Athletics Review 2017 & Looking Forward to 2018

Dom & I after the Great No

At this time of year, for the last few years, I've written a blog with a review from the athletics year and looking forward to what's coming for the following year.  Well, this year is no exception, and it's fair to say that it's been a turbulent year both on and off the track, with more positives than negatives and we end the year on a high.  As ever, I'll talk about each of the kids in age order and maybe drop the odd bit in about what I've been up to too.

So, we'll start with Dominic and his athletics year has once again seen him do allsorts as both an athlete and as a track official.  The athlete bit was slightly on the back burner this year due to completing his A levels in May/June this year.  Having said that, he still managed to get in a couple of XCountry races at the start of the year, with the track and field competition coming towards the end of the season in the NE Grand Prix and also in the Senior League.

Performance wise, his claim to fame for the 2017 season is being the fastest Ellis over 200m, with a time of 25.9 seconds, just faster than Philippa at 25.94 seconds - something that he hasn't crowed about at all.  He's also had some improvement in his pb in his preferred 400m distance, with his pb now standing at 57.5 seconds.  Despite the limited competition with the discus, he put an impressive 5m on his 2k pb, even though he did put a volunteer official in hospital at a Senior meeting as they didn't dodge his out of sector throw.

Over the longer distance of the Great North Run, he also hit another pb, knocking almost a minute off his previous best to record a time of 1 hour 57 min & 42 seconds.

As a Track Official, he's had a great year.  His experiences have included being an official at the Northern Indoor & Outdoor Championships as well as being an Athlete Steward at the British Indoor Championships, plus he was also a track judge at the Northern Intercounties and English Schools Championships.  The latter two events saw him be assessed on his abilities and he passed with flying colours and for 2018 he moves up to be a Level 3 official.  He's also joined the England Athletics Youth Panel and his hard work was acknowledged at the North East EA Awards where he won the Young Volunteer of the Year award.

The end of 2017 has seen him move to the North West for his Apprenticeship and he's now coaching at Warrington AC, where he'll be competing in 2018 and will be donning a red and white vest, but a slightly different version to the girls !

Scottish National Open - 60m H

For Philippa, the year started off with a bang at the Scottish National Indoor Open in Glasgow on the second weekend in January.  Not only was it a race win, but with a time of 9.4 seconds, it was a new pb and a Grade 1 performance.  The indoor competitions came thick and fast, with the hurdles times getting faster as the season went on, finishing with 9.28 seconds at the NE Indoor Pentathlon.  The improvement also lead to her first Northern Athletics medal, with a bronze in the 60m hurdles at the EIS in Sheffield.

The North East Championships was also a happy hunting ground for Philippa with a win and Championship Best Performance in the 60m Hurdles and a silver medal in the Shot Putt. The success continued in the combined events as she won the NE Pentathlon, pulling out pb's in the 60m, 60m Hurdles, Long Jump and High Jump during a long day of competition.

She also enjoyed competing at the English Indoor Championships where she just missed out on the final in the 60m Hurdles.  There was also an amazing 10.47m Shot Putt which came at the Sportshall National Final in Manchester.

The great performances continued into the outdoor season with the NE Championships seeing Philippa win the 75m Hurdles, 100m & Shot Putt titles plus also gaining a bronze medal in the Javelin.  Next on the agenda was gaining the qualification time for English Schools in the 75m Hurdles, which was achieved at the Tynedale Open Meeting in early May, with her also reaching the ES standard in the 100m & 200m.  When it came to qualifying, she ran under the ES standard at the County Championships in heavy rain and won the race.  She then went onto win the Schools Intercounties in the Hurdles, running the ES standard time again.  After disappointment last year, she was chosen to be part of the Durham team for English Schools, where she just missed out on the final by 0.02 of a second.

Philippa was also selected in the North East team for the Northern Intercounties Championships, competing in the 75m Hurdles, 100m & 4x100m Relay.

Then there was the Schools Combined Events, with Philippa winning the County event and then being selected into the team for the Regional Finals, which she also won, but just.  She needed a 21 second gap in the 800m to secure victory and she put in a pb performance to win the competition with a 21 point margin.  The Durham team also came out on top, which saw them compete in the National Final, with Philippa not having a great day, coming 19th and running her 800m heat in a cloudburst.

In late August we enjoyed a trip to the Northern Championships where it was a tough day with two finals within a few minutes of each other (one day I'll pick a combination of events that don't clash).  Having said that, Philippa came home with two medals, gaining a silver in the 75m Hurdles and a bronze in the 100m as part of an all North East top 3 with Afoma Ofor getting the gold and Megan Costello the silver.

 

Coach & Double Northern Medalist

ES Combined Events

NEYDL v West Yorks - 200m

Ava, Lexie, Philippa & Niamh
at the Bobby Tinkler Memorial Op

The outdoor season for Philippa was meant to finish with the NE Youth Development League v West Yorkshire match at Middlesbrough, but after a switch of clubs to Gateshead Harriers, she wanted to compete at the Bobby Tinkler Memorial Open at Chester-le-Street, where she won the Javelin competition - making it an Ellis double, with Lexie winning the U13 competition.  It was also great for the girls to compete with Ava & Niamh from our coaching group at Chester-le-Street.

As we come to the end of 2017, Philippa moved up to the U17 age group with her making a great start by bringing her 60m Hurdles pb down to 9.16 seconds, get her Shot Putt pb to 10.48m and with her first competition in Manchester, her 60m pb came down to 7.98 seconds.

So, what will 2018 bring ?

The move up to U17 won't be easy, but she starts off with the Northern Indoor Champs in Sheffield in January, followed by a couple of trips to Glasgow for their National Champs & Combined Events Champs.  This is her development year, so it's all about working on times and technique.

Then there's Lexie, who has really found her feet this season.  She's had a go at most things, including 100m, long jump, as well as her favourite throwing events.

She's really shone in the throws and has improved dramatically in the Shot Putt, with her pb gradually improving throughout the year from just over 4m to 6.85m which she threw in the Northern Open event at the EIS in Sheffield.  Lexie competed in the NE Indoor and Outdoor Championships, taking the bronze medal in the Shot Putt at the Indoor competition and coming an agonising 4th at the Outdoor event.  There's also been great improvement in her Javelin throw, with her pb now sitting at 13.91m, which she threw to win at the Bobby Tinkler Memorial Open at Chester-le-Street.

First Comp at the EIS

She's even had a go at the Discus, getting a pb of 12.79 in the NE Grand Prix.

I'm really proud of how she's grown as a competitor this year, especially in the Shot Putt where she's gone from her CBA (Can't Be Arsed) performances to really working hard in her training, with that paying off in her results.

Her club move to Gateshead Harriers has given her more time to focus on her throws and I'm really looking forward to what she can achieve as a top year U13 athlete.  For 2018, I'm particularly looking forward to Lexie competing in the NE Indoor Championships in February and she'll benefit from being involved in the Gateshead YDL team as well as competing in the NEYDL.

I suspect that we'll also have some javelin throwing and some discus too as the season progresses.  I'm excited with what she can do and if her confidence can keep growing in competition, then she's got a great future in the sport.

As ever, the key to great performances is great coaching and all three kids have benefitted from working with Geoff Fenwick, with the girls also working with Alex Giles on their throws.  They're both great coaches and have achieved a lot with all three kids, which I thank them for.  2017 has been a choppy year, but I'm pleased that things have settled down and the girls are in a happier training environment and working with like minded athletes that share their goals.  Thanks go to both Geoff & Alex for their commitment and dedication in their volunteer coaching roles.

Young Volunteer of the Year Award

North East Grand Prix Presentation

We'll finish on a high, with Dominic winning the Young Volunteer of the Year at the England Athletics NE Awards, plus one of the best moments from the year which saw all 3 kids collect their awards at the NE Grand Prix presentation night.  They all competed across the events over the summer with Dominic finishing 4th in the U20M, Philippa winning the U15G and Lexie coming 2nd in the U13G competition - it was fantastic to see them collect their awards, a very proud night indeed.

Lets see what 2018 brings !