Euros. at Bergen in Norway. Well done Tom!
Above, Tom after his fantastic victory in Cardiff.
The English Schools Championships also take place in July, at Birmingham. Thirteen C&C members will be in attendance. That’s a good number from the club, and we wish every one of them the very best of luck.
Two members of the County Team for these Champs, Finn Maclennan and Harry Cantell, won medals at the Southern Champs in June. Finn won bronze in the U17 1500m, (a really strong performance as many of the field would have been a year older than him), and Harry won the gold to take the Southern Title, also in the 1500m. Great work both of you!
In the Arkwright 5k League we continue to go from strength to strength.
The next race, on Thursday 3rd July, is hosted by Haverhill Runners. Following that, on 17th July, we have the 5K which is organised by the Saffron Striders at Carver Barracks. This gives an opportunity for any newer members to see the other facility where C&C hold training sessions. Then the final race of the series is the one that we are hosting, at a new race venue, on the Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton.
Good luck as well, to the C&C members who will be part of the England Masters team for the International 10k in Newcastle on 6th July! https://cambridgeandcoleridge.org.uk/england-selection-for-cc-masters/
So, June was another very busy month, and July should be equally so.
Massive thanks for all the time and hard work put in by the coaches, team managers and officials, none of this could happen without you.
Enjoy your training and racing in July. This is a decisive month for teams and individuals, so let’s make sure that we support each other and do the very best that we can!